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Maybe the Real Challenge Isn’t Using Every Minute.

The other day, I was ready to leave the house when I realized I was a little early. Those extra ten minutes felt like an unexpected gift from God. Suddenly, my mind filled with possibilities—so many things I could do, so many tiny tasks I could squeeze in. I had to choose quickly and wisely.

Since I was already in the kitchen, I started there. I put away the clean dishes, watered a plant, erased and rewrote my board, and fed the dog. I was on a roll—so productive that I began to surprise myself. Look at all I’m getting done, I thought… wait. It’s been more than ten minutes!

Has that ever happened to you? You start “playing” with those extra minutes, only to realize you’re now at risk of being late to the very commitment you had carefully planned for.

Those elusive extra minutes can be a real temptation. We get a little greedy. We try to maximize them, squeezing in just one more task to “save time” later. But in doing so, we often sabotage ourselves. All the effort we put into being on time gets undone because we underestimate how easily we can slip right back into the situation we were trying to avoid.

Those same ten minutes could have given us something better: a calm drive, an on-time arrival, a peaceful state of mind. But we don’t usually see time that way.

It’s almost funny how naïve we can be. The moment we discover we have extra time, we start planning how to use it. By the time we begin, a couple of minutes are already gone. Then we forget to check the clock because we get caught up in our own “efficiency”—in the challenge of getting things done quickly, maybe even well enough to brag about later.

And I wonder: why can’t we simply enjoy those extra minutes? Why do we feel the need to push ourselves, adding tasks we hadn’t even considered, and that could easily wait? Is it pride? Vanity? Just habit?

For me, it often turns into a kind of game. I don’t enjoy the stress—I enjoy the challenge. I like testing how efficiently I can use time, estimating how long something will take. I remember telling my kids I’d pick them up in seven minutes—not five, not ten, but seven. Or getting home in twelve minutes, without even checking GPS.

So, here’s one small tip: when you find yourself with a few unexpected extra minutes, set a timer for two minutes less than what you actually have. That way, you won’t get too wrapped up in a last-minute task and can still leave on time.

Time is one of the most predictable things we have. We know exactly how many seconds are in a minute—yet we still manage to lose track of it. Especially in those “extra” moments.

Maybe the real challenge isn’t using every minute. Maybe it’s learning when to let a minute simply be.

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