Episode 56 - 15 Minutes That Can Change Your Life
Welcome to Episode 56 of the Time for Living Podcast!
TRANSCRIPT
show notes
What if those "useless" 15-minute pockets between school drop-off and pickup could actually transform your entire business and life? Most busy moms dismiss these fragments of time as too short to matter. But here's the truth: 15 minutes a day equals 91 hours per year—enough to write a book, launch a course, or build the business you've been putting off.
What You'll Learn
How to turn 15 daily minutes into 91+ hours annually using simple math that will shift your entire perspective on "wasted" time
Why you quit habits in week two (and the exact psychological phase you need to push through to see real results)
The 5-second countdown technique that overrides your brain's resistance and gets you moving before excuses take over
How small actions create identity shifts that make success automatic instead of requiring constant willpower
What to do when your 15-minute habit gets boring (week 2-4 is when champions are made)
By the end of this episode, you'll have a clear 15-minute habit selected, know exactly when you'll do it, and understand why consistency matters more than motivation.
Featured Framework
A systematic approach to building transformative habits in the time pockets busy moms already have, turning scattered minutes into compounding results.
FREE RESOURCE
Do you want my free habit tracker? Email me at hello@timeforliving.co and I’ll send it to you right away.
Let’s Connect:
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timeforlivingco/
• Email: hello@timeforliving.co
Final Thought:
Your future self is watching. Give her those 15 minutes.
TRANSCRIPT - 15 Minutes That Can Change Your Life
INTRODUCTION
You know that feeling when you finally sit down to work on your business, and within three minutes your mind is elsewhere, or you remember you forgot to reply to that email, or you realize you have exactly 20 minutes before pickup and it's not enough time to do anything meaningful, so you just scroll Instagram instead?
Yeah. Me too.
But what if I told you that those random 15-minute pockets of time—the ones you're convinced are useless—could actually transform your entire business and life?
I know. It sounds too simple. Stick with me for a second, because the math is about to blow your mind.
THE MATH THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING
Grab your phone's calculator real quick. I'm serious, pull it out.
Take 15 minutes. Multiply by 365.
You get 5,475 minutes.
Now divide by 60.
91.25 hours.
Wait. Read that again. Ninety-one hours.
That's more than two full work weeks. That's basically four entire days of your life.
And all we're talking about is 15 minutes a day.
And before you think, "Great, another person telling me I'm wasting time"—that's not what this is. This is about working with your actual life. The one where you're building a business in 15-minute increments between school drop-off and the dentist appointment. The one where your "office hours" are 6:30am or 8pm after bedtime.
Fifteen minutes a day is 91 hours a year. That's enough to write a book. Launch a course. Get in the best shape of your life. Learn a new skill that could change your income.
And here's what nobody tells you: those 15-minute sessions might actually be better than having three uninterrupted hours because you're forced to focus and execute instead of overthinking.
So the question isn't whether you have time. The question is: what are you going to do with those 91 hours?
THE COMPOUND EFFECT
There's this concept from James Clear's book Atomic Habits that completely changed how I think about progress. And if you haven't read that book, put it on your list.
Here's the core idea: If you get 1% better at something every single day, by the end of the year, you'll be 37 times better at it.
The math is 1.01 to the power of 365. It equals 37.78.
Think about that. One percent. That's nothing. That's barely noticeable. But do it every day for a year and you're 37 times better.
We think improvement should be linear. Like, if I work out for a week, I should see results in a week. If I write for a month, I should have a finished product in a month.
But that's not how habits work. They compound. Like interest in a savings account.
The first week, you look at your balance and think, "This is pointless. I still can't afford anything." But you keep going. And six months later, you look again and realize you have enough for that thing you wanted.
This is exactly how building a business as a mom works. You don't get to dedicate eight-hour workdays to growth. You get Tuesday morning while your toddler watches Bluey. You get twenty minutes during practice. You get that hour after bedtime when you're exhausted but you show up anyway.
And every single one of those sessions compounds. The email you write today brings in a client next month. The content you create this week gets seen by your ideal customer in three months. The skill you learn in stolen moments becomes the service you charge premium prices for next year.
