30 Things You Can Achieve In 30 Minutes

We are all plagued with lethargy or procrastination at some point. For some, it’s just temporary bouts which are short lived. For others it’s more frequent and can last for a few days at a time.

There is no magic cure for that behaviour, or lack thereof, there are only new habits that can be ingrained. If you suffer from it, there is a way of breaking that pattern, and that is taking a 30 minute chunk of your day and see what you can push yourself to accomplish.

I believe it’s possible to achieve in 30 minutes what the average person completes in an average day. Rarely do we push ourselves to see what we can really do.

When I started writing this I switched on my countdown timer to see if I could write this whole post, finished and edited in 30 minutes. I’ll write at the very end how I did.

Push yourself to see what you can do in 30 minutes. Once you’ve done it, reward yourself and take the rest of the day off. Then make it a habit. Maybe even do this exercise a few times a day.

Just think how much you could do if you pushed yourself to do a full day’s worth in 30 minutes, and then you repeated that a few times a day, imagine what you could accomplish?!

Life is very short. It drifts by very quickly, and before you know it, you may hit a point in your life where you’ll look back and ask, where did all the time go? Start making inroads now to do all the things you really want to!

Here’s a list of 32 things you can try…(pay particular attention to number 15)

  1. If you don’t have a job and are looking, apply for 15 jobs
  2. If you are a blogger and are short of time, see what you can come up with in 30 minutes
  3. If you are a song writer, see what you can create
  4. If you write books see if you can write a whole chapter
  5. If you enjoy TV see how many facts you can absorb
  6. If you work in an office do your regular days work in 30
  7. If you are on twitter tweet 100 new people and just say hello
  8. If you do comedy come up with 5 jokes
  9. If you are a swimmer do 100 laps in 30 minutes
  10. If you are a runner see if you can run 3 miles; that’s 10 minutes per mile
  11. If you have a car see how far you can go
  12. If you are a speaker see if you can write a full speech
  13. If you’ve never been to the gym go and see if you can do 30 minutes of exercise
  14. If you are a student see if you can revise your entire syllabus
  15. If you have nothing at all do write a list of possible things you could do in 30 minutes…in 30 minutes
  16. If you are a social butterfly see how many new people you can connect with
  17. If you are a tidy freak see if you can do one room…or the entire house!
  18. If you are an entrepreneur create a new product
  19. If you are a web designer work your magic and whip up something fresh
  20. If you are in a band see how many gigs you can get booked for
  21. If you’re a photographer see how many unique snaps you can take
  22. If you’re a magician see how many tricks you can do
  23. If you’re a manager see how many compliments you can pay to your staff
  24. If you’re a critic see how many things you can review
  25. If you’re a music producer see if you can make a fresh beat….and sell it!
  26. If you’re a gadget blogger see how many gadgets you can review
  27. If you love nature go for a walk and see how many creatures and plants you can spot
  28. If you’re a student give yourself a 30 minute deadline to write a CV or cover letter
  29. If you’re touched by the scenes in Japan see how much money you can raise
  30. It’s comic relief this week; see what fun thing you can do to raise money within that time
  31. See how much junk you can de-clutter from your abode
  32. Surf the net and find out as much about a culture

There we have it, I managed to get more than 30. In total, this whole post took me about 35 minutes. What can you do? Share your results.

61 Responses

  1. Milan Bakrania says:

    Hey bro,
    I know so many people who “wish” they had done something else with their lives. There usual excuse is “didn’t have the time”….next time I hear someone say that I’m gonna direct them to this article.
    Milan

  2. farouk says:

    thank you for the list 🙂 though some of them will take more than 30 mins from me

    • Amit Sodha says:

      Hey Farouk, any particular ones? I guess it’s not the exact amount of time, as I said, in reality, it took me 30 minutes. But it is a really interesting exercise; for example, if you know something usually will take you two hours, try and do it in one. It’s for no other purpose than to see what is possible with the time we have.

  3. Marcus says:

    Hey, very cool idea.
    For me personally, I will definitêly try:
    15. If you have nothing at all do write a list of possible things you could do in 30 minutes…in 30 minutes and
    23. If you’re a manager see how many compliments you can pay to your staff

    I am collecting a few ideas as well about procrastination and will add your post to it when I write the article.
    Have a good day.

  4. Jk Allen says:

    Looking tat the title, was a little skeptic. But reading the list and really thinking about some of the items that apply to me – I thought…yeah, sure – that makes perfect sense. If I would only consolidate my efforts and stop all that darn multi-tasking!

    Thanks man… (I appreciate the RT too…one back at you!)

