--- title: "Time management: Why the next ten minutes are the most important" description: There are a million blog posts about time management But this article just covers the next ten minutes and to win at productivity. image: https://geekboss.com/hubfs/age-barros-Yx1ZkifiHto-unsplash-scaled-1-3-1.jpg --- [Productivity](https://geekboss.com/blog/tag/productivity) # Why the next ten minutes are the most important in your whole life [ By Matthew Stibbe ![Matthew Stibbe](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/c0fe13642b2329271b9ce0a5b41d744a) ](https://geekboss.com/blog/author/matthew-stibbe) Published 03/Apr/2018 Updated June 3 2026 ![Close up of an elegant wristwatch](https://geekboss.com/hs-fs/hubfs/age-barros-Yx1ZkifiHto-unsplash-scaled-1-3-1.jpg?width=1600&height=1000&name=age-barros-Yx1ZkifiHto-unsplash-scaled-1-3-1.jpg) No watch on earth, [no matter how expensive](https://www.forbes.com/sites/msolomon/2014/06/19/louis-vuittons-escale-worldtime-watch-goes-around-the-world-in-60-seconds/), is going to give you an extra minute of your life. No camera, [no matter how elegant](https://leica-camera.com/en-GB/photography/cameras/m/m-a-typ-127-silver), is going to freeze time. When we talk about **time management**, we try to save time – but time doesn’t save, it passes. We know this intuitively. That is why blog posts that tell you how to save time and get more time, for [example by getting up early](https://geekboss.com/blog/get-up-earlier) are so popular. I have cupboards **full of gadgets that promised to make me more efficient.** Oh well. ## How I spend my time I once spent two weeks doing a detailed [time and motion study](http://blog.idonethis.com/how-to-do-a-time-and-motion-study-to-make-real-change/) on my time. I learned three things: 1. **Flitting restlessly** between tasks like a child on hot sand, driven by interruptions, my need to tick stuff off a bottomless to-do list is very strong. 2. Most of my time is spent on** low-impact work:** writing emails, tinkering with websites, project management, answering the phone and so on. You know what’s it like. 3. Just occasionally, I did something **important**. Not necessarily big but definitely good like a seed or a smile. If you’re lucky or careful, you work for fifty minutes an hour so you can spend ten minutes doing something like this:** innovative, productive or exciting.** **[![Marketing Strategy foundations course CTA](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/289742/f5078ad8-43c6-493e-bdd4-7530d06591d3.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/289742/f5078ad8-43c6-493e-bdd4-7530d06591d3)** ## Just ten minutes Here are some examples of things that take ten minutes but which have **a high return on the time invested.** There are other ways to improve your [personal productivity](https://geekboss.com/blog/too-much-to-do) and [team productivity](https://geekboss.com/blog/how-to-crack-the-whip-without-leaving-a-mark-ten-tips-for-instant-team-productivity-wins) but this is what I want to do more. - Find a life-enhancing new **blog to read.** Subscribe to it. (Try [Brain Pickings](https://www.themarginalian.org/), [Seth Godin](https://seths.blog/), [This Charming Charlie](https://thischarmingcharlie.tumblr.com/), [Zen Habits](https://zenhabits.net/).) - Listen to a **podcast** for a while and get inspired. (Try [This American Life](https://www.thisamericanlife.org/), Startup, [Radiolab](https://radiolab.org), [99% Invisible](https://99percentinvisible.org/).) - Contact a **friend** that you haven’t spoken to for a while. (This is a good use for Facebook. Try also picking up the phone.) - Write someone a birthday **card** and actually post it. It’s a really nice thing to do. - Go on **LinkedIn**, find an old colleague, someone you admire, an exciting prospect and send them a message. You could end up with a new friend, a mentor or a new client. - Download a great **game** and enjoy it for a few minutes. [Time you enjoy wasting isn’t wasted time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell). (Try [A Dark Room](http://adarkroom.doublespeakgames.com/) or the Internet Archive’s collection of [90s classic games](https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos_showcase). Look at [SimIsle](https://archive.org/details/SimIsle_Maxis_Eng) or [LEGO Loco](https://archive.org/details/LegoLoco). I designed them.) - Write your **diary**. - Reflect on your new year’s **resolutions**. You know the ones you wrote LAST YEAR! - Turn ten minutes into an hour. [Cancel a meeting.](https://www.articulatemarketing.com/blog/better-meetings) Take something off your to-do list. Email someone to say ‘**No**, I can’t help with that. Sorry.’ - Pick one thing that’s broken in your [company culture](https://www.articulatemarketing.com/about-us), business model, or working practices. Now brainstorm ways to **fix it.** - **Write a blog post** from the heart and share it with everybody. You get what you give, but sssh, don’t tell anyone! [![How to choose an agency for your new website](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/289742/aab369e3-a371-48eb-a47f-85895833e378.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/289742/aab369e3-a371-48eb-a47f-85895833e378) Share [![Share on linkedin](https://geekboss.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/GeekBoss%20theme/images/icons/linkedin.svg) ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://geekboss.com/blog/next-ten-minutes-are-important&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin) [![Share on facebook](https://geekboss.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/GeekBoss%20theme/images/icons/facebook.svg) ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://geekboss.com/blog/next-ten-minutes-are-important&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook) ![Copy to clipboard](https://geekboss.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/GeekBoss%20theme/images/icons/copy.svg) ## Related articles ![Chalkboard drawing of a brain](https://geekboss.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AdobeStock_84645276-1-3-1.jpg?width=800&height=500&name=AdobeStock_84645276-1-3-1.jpg) ### [The wrong word: widely misunderstood scientific terms](https://geekboss.com/blog/wrong-word) People have a horrible tendency to use the wrong word in press releases, especially when using scientific terms they don’t understand. Hype... By Matthew Stibbe [Communication](https://geekboss.com/blog/tag/communication) ![Child who thinks he's a superhero](https://geekboss.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/AdobeStock_90075794-1-1-1.jpeg?width=800&height=500&name=AdobeStock_90075794-1-1-1.jpeg) ### [Why I’m awesome: The Dunning-Kruger effect](https://geekboss.com/blog/dunning-kruger-effect) I have finally found the explanation for irrational overconfidence: the Dunning-Kruger effect. It explains the bombast on the internet and... By Matthew Stibbe [Geeky Things](https://geekboss.com/blog/tag/geeky-things) ![Fisher Space Pen Box](https://geekboss.com/hs-fs/hubfs/bullet_moonbox_sleeve_500-1-3-1.png?width=800&height=500&name=bullet_moonbox_sleeve_500-1-3-1.png) ### [Apocrypha now: the true story of NASA’s space pen](https://geekboss.com/blog/space-pen) Have you heard the story about how NASA engineers spent a million dollars developing a space pen for astronauts that would work in zero... 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