The problem is most of us quit in week two because we can't see it working yet.
THE VALLEY OF DISAPPOINTMENT
Let me be brutally honest with you about what's going to happen.
You're going to start your 15-minute habit. Day one feels great. You're motivated. Day three, still good. Day seven, you're starting to wonder if this is actually doing anything.
Day fourteen? You're frustrated. You've been showing up every single day and nothing has changed. Your business doesn't look different. Your body doesn't look different. Your bank account definitely doesn't look different.
This is what James Clear calls the Valley of Disappointment, where most people quit.
They think, "See? I knew this wouldn't work. I'm just not the kind of person who can do this."
But that's not true. You know what's true? You're two weeks in. Two weeks.
You didn't build your business in two weeks. You didn't learn to walk in two weeks. Your kids didn't learn to talk in two weeks. Nothing worth having happens in two weeks.
But our brains are wired for instant gratification. We want to see proof immediately that this is working. And when we don't, we assume it's not.
Here's what's actually happening: The results are accumulating. The neural pathways are forming. The identity is shifting. You just can't see it yet because it's happening internally before it shows up externally.
Think about weight loss. You can eat healthy for two weeks and the scale doesn't move. But your cells are changing. Your inflammation is decreasing. Your energy is improving. The scale just hasn't caught up yet.
Your 15 minutes are working. Your brain just can't see the evidence yet.
So when you're in week two or three and you're tempted to give up, ask yourself: "Am I quitting because this isn't working, or am I quitting because I can't see that it's working yet?"
Those are two very different things.
Don't quit because you can't see it. Give it 30 days. Then look.
THE 5-SECOND PROBLEM
Alright, so we know 15 minutes compounds into serious results. We know we need to push through the valley.
But let's talk about the actual problem. The thing that stops you every single day.
It's not that you don't have 15 minutes. It's those first 5 seconds.
You know when you think, "I should work on that email sequence right now," and immediately your brain is like, "But you're tired. Do it later. You should clean the kitchen first. Let me just check Instagram real quick."
Your brain is not trying to sabotage you. It's trying to keep you safe. And safe means comfortable. Your brain doesn't care about your goals. It cares about conserving energy and avoiding anything that feels hard.
And if you're a mom, your brain has another trick. It says, "You should be playing with your kids right now. You should be doing laundry. You should be meal prepping. What kind of mom chooses her business over her family?"
Listen. Choosing 15 minutes for your business isn't choosing it over your family. It's choosing to show your kids what it looks like when someone builds something meaningful. It's choosing a better future for all of you.
So here's what you do—and I learned this from Mel Robbins who has a whole book called The 5 Second Rule about this exact thing: When you have the thought to do your 15 minutes, you have exactly 5 seconds to physically move, or your brain will kill the idea.
Count backwards. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.
Then you move your body.
You don't wait to feel like it. You don't wait for motivation. You count down and you move.
Open your laptop. Put on your shoes. Pick up your journal. Whatever the physical first step is, you do it within five seconds.
The hardest part of any 15-minute habit isn't the 15 minutes. It's the first 5 seconds.
Once you start, momentum takes over. But you have to override that initial resistance with action.
Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Move.
I use this every single morning. The alarm goes off. My brain immediately says, "Five more minutes." And I count. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Feet hit the floor.
It works.
THE FRAMEWORK
Okay, now I'm going to give you the exact framework I use.
Seven steps. And if you follow these, you're going to actually stick with this instead of quitting in week two like usual.
Step One: Choose ONE habit.
I know you want to do everything. Work on your business AND work out AND read AND meal prep AND organize your entire house.
Stop it.
Most people try to change too much at once, and they end up changing nothing. So you're going to pick one. The one that would make the biggest impact on your life right now.
For some of you, that's 15 minutes on your business every morning before the kids wake up. For others, it's 15 minutes of movement because you haven't exercised in two years. For others, it's 15 minutes of reading because you miss feeling like yourself.
Pick one. You can add more later. But start with one.
Step Two: Make it stupidly specific.
