Twenty Minute Test

I read an article yesterday that made so much sense. We've talked previously about setting aside a specific time each day to write. This goes one step better. Say you really are not in the mood to write today, take the twenty minute test. After twenty minutes, if you're still of the same mindset, quit. Otherwise, you've written for twenty minutes and you might as well keep going.

I thought this was great! Twenty minutes isn't so long that you feel you're wasting precious time. Twenty minutes is only a small slice of your day. The idea, though, is that once you actually start doing it, you'll do more. That way, too, on those days where you really aren't in the mood and quit after 20 minutes, there's no need to feel guilt.

I don't know how many of us really feel guilt for not writing, but still. Give it 20 and if it doesn't work, you've still done something. There's also the idea that if we do things in smaller pieces, we have more chances of feeling a sense of accomplishment. Some days, the accomplishment will be to last the 20 minutes.

Next time you're not in the mood to do something, take the twenty minute test. You might surprise yourself. This could work for anything including exercising...