Start your engines!

0400 – Landis Girls Residence

No particular weekday

Gentlemen, start your engines! (In our case, I guess I should say “ladies.”)

These size 10s hit the floor, and my own personalized version of the Daytona 500 begins. Sliding out of bed, I immediately reach down to the floor to gather my purse and flowery catchall bag containing the fragments of my brain that no longer fit in my purse.

With my free hands, I scoop up dirty clothes (my own and those of the nine-year-old still snoozing in my bed), thinking to myself for the 100th time how much I really do love the unique character of the house where we live. Exiting the room, I climb stairs to the hallway to go downstairs.

Some days, that’s my life in a nutshell.

Kicking our ancient Puggle and young whippersnapper of a Chihuahua outside, I hurry to the bathroom myself to peruse Facebook and see if anyone else is awake at this ungodly hour. A few minutes later, I let the dogs back in, preferably before they wake the neighbors.

Start coffee. Start laundry. Start consciousness. In that order.

0430

Reveling in my momentary control of the TV remote, I locate Channel 25, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and watch what remains of the show. Meanwhile, I drag out my duct-taped, nearly 20-year-old Total Gym, and my workout routine commences. My favorite show, Law & Order: SVU, is next.

Give it up, Shaun T. I’d rather keep Elliott for my exercise buddy any day.

0530

Our dog gate rattles as my college student slings a leg over it to come downstairs. We squint at each other, half-smile, and mumble, “Good morning.” She disappears into the shower while I finish my floor exercises.

0600

Cringing in my 14-year-old’s doorway over the status of her room, I wake her and send her upstairs with the mission of stirring the 15-year-old. As I listen to the pitter-patter of big feet on the stairs, I hold my breath and pray that both teens went to sleep in the ballpark of 10 p.m. so that we can all endeavor to be human this morning.

0630

My nine-year-old ninja slips out of bed…and up…and down… the stairs in stealth mode. I see her big mane of blonde hair before I hear her.

In 2014, Entrepreneur published an article claiming to list the “4 Steps to the Most Productive 15 Minutes of Your Day.” In the busy lives we lead, setting aside even 15 minutes can be a challenge, but the potential benefits are ours for the taking! Let me give you the secret recipe:

Block out 15 minutes of completely uninterrupted time.

Decide on the most powerful possible use of that 15 minutes.

Pursue quality. Choose important but not urgent activities that will make an impact. Use the time to write notes of appreciation. Research a potential client. Plan a killer date night with your spouse.

Make that productive time holy.

No cheating. No one is allowed to interrupt. Turn off your phone and email. Tune out the world and tune into making your 15 minutes count!

Put your head down and power through.

Imagine for a moment if we did that throughout the day with our children, spouses, friends, and coworkers. What could we accomplish if we set aside even just a few minutes each day to make them the center of our world for the moment, the complete focus of our attention, and we determined to make that time with them wonderfully, beautifully productive? Imagine what our relationships could be, how many goals we could accomplish, and the influence we might have on others.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!

Lyna Landis is the manager of marketing and communications of Utilities District of Western Indiana REMC.