It's not enough to say, "I'm going to work on my business." You need to say, "I'm going to write email copy for 15 minutes at 6:30am at my kitchen table."
Don't say, "I'm going to exercise." Say, "I'm going to do a 15-minute yoga video in my living room at 9 AM after school drop-off."
The more specific, the less willpower you need. Your brain doesn't have to decide anything. It just follows the plan.
I'm serious about this. Specificity is everything.
Step Three: Attach it to something you already do.
This is called habit stacking. You already brush your teeth. You already make coffee. You already put kids to bed.
So stack your new habit onto an existing one.
"After I brush my teeth, I work on my business for 15 minutes."
"After I drop the kids at school, I do my 15-minute workout."
"After I put the kids to bed, I read for 15 minutes."
The existing habit becomes your trigger.
Step Four: Design your environment so you can't fail.
We often think we lack motivation when we actually just designed our environment poorly.
If you want to read, put the book on your nightstand. Not on a shelf. Right next to your bed.
If you want to work out, lay out your clothes the night before. Sleep in them if you have to.
If you want to work on your business, have your laptop open to exactly what you need to do. Don't waste your 15 minutes figuring out what to work on.
Make it so ridiculously easy that you'd feel silly not doing it.
Step Five: Use the 5-second countdown every single day.
Because even with all this setup, your brain will still try to stop you.
That's when you count. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. And you physically move.
No negotiating. No "I'll do it later." You count and you move.
This is the secret sauce. This is what makes everything else work.
Step Six: Track it with a calendar or habit tracker
Get a paper calendar or habit tracker. Put a big X on every day you do your 15 minutes.
That's the whole thing. You're not tracking results. You're not tracking how you feel. Just: did you show up? X.
There's something powerful about seeing a chain of X's. You won't want to break it.
And listen—when you do break the chain, because you might, don’t give up on yourself. You just X the next day. But never miss twice. That's the rule.
Step Seven: Do not judge this for 30 days.
You're going to want to quit around day 12. I'm telling you right now, that's when the valley hits.
But you're not allowed to judge whether this is working until day 30.
Because if you quit at day 14, you'll never know what would have happened at day 30. Or day 90. Or day 365.
Give it 30 days. That's the deal.
WHAT YOUR 15 MINUTES COULD LOOK LIKE
Let me get really practical here. Because I know some of you are thinking, "Okay, but what should I actually DO for 15 minutes?"
If you're building your business:
Here's what 15 minutes actually looks like when you're working in the cracks of your day, I have a whole list of ideas.
It's writing one email to your list. Not planning the whole sequence. Not researching subject lines. Not looking at what other people are doing. You open your laptop, you write one email, you schedule it. Done. Do this every day for a year? That's 365 emails. That's a year of consistent connection with your audience.
Or it's creating one piece of content while you're waiting for the pasta water to boil. One caption. One idea. One video you record in your car before you walk into Target. Three hundred sixty-five pieces of content. That changes everything.
Or it's 15 minutes of outreach. One genuine comment on someone's post. One DM to a potential collaboration partner. One email to someone whose work you admire. These connections compound. One of them turns into your next big opportunity.
Or it's learning. One lesson in that course you bought six months ago and haven't touched. One chapter in that business book. One YouTube tutorial. Fifteen minutes a day for a year? You'll have completed multiple courses. You'll know how to do things that seemed impossible in January.
Now, some of you are thinking, "But what if my business isn't the most important thing right now?" Fair. Let me give you other options.
If you're working on your health:
Fifteen minutes of movement. There are thousands of free workout videos on YouTube. Pick one. Do it. Nothing else.
Or 15 minutes of meal prep. Chop all your vegetables for the week. Make a big batch of hard-boiled eggs. Prep snacks for your kids so you stop buying those expensive prepackaged ones.
Or 15 minutes of stretching. Your body is tight from sitting at a computer and carrying kids all day. Just stretch. You'll feel completely different.
Or 15 minutes walking outside. Bonus if you can get sunlight. Your nervous system needs this more than you think.
