Wednesday, April 9, 2008

The 10% Challenge--No this is not about Tithing

I realize that I tend to do things intensely--it's not just that I wash my car, but I take another 2 hours to wax it, vacuum the inside, Windex the windshields, etc. I'm often left drained at the end of the day not because I did too much, but that I did things too intensely.

So, being the Change Agent that I am, I'm subjecting myself to the 10% challenge, and wanted to invite you to consider doing it as well and tell me what you think.

Here's the challenge: Spend 10% less time and energy on everything you do during the day, for one week. Now I understand some things like brushing your teeth might be hard, but what about email? Not just the overall time spent on it, but on every email you send. Think about how much time and energy you could 'save' each day. Each week! You may have enough time and energy saved up to go out and exercise, or start up that blog that you have been thinking about, or enjoy time with your wife or kids? 

Okay those are mine, but what about yours?

2 comments:

Beav said...

I'm not ready to give up 10% of my sleeping. My kids are already robbing me of like 40%.

My dad's said for the last 20 years the saying, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing poorly." He's getting at the same idea. It bugged me for a long time, but I bought in at long last.

Brian Barela said...

I actually remember Tom saying those things at New Staff on the field. I then heard Steven Sample say it in his book The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership, and then Seth Godin say it over and over in his blog posts.

Sleep is one of those places that the savings need to be invested, not 'tithed' :)