The 10 Second Trick to Make Every Minute Count

“Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.” 

Coria Kent

We’re all dying one minute, one hour and one day at a time – but time flies by so fast that we often aren’t aware of just how fleeting our moments really are.

We wake up one day and can’t believe another year or decade has gone by, and we ask ourselves….

Where did the time go? How did we not notice it passing?

I have a trick I’ve been using that really makes me value every moment, and today I’m going to share this trick with you.

Living a Moment at a Time

The trick is deceptively simple, and it’s based on the premise that life isn’t lived in daily or monthly increments.

Rather, life is lived one moment at a time.

That’s not how we usually plan though: we talk about dinners that last 3 hours, 3 month contracts, 6 month semesters, 2 day weekends and 5 day work weeks.

While it’s important to use large chunks of time when planning, I believe it’s important to mentally view the smallest chunks of time when we’re actually living – and take notice of every moment of our lives.

Therefore, the more often I am aware that my life is lived one minute at a time, the more of a conscious effort I will make to get the most out of every moment.

The Power Of Odd Times

The way I am able to remind myself that life is a series of minutes, and not weeks, months or years, is I plan my calendar using odd times.

For example, I wake up at 6:12 a.m. I have alarms that remind me of workout times that go off on the weekend at 8:54 a.m.

Even when I schedule meetings with other people, who prefer to use a more normal 30 minute time block, I’ll schedule it from say 7:30-8:00 to please them, but in my calendar I put in 7:26 to 7:53, and tell people I’ll have to leave early for another engagement.

Not only does scheduling the meeting this way give me a buffer to make it on time, and guarantee the meeting will actually end on time, but it also breaks me out of that 60 minute 15 minute view that most online calendars default to. 

Your Life Is A Series of Moments

Your life is not lived one day or one hour at a time.

It is lived one moment at a time.

With these little reminders on my calendar, I’m constantly reminded of this fact throughout every day – and this frequently leads me to question:

Am I making the most out of this moment?

Each moment of our lives will never come again. That doesn’t mean I have to accomplish something amazing or be working hard or having grand adventures every single second: but it does mean I have to take ownership and be accountable for my time, because in the end that’s all that’s truly mine.

Your time is the only thing that’s truly yours, and right now you can’t change the past, and you can’t control the future.

The only thing you have absolute control over are your choices right now in this moment, so make the most out of this moment – and every one that comes after it.

Plan your calendar using odd times, and then just like me, you’ll have a reminder of this fact throughout the day.