An Hour a Day, a life changing idea.
My father passed on many years ago, and still my brother and I muse over his legacies. He had a few good ones, but An Hour a Day was to me his most brilliant.
My father owned a working farm while being employed in an eight a day job. He had a full life that included playing baseball, bowling and enjoying a good debate. He didn’t have a lot of time for extra projects.
I remember a time when a large 70 years old maple tree in our from yard went down in a storm. My father went out after the storm to survey the damage, which luckily was only to the tree, sparing the house and nearby vehicles. After walking around this colossal tree he declared the tree would take 8 hours to cut up. He then stated ” If I cut on that tree for 1 hour each day, I will have that tree dismantled in 8 days.” He did and it was.
I was a child I didn’t see this as all that. My father was a cando kinda guy, never whined or complained and faced life with enthusiasm. He was known for having unique or odd ideas, and this was just another one of them.
Time passed. I found myself in the position of overwhelmed single mom, working full time, rehabing an old house in which we were living. One day feeling tired and seeing no end in sight to the druggery of my life, I remembered. I remembered the Hour A Day system. What did I have to lose?
I picked one room that needed what I estimated to be about 16 hours of labor and I made a commitment to myself to work One Hour Day. Lo and behold, at the end of the 2 weeks the room was done.
I was impressed. I made a new plan for another room. Now I did try to abuse the system. Somedays when I had more time or was reaaly enjoying myself , I would work over my hour. What I found was that The next day I would pay the price. Either I would be too tired, or had not taken the time I needed for other things, I’d crawl back to my hour.
I loved this system so much that I began to adapt it in every aspect of my life. I hated doing taxes so I assigned one hour per week to sort, file and record as needed all my financials, come tax season, BAM, nothing left to do plug in the numbers. Housekeeping, I found that even having 2 kids I could keep my house be tidy with just 20 minutes a day for cleaning. Oh it was a jamming 20 minutes, I hit it hard and made the best of my time.
I began taking power naps. 10 minutes had an amazing affect on my physical energy and enthusiasm for life.
My yard was the talk of the neighborhood, no one believe that I only worked on it an hour a day.
Honestly I don’t know why this is so amazing in how it works. The benefits I found to be that I saw an end in sight on overwhelming projects. Even things I really disliked could be handled. I could stand anything for 5 minutes a day! I have since found it to common with people to feel hopeless, tired, lifeless when faced with an endless situation or task. All of us feel better when we know that the tedious things in life will indeed end.
So I am offering you my inheritance today, that you can have a easier, my joyful life in just an hour a day