Becoming More Productive 10 Minutes at a Time

In an 80-year lifespan, there are 960 months, roughly 4,000 weeks, 29,000 days, 700,000 hours, 42 million minutes, and 2.5 billion seconds.  

We normally evaluate our productivity in hours, days, weeks, and months and leave minutes and seconds to those fixated on speed. 

Of course, the math isn’t hard. There are 1,440 minutes or 86,400 seconds in a single day. It is tough to be more productive in every second or minute. But people can get a lot done in as little as 10 minutes.  

In 10 minutes, we can set the day’s priorities, sketch out the pros and cons of a decision, check in by phone with an important relationship, update colleagues about recent events, offer feedback to a team member, craft a meeting agenda, compose a congratulatory email, read a blog, buy a gift online, and review the action steps of an assignment, among a myriad of other tasks.  

Interestingly, there are 144 ten-minute blocks in each day. Considering most people sleep 8 hours every evening, there are, then, 96 ten-minute blocks in an average day with which we can be highly productive or less so. 

That’s a big number. 

What would happen to your personal productivity if you held yourself accountable to spending at least a portion of those ten-minute blocks in a manner you would call fruitful?  

What if you were to focus on one 10-minute block at a time? 

With every 10-minute block you engage more productively, you make yourself more effective. Find 10 minutes today to do something uncommonly well. Now find another 10 minutes to do it again.  

Productivity is never an accident. Every 10 minutes can count.