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Living life as a work at home mom means that time is limited. Some days with errands, play dates, and housework I barely have any free time left, let alone time to work. I have found that I always have time to carve out 15 minutes.

15 minutes really doesn’t seem like that much time. Quarter of an hour. 900 Seconds. It isn’t much time, but you would be surprised what you can accomplish during 15 minutes. Plus almost everyone can find 15 minutes in their day.

Here are 15 things you can do in 15 minutes:

1)Answer Emails. Spending 15 minutes to reply to emails in your inbox can mean that you won’t have a backlog of emails that will take you hours to reply to if you let it go a few days. Plus clients appreciate getting a response in a timely manner.

2)Create a To Do List. Having a list of tasks to accomplish can mean a huge difference to your productivity. Rather than spending time working aimlessly, it is best to consider the big picture and work towards a larger goal. Sit down with pad and paper or computer and make a to do list for the day, the week, or the month. It is also a good idea to have a master to do list for the year.

3)Organize Your Desk. I don’t know about you, but if I can’t find my desk I am a lot less likely to sit down and work. Take just 15 minutes to clear things out of your in box and get rid of the paper that accumulates. I’m still waiting for our society to become paperless. By the amount of mail I receive on a daily basis, I don’t think that is going to happen any time soon.

4)Prepare Dinner. Dinner making is an almost daily chore in my house so that time is usually always spoken for. The biggest part of dinner is the prep work for sure. The gathering of ingredients, washing and chopping of vegetables, etc. takes time. Spend 15 minutes doing that all after lunch and place it in containers in the fridge. That will make preparing dinner a breeze when it comes time to cook. You will also be a lot less likely to order a takeout pizza last minute too.

5)Make Phone Calls. I know that most of my phone calls default to my voicemail because they always seem to come at the most inconvenient time. Return their phone calls by beginning with saying that you only have 5 minutes to talk and then stick to it. You can return 3 phone calls or more this way.

6)Write an Article. You can easily write a 300-400 word article in 15 minutes on a topic you are knowledgeable in. Trust me, I know ;)

7)Update Your Blog. I wrote a few weeks ago on the importance of having a blog for your work at home business. One of the reasons that they are such a great idea is because search engines love the fresh content on blogs. They will only have that fresh content if you are actively updating it though.

8)Take a break. In most areas if you have a work out of the home job you get a 15 minute break every four hours of work. Take the time to do nothing. You deserve it.

9)Put labels on catalogs. If you are in a direct sales business than you probably have catalogs printed on paper. All of those catalogs are useless unless you have your contact information on them. 15 minutes translates into a lot of catalogs that you can label.

10)Pack orders. You could fill and address a number of orders in 15 minutes. Get inventory off your shelves and into your customers’ mailboxes.

11)Keep up the books. Filing your taxes is a sure thing every year. Don’t leave all of your accounting to the last minute. Spend 15 minutes here and there to keep everything up to do. Organize receipts, input expenses and income into your spreadsheet. When April 15th rolls around you will be happy that you kept everything current.

12)Laundry. I can sort dirty clothes, throw a load of laundry in the washing machine and another into the dryer in 15 minutes. 15 minutes is also enough time to fold a basket of laundry and put it away. Don’t let the mound of laundry overtake your home.

13)Exercise or Meditate. Spend 15 minutes doing some yoga, go for a brisk walk, or take a little time to meditate in silence. You will find your mind cleared and ready to get work done.

14)Paint Your Nails. Give yourself a pedicure or apply a mud mask. Spend 15 minutes doing something for you. It is time for pampering.

15)Play with your kids. Your children will love it and so will you!

What do you do when you get 15 free minutes? Share your things to do in 15 minutes with us.

Warmly,
Mia