If you're working on yourself:
Fifteen minutes reading. At that pace, you'll read about 20 books this year. Twenty books. When was the last time you read 20 books in a year?
Or 15 minutes journaling. Brain dump everything. Or answer one question: What do I actually want? Write for 15 minutes. You'll be shocked what comes out.
Or 15 minutes meditating. Yeah, I get it. But even five minutes of sitting and breathing will change your entire nervous system. Start there and work up to 15.
Or 15 minutes planning. Review yesterday. Plan today. Three priorities. Period. Watch how much more intentional your days become.
If you're managing your home:
Fifteen minutes cleaning one room. Set a timer. Pick one room. Go as hard as you can for 15 minutes. You'll be amazed what you can accomplish.
Or 15 minutes decluttering. One drawer. One shelf. One corner of the closet. In 30 days, you'll have decluttered 30 spaces.
Or 15 minutes organizing digital chaos. Delete old emails. Organize your desktop. Clean out your photos. Your phone is probably more cluttered than your house.
Or 15 minutes meal planning. Look at your calendar for the week. What nights are crazy? Plan for those specifically. Order groceries online. You're done.
If you're investing in relationships:
Fifteen minutes with your partner. No phones. Actually talk. Or just sit together. You'd be shocked how rare this is.
Or 15 minutes playing with your kids. Not supervising. Actually playing. On the floor. With full attention. They'll remember these moments forever.
Or 15 minutes calling someone. That friend you keep meaning to catch up with. Your mom. Your sister. Fifteen minutes to maintain a relationship that matters.
Or 15 minutes writing notes. Thank you cards. Birthday cards. "Thinking of you" texts. Small gestures that build connection.
The options are literally endless. But remember: pick ONE. Master it. Then add another if you want.
THE IDENTITY SHIFT
Here's what most people don't understand about habits. And this is honestly the most important thing I'm going to say today.
It's not about the 15 minutes. It's about who you become through those 15 minutes.
There are three levels of change. Most people focus on outcomes. "I want to lose weight. I want to grow my business."
Some people focus on process. "I'm going to work out every day. I'm going to post content every day."
But the most effective level is identity. "I am someone who takes care of my body. I am an entrepreneur."
Because when you see yourself as a certain type of person, you naturally do the things that person does.
You don't have to force yourself to work out if you see yourself as an athlete. Athletes work out. That's what they do.
You don't have to force yourself to write if you see yourself as a writer. Writers write. That's what they do.
Every time you show up for your 15 minutes, you're not just doing a thing. You're casting a vote for your identity.
One vote doesn't change anything. But 30 votes? A hundred votes? 365 votes?
I want you to think about the woman you were before you had kids. Maybe she read books. Maybe she worked out. Maybe she had creative hobbies. Maybe she felt like herself.
And then you became a mom and an entrepreneur, and somewhere in there, you lost her. Not because you stopped caring, but because 30 minutes or an hour felt impossible to find.
But 15 minutes? You can find 15 minutes.
And every time you show up for those 15 minutes—whether it's for your business, your body, or your brain—you're not just doing a task. You're becoming her again. The version of you who prioritizes herself. Who builds things. Who doesn't disappear into everyone else's needs.
Your kids are watching. And what they're learning is way more valuable than whether you were available for every single snack request. They're learning that their mom has dreams. That their mom follows through. That their mom is a whole person, not just someone who serves them.
Because once your identity shifts, the behavior becomes automatic. You don't need willpower anymore. You don't need motivation. You just do it because it's who you are.
And that's when everything compounds exponentially.
THE BORING MIDDLE
I need to warn you about something. There's going to be a phase—probably around week two, three or four—where this gets really boring.
The novelty wears off. You're past the valley, so you're not frustrated anymore. But you're not seeing massive results yet either. You're just... showing up.
This is the boring middle. And this is where champions are made.
Because anyone can show up when it's exciting. Anyone can show up when they're motivated. But can you show up when it's boring? When it feels like it doesn't matter? When no one's watching?
That's the test.
And here's what I want you to know: The boring middle is when the compound effect is doing its most powerful work.
