Thoughts From The Cake Scraps

It doesn’t seem that long, does it? Just 15 minutes. 900 seconds and then it’s gone.

In my pre-MBA life that usually wasn’t all that big of a deal to get distracted for that long. Maybe it was a break to surf the Internet, play some games on my mobile device or read the paper.  That life appears to have gone by the wayside, or at least it needs to for me to continue to keep up with the pace of my life.

What I’ve found is that during my day I actually have many breaks of just a few minutes, anywhere from 5 to let’s say 15.  Because it was in between classes, I would just chat with friends or jump on my phone to play a game. That is simply no longer the case.  I still make time for friends, but the rest of those breaks I have started cramming stuff into the gaps.

The WSJ comes to my door step every day and I pack it in my backpack and jump on the bus. For me the bus ride is a bust because I get ill in about 30 seconds of trying to read, so it’s a good thing the ride is short. Once I’m on solid ground not a minute is wasted. A 5 minute break is long enough to skim the section of the WSJ that I don’t have much interest in. 10 minutes will take me through most of the sections and 15 plenty for the entire paper.

My Series 9 Ultrabook is also one of the best purchases I have ever made. The ability to carry it anywhere and then flip it open and have a fully functioning computer at my fingertips in seconds is so helpful, I can’t begin to describe it. I have 6 different PowerPoint decks open right now along with probably 8 or more other programs. In just a few minutes I can respond to a few emails, update some PP slides I’m working on, or make some notes after a quick coffee chat with a recruiter.

I could also run and check my mail box, grab a cup of coffee, get a quick snack from the (over-priced) cafe, switch out my books in my locker, change into business formal clothing for a briefing, change back into street clothing afterwards, read a few pages from the homework, do a practice problem or two. The list goes on, but I have learned that each and every second counts, so I need to use it.

Another thing I could do is bang out a blog post.

What do you do with your 15 minute gaps?

This has been a Thought From the Cake Scraps.