Living Life “5 At A Time”

I have always preferred sprints of effort for a variety of things versus longer stretches of intense focus on a single thing. During a recent conversation with a friend I mentioned I tend to live my life “5 at a time” and he found it interesting. So, I offer it here.

Do 5 push-ups. Read for 5 minutes. Purge your home of 5 items. Call a friend and talk for 5 minutes. Meditate for 5 minutes. Write down 5 ideas to improve your life. Spend 5 minutes answering email. Brainstorm a problem for 5 minutes. And so on. You get the idea.

Life can be challenging for many of us when viewed through the lens of needing to remain sharply focused for extended periods of time. It ends up being more of a roadblock than helpful. For those who can maintain such focus, great. We do what works for us.

For me, all day long I think of life 5 at a time and it keeps me moving ahead. It reduces the pressure I can otherwise feel when I assume something might be a long, protracted project.

And your 5 can be extended to 10, 15 or 30. Or longer. I do that all the time. I will be writing for 5 minutes and be so in the flow zone that I add another 5 minutes, then another, and before I realize it, I have written for an hour. Each 5-minute chunk of time or tasks can be constructed like building blocks any way you want.

We all have little tricks that we have figured out help us best get through the day in ways that work for us. This is one of mine. Perhaps you will find it useful.