One Minute Per Day of the Year

January 1st (Day 1/365). One Minute.

January 2nd (Day 2/365). Two Minutes.

…

December 31st (Day 365/365). 6.083 Hours.

For this year, my plan was to do one minute of editing per day of the year for all 365 days. Here are the benefits to my plan so far:

1. Easy to begin. Having two babies in a row has made it easy for me to say I don’t have time for my writing. But only expecting 1 minute from myself was difficult to deny. As the minutes build, it feels very natural and not overwhelming.
2. Encourages me to finish editing early. As the year progresses and the minutes increase, I expect I would have to not sleep in order to complete my goal. Instead, I cheat by doing more than my allotted minutes in the hopes of readying my manuscript before the end of the year.
3. Reminds me to think about editing as a daily task. It’s not about whether I’m going to edit, it’s about how long I will edit for. It’s not optional. Sure, some days I don’t put in the time equal to the day of the year. However any time is better than getting off track and ignoring my novel.

I have shared my goal with my writing buddy, and his encouragement has also helped me stay on track. I love being able to honestly tell him I am keeping my commitment on this.

How tenable would something like this be to you? Would you prefer it a different way?

Author: ashleycrookham

Some of Ashley’s favorite experiences in life have been reading books. Others were inspired by reading books. As a wordsmith and novelist, she creates experiences for her readers. View all posts by ashleycrookham