That’s a question that hit me hard about a decade ago. I was a freelance writer, struggling to balance writing time and parenting three young kids. It seemed that whenever I got in a writing flow, I was interrupted. Either that, or I would find I had a few minutes of quiet between events, but felt that wasn’t enough time to get the writing juices flowing.

One day I was clicking through channels and chanced upon a fictional tv show episode about a writer for a late night show (I wish I remembered the name of the show, but I don’t). The writer on the show looked and his watch and said, “I’ve got ten minutes to write!” then he happily scurried out.

What a difference.

My take: I only have ten minutes.

His take: I’ve got ten minutes.

That rocked my world. I started grabbing those ten minutes and had the gratification of seeing my productivity increase exponentially.

I wish I could pass that concept on the the next gen. Don’t sit there waiting for your friends to show up. Get moving! Live the day while it’s bright.

Little things add up to a lot. And it feels really good.

So far the kids don’t appreciate that concept as much as I do, but maybe someday it will sink in. I was in my thirties before it hit me. I’m very thankful for that one line in a single episode of a show I coincidentally watched.