How 20 Minutes a Day Can Change Your Business

When to-do lists are a mile long and life is pulling you in 100 different directions, how do you find time to work on your business? It’s challenging, right?

This is a question I get asked frequently. My answer: 20 minutes a day. Let me explain by way of an example.

For six months last year, I wrote “Website Overhaul” on my daily to-do list. Only every day, I completely ignored it and wrote it again the next day, and the next… for six months, no joke.

I knew our website needed a total makeover. We had old photos, broken links, OOS products and outdated copy all over the place. It was going to be a large task, so I kept waiting for the big moment: that day that my schedule would open up and I’d have 8 beautiful hours to devote completely to tackling this giant overhaul. “The day is coming!” I kept thinking.

It never happened. Looking back, I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Between running a business, life and kids, I was happy if I got two solid hours to work! At that rate, it felt like our website would never get the attention it deserved and might still be on my to-do list today!

Eventually, I realized how silly I was being. I didn’t have 8 hours. I never would. But I did have 20 minutes. Not the next day, right then. One son was sleeping, one was taking a long shower, and I had a brief window of time. It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to update about 1/3 of my home page.

It annoyed me to leave the task uncompleted, and it felt like I wasn’t making much progress, but I just kept chipping away at it, 20 minute blocks at a time. All the while, I reminded myself that even ex-SEAL and discipline-machine Jocko Willink (one of my go-tos for inspiration) only writes his books for one hour each day.

One week later and our site update was complete. Just as important, I gained a new respect for the power of 20 minutes a day, every day, and what I can accomplish in those brief but potential-filled moments. In 20-60 (focused, Deep Work) minutes a day, I’ve also planted a victory garden, read Get a Grip, and kept up with my inbox.

A lot of you guys are tackling HUGE projects! You’re developing new products, creating catalogs, writing your websites for the first time, shooting an entire product line or batching your way through two months of emails. Oh, and you’re also juggling life and figuring out how to make it all work in historically unusual times.

I get it: life is full, and it can be hard to find time to tackle those daunting-but-important projects. But don’t put them off for six months like I did! You might be surprised to learn that you do have the time, if you simply chip away at things 20 minutes at a time. Give it a go and let me know: what can you accomplish in 20 minutes a day?

Cheering you on!

xx,