SDH 455: 20 Minute Rule with Amanda Boleyn

Other ways to listen:

Hello, hello friends! Today I’m excited to share with you my 20 minute rule. The 20 minute rule is very simple and it goes like this, “20 minutes is better than zero minutes”.

This is a rule that I’ve used for years in my own life and I coach my students to use this rule.

Here’s why this works…because when it comes to doing something (let’s say ‘work on your business’) and you find that you only have 20 minutes, your brain defaults to simply thinking, “that’s not enough time to make a difference.” It automatically discounts the impact it could make in just 20 minutes.

But the truth is, absolutely, yes it is. 20 minutes is more than enough to make headway.

We tend to discount the time it takes to do something because we think inherently it may take longer to complete than it actually does. Partly the reason why we think it takes longer to complete something than it actually does is because it is too vague and not specific enough.

Take for example, tax season. For years I would think that if I didn’t have a 4-hour chunk of time there is no way I could get anything worthwhile done as it related to taxes and that was simply not the case. The goal is to break down your overall intention into bite-sized, action steps with a very clear result at the end of the 20 minutes.

Rather than “working on your business,” how can you get more specific?

For example, instead of saying work on…

Business website, you’d say….write first draft for “about me page”
Email sequence for X product, you’d say….write outline for the email sequence or write the drafts of the first 2 emails
Launch sequence, you’d say...write outline for launch sequence or decide dates for launch sequence
Podcast episode, you’d say...write first draft of next week’s episode
Opt-in, you’d say...write outline, or pick Creative Template.

We focus on this inside Her Way to $75K because the majority of the members are building their online business while working their full-time job, so it is even more important to take advantage of those 20 minute opportunities than to dismiss them as simply not useful.

I also recommend that if you are building your online business while working full-time and find it challenging to get into a routine when it comes to working on your business, start with 20 or 25 minutes a day for just 2 days a week.

It is kind of like working out. If you haven’t worked out in months and try to go from zero days or minutes of working out to working out 60 minutes a day 5 days a week, it is going to be hard to maintain that routine for long and you may find yourself giving up and not sticking with it. If you’re not used to working your business in addition to your full-time job, I would not recommend setting a goal to work on your business for 2 hours a day, 4 days a week. That is a lot for your brain to take on.

Instead, start small and build the routine and track record of success for your brain.

Start with 20 minutes a day for 2 days.

Be very clear and specific what you want the outcome to be at the end of those 20 minutes.

By doing this you are building your capacity which will then allow you to increase it in a more sustainable way because you’ll be able to stay consistent and follow through.

If you’re not sure what to work on, where, or how to get started, join us inside Her Way to $75K where I coach you on all things online business.

You could also apply the 20 minute rule to your personal life...whether that is cleaning, taking the garbage out, you name it. Think about all the things you may potentially be procrastinating on because your brain thinks it needs more time than it actually does to make an impact.

Consistent action overtime is what makes the biggest difference.

So next time your brain thinks, “Ahhh that isn’t enough time to get X done…” challenge yourself to see what you CAN get done in that time you have...even if it is 20 minutes, 15, 10, or only 5 minutes.

The action you take today, even if it is only for 20 minutes, will put you further ahead tomorrow.

I hope you enjoyed today’s episode, until next week, keep doing it your way!

Insights:

“We tend to discount the time it takes to do something because we think inherently it may take longer to complete than it actually does.”
“Consistent action overtime is what makes the biggest difference.”
“Instead, start small and build the routine and track record of success for your brain.”
“The action you take today, even if it is only for 20 minutes, will put you further ahead tomorrow.”