I want to write a book. It’s been my goals for years but I was nowhere closer to achieving the goal than I was 5 years ago. I want to be more connected to my husband. We have a good relationship but with three very active kids and us both running our own businesses, somedays we were just passing each other in the hall. I want to be in great shape. I was an athlete as a kid but between work and family I didn’t find the time to work out.

These are three areas of my life that I knew I wanted to be better in. For so long I kept telling myself there is not enough time, I’ll get to them later but I never did, my days got full with other things, some good things, other things that just kept me busy. But then I discovered the 5 minute rule. I take the goal I would like to achieve and break it into a 5 minute task. Then I focus on consistently doing that task. How hard can it be? 5 minutes is nothing.

In the morning, I get up before anyone else and added writing in a notebook for 5 minutes as part of my morning routine. It doesn’t matter what it’s about, I just write, even if it’s just a page of random thoughts or a list of things I am grateful for. When my husbands alarm goes off, I crawl back into bed and snuggle with him a few minutes before it’s time to start the mad morning rush of getting everyone out the door on time. For so long it was habit to check the news, facebook and emails first thing but all that is just busy stuff that can wait. Why should things happening in the lives of people other than my best friend and partner be what greets me in the morning? During lunch, I take a walk around town before going back to my studio for something to eat.

I have discovered by adding 5 minutes here and there, I haven’t actually lost time. I have not miss out on anything important or gotten behind at work or home. I mean, how could I? It’s just 5 minutes. But as the habits have set in, it’s easier for those 5 minutes to turn into writing multiple pages, connecting with my husband throughout the day and walking a few miles.

What is a change you want to make in your life? How can you break that into a 5 minute task? Commit to that everyday. Even when you don’t want to, even when the motivation is gone because it’s just 5 minutes. Don’t make it bigger than that, there’s time for improvement once the task is a regular part of your day. For now, don’t let 5 minutes keep you from making big life changes.