Remember you can't see it yet. But underneath the surface, everything is shifting. Those neural pathways are forming. Your identity is solidifying. The results are building.
Results don't show up immediately. They accumulate beneath the surface until you hit a tipping point. And then suddenly, everything changes all at once.
This is not the time to quit. This is the time to trust the process.
Even when—especially when—it feels pointless.
One more day. One more 15 minutes. One more vote for the person you're becoming.
WHAT STOPS YOU
Let's talk about the excuses. Because I know what you're going to tell yourself.
"I'm too tired." You're always going to be tired. You're a mom running a business. Tired is your baseline. This is where the 5-second countdown is everything. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Move anyway.
"I don't have time." You have 15 minutes. I promise you do. You're probably going to spend 20 minutes scrolling your phone tonight. Use 15 of those minutes differently.
"I'll start Monday." No. Today. Right now. After you finish listening to this episode. "I'll start Monday" is your brain protecting you from discomfort. Count down and start now.
"I already tried this and it didn't work." You didn't try this. You tried for a week, didn't see results, and quit in the Valley of Disappointment. This time, you're committing to 30 days minimum.
"What if I miss a day?" Never miss twice. You don't throw away your whole calendar because you broke the chain once. You just start a new chain the next day.
"What if I pick the wrong habit?" There is no wrong habit. Pick something. Anything that moves you forward. You can always adjust later.
"But what about my kids? What about family time?" Listen. Fifteen minutes is not going to ruin your relationship with your children. You know what might? Modeling resentment. Modeling unfulfilled dreams. Modeling what it looks like to always put yourself last.
Your kids don't need you available every second. They need you present when you're with them. And you can't be present if you're bitter about all the things you're not doing for yourself.
Fifteen minutes for you makes you a better mom. Not a worse one.
The only way you fail is if you don't start.
YOUR LIFE IN 365 DAYS
Close your eyes for a second. Seriously, if you're not driving, close them.
Picture yourself one year from now. 365 days of 15-minute sessions.
What changed?
Maybe you wrote and launched that email sequence that's now bringing in consistent income.
Maybe you read 20 books and one of them gave you the idea that changed your business.
Maybe you worked out almost every day and you're stronger than you've been in 10 years.
Maybe you have 365 pieces of content and your audience grew by thousands.
Maybe you spent 91 hours learning and you're now offering a service you couldn't do before.
Maybe you decluttered your entire home, one space at a time, and you finally feel like you can breathe.
Maybe you spent 15 minutes a day with your kids fully present and they're different because of it.
This isn't fantasy. This is math. This is what 15 minutes a day becomes.
The compound effect. The power of the 5-second countdown. The identity shift that happens when you vote for yourself 365 times.
The only question is: are you going to do it?
WHAT TO DO RIGHT NOW
Here's what I want you to do right now.
Pause this episode. Seriously, pause it.
Decide on your one 15-minute habit. What's the one thing that would make the biggest difference?
Now, when? Be specific. What time tomorrow morning? What will you attach it to?
Got it?
Okay, one more thing.
Set a reminder on your phone for that time. Right now. Don't tell yourself you'll remember. You won't.
And listen—tomorrow, when that reminder goes off, you might not feel ready. You might feel tired. You might feel guilty. You might think, "This is silly. What difference will 15 minutes really make?"
That's when you count. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. And you move.
Not because you're superhuman. Not because you have it all figured out. But because your future self is watching you right now. She's hoping you'll choose her. She's hoping you'll believe that 15 minutes matters.
It does. She does. You do.
Fifteen minutes. That's all she's asking for.
A year from now, when your business is different, when your body feels different, when you look at yourself in the mirror and recognize the woman looking back—you're going to remember this moment. This decision.
Not because you did something massive. Because you did something small, consistently, until you became someone you didn't recognize anymore. In the best possible way.
You don't rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. This is your system. Fifteen minutes. One habit. Thirty days.
That's the Quarter-Hour Revolution Method. That's the power of 15 minutes.
Now go set that reminder. Count down. And start.
You're already the kind of woman who can do this. You just need to prove it to yourself.
I'll talk to you next week.