I want 2022 to be different, so I am setting up weekly challenges for myself and want you to join me for the January 15-Minute Daily Challenge. Set daily habits in 15-minute time chunks that will help you consistently achieve your new year’s goals while making progress over time. It is only 4 weeks, 1 new challenge a week!
Let’s take a month and focus on YOU. Think of January as being a month-long retreat for yourself. We will be working on daily habits that will increase your productivity and set a basic routine that will help you save time.
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Why Resolutions Fail
Often when a new year approaches we set BIG AMAZING goals. Then by mid-February, we are burnt out by all the change and just ditch all the new habits. We give up on all the extravagant goals and revert back to our previous ways. We forget why we even made the resolutions. The goals were too big and didn’t fit your lifestyle.
Why the January 15-Minute Daily Challenge Works
- Your only commitment is January. You are not committing to a whole year.
- Your only commitment is a week at a time.
- Your week is only 5 days, Monday through Friday.
- You only need to find a 15-minute block of time.
How the January 15-Minute Daily Challenge Works
Each week I will announce a new 15-minute daily challenge that you will do for one week. By the end of the week, this new challenge will become a routine. The next week you will be given a new 15-minute daily challenge. Each new challenge is meant to add on a new habit. By the end of January, you will have four new 15-minute habits. But you have the choice to continue each habit, swap out for the new one each week, or build on it.
- Week One: Habit 1
- Week Two: Habit 1 & 2
- Week Three: Habit 1, 2, & 3
- Week Four: Habit 1, 2, 3 & 4
Finding Time
Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day. Some people get so much done, and others are drowning at the end of the day. If you are drowning at the end of the day, maybe you need to take a look at your day. Where are you spending a lot of time? Scrolling on social media? Watching multiple hours of streaming content?
Let’s find one 15-minute pocket of time where we can get things done. This can be first thing in the morning, during a break from work, during your little one’s nap/quiet time, after the kids are asleep, you get the idea. Get creative, I have a feeling that you can find 15 minutes.
Consider breaking up an automatic transition. Instead of doing the dinner dishes then curling up on the sofa for the evening per usual, try fitting in a new 15-minute routine in between.
Take some time to map out your day, your ENTIRE day, from wake-up to sleep. Where are you wasting time? Can you break up blocks of automatic transitions? When could you fit in 15-minute blocks of time?
After the first week, you will see that you will actually have more time, and you will be more productive to add on more blocks.
Let’s begin!
Week One: De-Clutter
De-Clutter? I thought this month was going to be a retreat for me? Before you can focus on yourself, you need to remove some of the noise. Clutter and frustrating areas of your home don’t allow you to concentrate on yourself. You are probably putting away Christmas decorations this week. You are also putting away gifts you and your family have gotten. De-cluttering is a natural progression for next week.
Problem: CLUTTER EVERYWHERE: I have felt the urge lately to re-organize and de-clutter. When I look at my home I can see so many areas that have built up clutter over the years and desperately need to be sorted and find new homes. This quickly feels overwhelming and the sheer number of places that I want to “fix” makes me frozen to start.
The Challenge: Reorganizing/cleaning just one drawer or shelf each day.
Supplies: donation box (make sure that the box itself can be donated), trash bag, a timer.
The Process: Pick an area in your home that needs to be organized. Pick one drawer or shelf in that area.
Set a 15-minute timer. Each item that you take out will fall into 1 of 3 categories: donate, trash, or keep. Make sure to finish each item before moving to the next. If you are going to donate it, add it to the donate box. Trash goes in the trash. If you plan to keep it, put it in the place in your house where it belongs. If it does not have a place, then ask yourself where would you look for this item if you needed it. Then go and put the item there now before you move on to the next time. I know that this may take more time but it will ensure that you do not create more mess and actually make progress.
When the 15-minute timer goes off, you are done. Stop what you are doing. You are done for the day. The next day, finish your previous day’s project or if you finished, pick a new drawer or shelf.
Alternate Challenge: If you feel that your home is perfectly organized and without clutter…way to go! Your challenge will be to do a daily 15-minute clean. This can either be a speed clean of your home or focus on one area of your home per day.
Additional Resources
Be sure to take your before and after photos and tag me on Instagram (@alldayhuang) with your daily challenge. So looking forward to seeing your clean spaces.
JANUARY 15-MINUTE DAILY CHALLENGE
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