The Power of 15 Minutes
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February 8, 2023 at 8:30 PM EST: Book Club
This Month’s Book Club Selection
This month we are reading non-fiction (we switch up month-to-month), and I think this is a good fit for the new year. The book we will be reading is…The Happiness Hypothesis! I hope it will give us a lot to think about. Happy reading (no pun intended)!
What You Might Have Missed At Classically Abby…
Quote of the Week:
“To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world.” - Dr. Seuss
Classic Style Inspo
Vintage clothing is so flattering on the female figure. Wearing a dress with long sleeves and a skirt that hits below the knee leaves something to the imagination, while cinching in at the waist shows off your feminine form. If you want to look classic, wear more modest dresses that enhance your silhouette!
Things I’ve Been Loving: Remington Heat Rollers
If you’ve been listening or watching my new podcast, you’ll know that I’ve started using heat rollers in my hair. I just purchased a new set since mine were okay but not great, and these are FANTASTIC. My hair holds a curl perfectly, it takes just a few minutes to put in, and my curls last till the next day!
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The Power of 15 Minutes
Hello classic crew and happy Wednesday! Welcome to another edition of my newsletter. I hope your week is off to a great start, and that you’re enjoying the newest episode of The Classically Abby Podcast! I had a great time interviewing Sarah Therese, and I hope you took something away from our chat.
We had a lovely weekend, spending Shabbat with our friends and then spending all day Sunday with my parents! We started off the day relaxing with Mr. Baby, and then while my husband had some work, my parents and I went to Buy Buy Baby to return the extra stroller we had purchased before we were able to fix our previous one. (Remember my stroller saga? Thank goodness that has been resolved.) While we were at Buy Buy Baby, we found out that we had a $200 coupon, and I couldn’t believe it! So I bought a tiny armchair for Mr. Baby’s upcoming birthday (can you believe he’s almost ONE??) and a waterplay table for his birthday party. And it was all free! What a coup! Then we all went mini-golfing, got dinner together, and played a board game. It was truly a wonderful day.
As I sat down to work on Monday morning, I looked at my schedule and to-do list and took a deep breath. I always have a lot on my plate - the juggling act of homemaking, being a mama, and getting my work done is often stressful - but I knew I wanted to approach things with more clarity as I started the week. And that’s when it occurred to me.
The power of 15 minutes.
15 minutes feels like no time at all during the day. When I’m doing a work project, some things will take 15 minutes to load. When I’m making breakfast or lunch, my food may have to cook for 15 minutes on the stove. When I’m nursing Mr. Baby to sleep, it may take him 15 minutes to nod off. There are all of these 15-minute intervals that consume our day, that fill in the gaps as we move from task to task.
And often we write those 15 minutes off. We scroll aimlessly on our phones. We watch YouTube videos. We waste time without even thinking. It’s not our fault. We simply don’t recognize that these moments add up over the course of the day. And then we ask ourselves why we didn’t have enough time to get everything done. I include myself in this, as I often repeat those words to myself as the day reaches its conclusion.
But we can use these 15 minute intervals to our advantage. Here’s just four ways to do it.
The 15-Minute Tidy. I love doing this. When I notice I have a gap of time, I set a timer for 15 minutes, blast music I enjoy or a podcast I like or a book I’m reading, and set to WORK. I run around the house putting things away as quickly as I can, organizing and tidying everything I can see. And when the timer goes off, I’m done! It doesn’t matter if I didn’t get to clean everything - the point is to get as much clean as I can in those short intervals and enjoy that I’ll now have less to do when I can actually focus on homemaking and cleaning my home. This is probably my favorite way to use an extra 15 minutes, because, if I’m being honest, I always have more to tidy. Things get out of place so quickly with a baby that you might as well resign yourself to some level of mess. And I’m okay with it! But I do like using 15 minutes to keep the worst messes at bay.
Finish some short projects and/or evaluate your schedule. For me, whenever I’m done editing videos, it takes about 15 minutes for them to export to my computer. Those 15 minutes are my weakness! I so quickly waste them because I figure, hey, it’s only 15 minutes - why not? A much better use of my time, though, is to complete some short projects while I’m waiting. For me, that looks like posting something on Instagram, creating a reel, or creating a thumbnail for an upcoming post. For you, it might look totally different. But one of the things we probably all could do during that time is to reevaluate our to-do lists. I have mentioned this before, but I edit my to-do list all day long. Taking 15 minutes to reorganize my schedule and my tasks is really helpful and helps keep me on track.
Play with your children. There is nothing more powerful than dedicating 15 minutes to a focused interaction with your child. If I have an extra 15 minutes, one of my favorite ways to spend it is to play with my son without any distractions. That can mean reading a book together, it can mean I just sit there and watch while he plays with his toys. But giving him my full attention for 15 minutes is so valuable for both of us.
Meditate, Relax, Read. I’m not saying you can never take a break. Not every minute of the day needs to be rigorously planned and used to its fullest potential to accomplish every little thing. That would make us all insane! It all simply comes down to being intentional. Did you want to take a break for 15 minutes, or did you simply pick up your phone without thinking? If the answer is the former, then do it. Meditate, read a book. Relax, pray. Eat a snack, take a deep breath. The power of 15 minutes is not only about how much you can do, but how refreshed you can feel if you take full advantage of that time to recharge.
What do you think? How do you like to use 15 minutes during your day? Share your thoughts below!
Love the idea to use 15 minutes to tidy or plan out your day.
I love this! 15 minutes can be soooo powerful! I don't have kids yet, but I often use 15 minutes to take my dog to the mailbox and back or to devote to playing with her. It's very valuable, much in the same way that it is with small children!
One use of 15 minutes that you didn't mention that I think is also really valuable is hygiene or exercise! With a busy life, as a mom, with a job, as a homemaker, etc. sometimes it can be hard to take care of ourselves. I have found myself often doing a quick 15-minute intense workout or taking those minutes to jump into a shower that I may have been too exhausted for the night before!