10 Minutes

There are 1,440 minutes in each day. I know because I calculated it a while back and built a whole training plan focused on that number. A decent amount of this time is taken up each day by working, sleeping, and running. That still leaves a ton of unallocated minutes each day that just seem to seep through my fingers.

I really enjoy my downtime, however I think it might be time to start being a bit more “productive”. I’m throwing quotes in there because I don’t really want to do what I’m doing better/quicker/more efficiently. I guess I just want to create a bit more. I enjoy writing and have been told I’m halfway decent though in all fairness those comments typically come from friends and family. And how often is your mom likely to say you suck at something?

So my goal is to spend at least 10 minutes each day writing. For this blog. For my own amusement. Maybe just for my family. Definitely not for work though as I do enough of that already. I’m hopeful that by creating a habit to write each day, that I’ll eventually get better at it. The whole practice makes perfect theory. One of the reasons I don’t actively promote Chasing10k is that I don’t feel the quality is anywhere near what I read elsewhere on the interwebs. I keep thinking that I’ll wait till I get good at blogging/writing before spreading the word. In reality, I’ll never get better until I devote the time and energy to do so.

I’m hoping to structure this similar to my running where I’ll spend at least 10 minutes each day writing. Some days this might just be 10 minutes and 45 words. Other days may end up like a 4 hour long run. I’m guessing those will be extremely few and far between because while I have free time, I don’t have that much available. That and I don’t have that much to say.

The biggest challenge will be finding a set time each day to write. This will help me create the habit. Just like I always lace up my running shoes first thing in the morning, it will best if I can find a certain time to do this. Maybe this will be right after dinner or an hour before I plan to head for bed. Some sort of pattern that will be a sign that it’s time for me to put pen to paper. Figuratively, of course.

And since I’m devoted to tracking things, I’m writing down how many minutes I write each day. This will probably end up being a better tool to keep me on track with consistently writing than anything else. That which is not measured, doesn’t get improved. Or some such thing.

What do you wish you’d spend 10 extra minutes doing each day ?