Anyone who knows me immediately knows two things.

1. I can talk.
2. I talk about CrossFit.

I take a lot of life lessons from CrossFit, so conversations about life tend to naturally gravitate back to the sport of fitness and the things it teaches me.

CrossFit AMRAP exercises teach me that hard work is good for me, that miserable things will eventually end, and that I'm capable of more than I've ever imagined.

Recently though, I remembered a very practical lesson CrossFit teaches, and I'm applying that principle to my (non-athletic) life with pretty amazing results.

Even as a mediocre CrossFitter, I'm always shocked at the sheer volume of work that can happen in just a few short minutes.

With this in mind, I thought of the things that I struggle with in the rest of my life. For me, a major one is organization.

Things like budgeting, de-cluttering, and record keeping are the bane of my creative, fun-loving, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants existence. Just the thought of them leaves me feeling overwhelmed and inept.

However, I KNOW those boring things are essential to my mental health, so I have no other option but to make a plan to get them done. My solution? 15 minute AMRAPs.

I've been giving those boring/overwhelming weaknesses 15 minutes of focused effort 6 days per week.

Here is what I noticed...

1. I actually do it.

Creating a low barrier for entry by "only spending 15 minutes" on something keeps me from feeling overwhelmed by it.

As much as I hate de-cluttering closets, or working on my monthly budget, I know I can handle 15 minutes of it, so instead of putting it off indefinitely, I can actually talk myself into doing the work.

I have a friend who says: "If you want to be a runner, start by putting on one running shoe."  This is the same tactic.  Start with a time, or an action that doesn't overwhelm you, so you can get over the inertia, and actually start moving.

2. I spend longer than 15 minutes.

Once I get started, I get in the zone and typically spend much longer than 15 minutes on the project I've been putting off.  A few (or even one) of these sessions, and the problem I was dreading is completely taken care of. Kinda like you may not want to start Murph, but once you do, you hang in there and finish feeling satisfied and accomplished at the end.

(See how I bring everything back to CrossFit?)

Anyway, this may not be a new concept for you, but it's worth trying if it is.  I'm no life coach, and I haven't written a book on this or anything.  All I know is that our laundry room has never been more organized, and I have another fun way to talk about CrossFit now that I can apply it to even more areas of my life.

Happy AMRAP-ing!

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P.S.  Here's another way to say it...If you want to be great at double unders, start by designing a really fun custom speed rope...Too pitchy? Sorry. We sell jump ropes around here, whaddya want from us?  :)

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