Last Wednesday, I had one of those moments that seemed almost laughably small but ended up changing how I think about time.
I had just gotten home from work, watered my plants, and realized I had exactly 10 minutes before I needed to get ready for dinner. Normally, I would grab my phone and scroll through Instagram, basically letting that time slip away.
But instead, I threw on my swimsuit and jumped in the pool. For 10 minutes.
It was 105 degrees, and those 10 minutes felt like forever. By the time I walked into the restaurant, I felt more energized and alive than I had all day. And that is when it hit me: I have been thinking about 10 minutes all wrong.
We are conditioned to treat short pockets of time as filler. Just gaps to kill until the next real thing happens. But those little blocks are not breaks from your day. They are your day.
Think about how often you have 10 minutes: before a call starts, while waiting for coffee, between meetings. For most of us, it happens at least three times a day. That is 30 minutes daily. In a year, that adds up to over 90 hours.
Ninety hours. You can either use it to fuel yourself or let it drain you.
Once I realized this, I started asking a simple question: “What would give me energy right now?”
Sometimes it is a quick walk outside. Sometimes I write a few sentences about something on my mind. Other times, I text a friend or just sit on the porch breathing fresh air.
The activity is not the point. The point is being intentional, choosing to add something instead of defaulting to habits that subtract.
What surprised me most is how much these little choices spill into everything else. If I use those moments to move, create, or connect, I walk into my next meeting or dinner with more presence.
But if I burn them scrolling, I feel scattered and drained even if I checked everything off my to-do list.
The quality of my whole day is often decided in those “nothing” minutes.
Right now, you probably have a spare 10 minutes before something else starts. Most people will tell you that is not enough to matter. I will tell you they are wrong.
“Your next 10 minutes could change the tone of your entire day,” I remind myself often.
So the question is: what will you do with yours?
At StringCan, we believe in small, intentional actions that add up to lasting growth. If you are ready to shift from waiting to living, both in business and life, let us talk about how we can help.