What is it & why am I doing it? Very good questions, thanks for asking. For some time now I have tried to write and maintain a blog, none of these efforts have been successful to date. Ideally I would learn from these mistakes and try again under a new format, accounting for the problems I've had in the past. This is just such an attempt. I really want to blog because I have a great deal to say, and hopefully, a worthwhile contribution to make. But all my previous efforts have failed, why? Well, I think it all boils down to overzealousness. I wanted to dig deep into issues, I wanted to source my ideas, logic, rationale, etc. in empirically sound evidence, and to point to it within my writing. I wanted to do big writings and I wanted to do it daily. After only a few days (If that sometimes) I knew the project was doomed. Ambition expressed through idealism is good, but pragmatism realized through reason is better. That's where the 10 minute blog comes in; 10 minutes... that's all you get, what've you got?
The idea came to me without even the first thought of writing a blog. Originally, I just wanted to be more productive. I realized that my biggest obstacle to productivity was sluggish mornings. If I woke up and started working right away, I would get much more done, and not just the things I got done when I would normally just be sipping coffee and lounging about. When I start my days with a sense of urgency and productivity it carries on throughout the day. Starting fast leads to exponential productive growth. With this realization I decided to make a "1st hour checklist," essentially 10 things I wanted to get done in the first hour I was awake everyday. The list was never intended to get me to change my behavior, for the most part it was things I do already anyway; it was a way for me to engage the first hour of my day with a sense of urgency, to start every day with a plan and to get moving. That's why things like making coffee, brushing my teeth and taking a shower are on there; it's not that I wouldn't do these things, its that I would take too long to get to them. That being said, a few items were new; 10 minutes of creative writing, making a to-do list for the day and (perhaps surprisingly) eating. Here's the full list:
1) Brush teeth
2) Make coffee
3) Take a shower
4) Tell Sarah you love her
5) Eat something
6) Make a to-do list
7) Listen to music
8) Write for 10 minutes
9) Skim the news
10) Start your day
I could go into an explanation for why I selected each item, but I'm almost out of time. I don't want to go over time (10 min.) because the idea is to be focused in on one thing, plus having it only take 10 minutes means I have no excuses not to get it done.
A few quick notes as my time expires:
1) I will try (but no promises) to write every day.
2) There is no theme for this blog, it is merely a creative exercise for me.
3) This is for me, not you. (Though I do hope you enjoy it)
4) Keep your expectations reasonable, there are no editors or time for editing. I can only do what I can do in 10 minutes (or a little more in this case). Spelling, grammar and organization are likely to suffer as a result. C'est la vie.
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