    • Amit Sodha says:

      Hey JK. LOL @ multitask. It’s interesting when you think about it, even though we do all multitask, we actually are only capable of really do one thing at a time and if you just focus on that for 30 mins it’s amazing what can be done. I’ve got to make some updates to this blog and I’m going to see if I can do them in 30 minutes!

  5. Stuart says:

    Hey Amit, sorry I’ve been gone for a while, been having transitions with my blogging recently (which I’ve documented on my website if you wanna have a look plug plug)

    Reading this post, I’m reminded of the Pareto Principle, the 80-20 rule. If we can apply that to our daily lives, and make adjustments, just think how much we could get done! Definitely in 30 minutes as you’ve said, and also for the rest of our lives. Inspiring stuff 🙂

    • Amit Sodha says:

      Hey Stuart, LOL @ Plug sure thing I’m going to go check it out.

      Yep it’s similar to that and I think it’s so relevant, especially to the people who do have trouble getting things done. Instead of them thinking about the whole task. Getting them to think about doing as much of that task as possible in 30 minutes…maybe I should add that into the post! 😀

      Thank you!

  6. swati says:

    LIKE!

    Defo gonna try a few of those out and other areas of my life/other tasks. Not necessarily just 30 mins, but maybe an hour, even 15 mins for different things. Half and hour is a good place to start though.

  7. I love the concept Amit. I have one to add…if you’re always doing or thinking about something, see if you can do and think nothing for 30 minutes.

  8. I can cook a good dinner in 30 minutes and it is not take out or fast food. It is the real thing. However i have to admit I am limited on how many difference dishes I can do this with. I can write a post in 30 minutes, but if it is technical it only takes a few second to skype for help, LOL
    Thanks Amit, cool post. Debbie

  9. Andrea DeBell - britetalk says:

    Wow, impressive. First I thought is was how to do 30 things in 30 minutes, like one thing a minute and I was trying to figure it out how you’d pull it off. Once I started reading it made more sense. Otherwise, it would have been a very tiring 30 minutes. 🙂
    I usually try to break my work in chunks like that. I try to get a task done in the next 15 minutes, and then the next 30, and so on. It keeps me focused.
    Thanks for the reminder. Loving blessings

    • Amit Sodha says:

      Oh dear me, how on earth did I miss your comment Andrea! Shame on me! 🙂

      It is really powerful…it’s such a powerful technique for the procrastinators of the world. What stops them getting things done is not chunking things down into small manageable bits. They get too focussed on the end results which makes them feel lethargic.

      The smaller size of time and rather than a specific goal, just trying to get as much done as possible in that time seems to work wonders! 🙂

      Thank you

    • bill J. says:

      oh my gosh i totally get what your saying. the same thing happened to me i was like holy S**** how are you supposed to do all this stuff in like ONE MINUTE. but i realized like when i was done reading that each thing would take 30 minutes. too late!! lol

  10. Avanano says:

    I spend 30 mimutes to read your post and i think it worth.

  11. Lisa H. says:

    Hi Amit,
    I have been out with a cold the past three weeks, but am now back on the keyboard. 🙂 This was a great and timely article for me. Fear of failing on one of my projects has kept me stuck in procrastination. Your list was a great reminder that action is key. Everything starts with a single step. 🙂

    • Amit Sodha says:

      Hey Lisa, glad to hear you’re feeling better. I’m so convinced by this 30 minute method. It’s been working wonders for me! Thank you so much! x

  12. Martha says:

    Great article!

    enriching-life.com

  13. Jonas says:

    Hi Amit,

    it’s funny that I came up with exactly the same amount of time for writing blog posts. To be honest, even though I can come up with a post in 30 minutes, finishing it, finding pictures, etc. take me so much longer due to my perennial perfectionism 😉

    I’ll see which of the other ones I can take a shot at. Writing jokes is something I haven’t tried before, so let’s see…

    Jonas

    • Amit Sodha says:

      Hey Jonas. Yeah I just find it works wonders for me. Puts the pressure on me to get the bulk done in 30 minutes and then I spend another 30 on the editing and cleaning up. Great to hear I’m not the only weird one who does that! 😀

  14. bill J. says:

    please i advice you not to actually execute #7 on this list. On behalf of all the people in the twitter world, that is asking to be unfollowed.

  15. Himanshu says:

    Hi Amit,
    Its gives me always a smile and happiness to read a Indian Name on the Blogging world.
    This article inspired me lot, previously I practiced to write a article in 20 mins. and I got success too.
    The only problem is to start…. it takes lots of energy, and I use to become the lazy….est.. man in the world… Whenever I think to start a article…

    Is there any idea… on starting ….
    Himanshu Kumar Singh.

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