What would happen if each day you scheduled 12 minutes to push yourself away from the desk and take a walk outside or even lock yourself in the bathroom if need be?

Just stop for a moment. How much of what you are doing right now is through a myopic lens that focuses on the minutia of the moment?

• Answer this email
• Return that call
• Sort through the just arrived snail mail

Are you so caught up in the Monday morning minutia management mayhem that you are forgetting to look at the big picture?

Michael Gerber in his book, The E-Myth, called this working IN the business instead of ON the business. And this behavior is not just restricted to business. What about your personal life and well-being?

Yes, it is easy to get caught up in the minutia of life. And, worse yet, we as leaders and managers may even be delegating some of the myopic minutiae to others.

It Only Takes 12 Minutes

What would happen if each day you scheduled 12 minutes to push yourself away from the desk and take a walk outside or even lock yourself in the bathroom if need be?

Most people admit to wasting 12 minutes in just 8 hours, so time is not the issue if you are thinking, “I can’t do that because I don’t have time.” Yes, you can do that.

However, you may have to force yourself away from your current myopic minutia routine – because you are the obstacle, not everyone else.

Monday

Today, right now, what would happen if during these 12 minutes of let’s call them ‘quiet moments,’ you would think about one thing, personally or professionally that would make your life better or the lives of those around you better.

Tuesday

On day two, or Tuesday, your 12 minutes would identify the emotional significance of achieving that one thing personally or professionally.

This emotional significance would be the joy for achieving this desire and the regret for not realizing it.

Do you think now that your mind is somewhat clearer, you would have a greater focus on returning to all that minutia management mayhem awaiting in your office?

Wednesday

Day three would focus on your individual talents that would work together to achieve your professional or personal goal.

Thursday

On Thursday, or what I prefer to call Thor’s Day, your thoughts would turn to identifying all the obstacles standing in your way in achieving that goal.

Friday

Friday is solution time. You construct the right solutions for those listed obstacles.

Saturday

Day six, you write the action steps for each solution.

Sunday

On Sunday, day seven, you rest. You now have a completed goal in front of you so that tomorrow you can be working on those action steps and start checking them off.

Sooner than you realize, you have achieved your goal.

Now all you must do is to repeat this simple goal-setting process.

Yes, you can muddle through the myopic minutia of Monday morning. All it takes is just 12 minutes a day.