All it takes is 7 minutes
Spend 99% of your day on living
Allyson Lewis, a productivity expert, believes the ‘7-Minute Life’ technique is going to transform the way you plan your day and live your life.
There are 24 hours in a day.
That adds up to 1440 minutes.
Carve out just 1% of that for time management which equals 14 minutes.
Take 7 minutes in the morning to think.
And 7 minutes in the evening to reflect.
Even as a lover of time management, I can also get overwhelmed by all the tools and hacks out there that are supposed to help. Having said that, here’s why I like this option:
It doesn’t require a lot of your time. 14 minutes? My goodness. That is like no time at all. Let’s be honest. You spend more than 14 minutes reading reviews for kids backpacks on Amazon. You can spare the minutes.
She tells you EXACTLY what to do in those 14 minutes. For those of you who get lost in analysis paralysis and would just like to be ordered around, Lewis has laid out here a minute by minute breakdown of what should happen in each 7 minute round along with the questions you need to ask yourself. Just follow the plan and check off as you go.
It focuses on imperfect action. I know you’re not going to plan the perfect day in 7 minutes. That’s the point. Shortening the amount of time we give ourselves to make decisions is going to give you time back in your day and get you actually doing things instead of mentally swirling shoulda-coulda-woulda’s around your brain all day.
Reflection is part of the planning. This is always my test on whether a schedule is a good one or not. If no time is made for reflection, then how do you know if you need to make changes? Too often, we like to lock in our game plan without allowing for tweaks and revisions. Life is not stable so expecting your schedule to be one where you can set it and forget it, is the fastest road to frustration and giving up.
You have to write things down. If you’ve been here a while, you know I’m a fan of making your thoughts real. That can mean putting pen to paper or fingers to keys. Relying on your own memory is one of the most common ways you burn yourself out. Reduce stress immediately by getting to-do’s out of your head. It’s one of the easiest ways to feel better.
If you find yourself unhappy with the structure of your day, then the ‘7-Minute Life’ framework might be a good option. It’s got a low barrier to entry as it takes less than 15 minutes a day and can be done with just a pen and paper. You have little to lose and everything to gain. Will you take a chance that 14 minutes could change your life? As always, the choice is yours.
Wishing you a beautiful day and a WELLthy Week!