A Look Back at #15Best

Exactly one year ago today, I posted that I was going to spend 15 minutes out of every day doing something to make my life better. Well, every weekday. I called it 15 Best:

I guess I want to feel like I moved the needle. Even if it’s an incremental amount; I want to go to bed knowing that I did something in my day that brought me closer to being the person I want to be. Or that I best used at least 15 minutes of my day. Hence #15Best.

Why it needed a hashtag? I’ll never know. But that’s what I’ve been calling it all year. How it worked:

I’m starting my 15 minutes per weekday on January 1st. There are 261 weekdays in 2019. 10 of them are holidays, and if I give myself a freebie, I get to a nice, round 250 days. That means that on December 31st I will have spent 3,750 minutes (or 62.5 hours) becoming a better person. To ensure that I remember to do it, I’m going to set a timer on my phone and make a habit of writing how I spent the 15 minutes in my bullet journal.

I ended up spending more than 3,750 minutes because I didn’t take off for holidays. In fact, I only accidentally missed one day out of the entire year, and I did a mini-version of this while we were in France. And I ended up spending 26 minutes and 10 seconds per day––not 15 minutes––which means that I ended up with closer to 6,540 minutes. My life is 6,540 minutes better.

I recorded what I did every day in my bullet journal, and I mostly kept the same routine for all 250+ days. I started out meditating; first for 5 minutes per day, but now I’m up to 10 minutes per day. Then I read for 16 minutes and 10 seconds. Why 16 minutes and 10 seconds? Because I gave myself a buffer of 10 seconds to switch from turning on my timer to picking up my book. And then I added an extra minute of buffer to account for daydreaming (and needing to re-read a paragraph) or looking up a word in the book.

I started out reading books that I thought would make me happier––self help-like books about happiness theory. But I quickly switched into books that made my brain happy. Books about computer science and math and psychology. I read The Bonjour Effect to prepare for our trip to France and then came home and read a book about story structure because I’m thinking about writing a new book. So I spent my time meditating and reading books. Every single weekday.

How did I make it work?

First and foremost, making time for it. Saying unapologetically to myself that I’m doing this and it’s non-negotiable. That I’ll be a better wife/mother/worker/friend/etc if I take this time for myself every morning. I thought about it like showering. I don’t feel like it’s indulgent to shower; it’s something I do every day to make myself better. Showering is washing the outside of my body and #15Best is washing the inside of my soul.

Next, I do it at the same time every day. I do it right after yoga but before I shower. If I don’t do yoga for some reason, I do it right when I get up but before I shower. Either way, before I’ve had coffee, before I’ve had breakfast, before I’ve started up the computer, I’ve done this. I’ve taken this time for myself.

Finally, I keep my 15 minutes really low-key. I focus on reading and meditation. I can do them anywhere. They don’t require a lot (really any) movement. I can do it if I feel well or don’t feel well. I don’t need any fancy supplies. I think the reason it works is because I don’t make things too complicated.

I’m going to keep this going in 2020, and I once again invite you to join me. I started a Google Group last year if people want to use it so they can ask questions, get ideas, feel accountable so they stick with their plan. But this is a really low-key challenge. It’s just take 15 minutes to do something for yourself. Every single weekday. To make yourself better than you were 15 minutes earlier.