Final Day of the 15 Minute Challenge - Day 12

The 15 minute challenge was a success.  For the last 12 days I've managed to find 15 minutes to sew some time during the day.  Last night Kiddo and I had to go shopping for shoes and jewelry to finish off her outfit for the school Mardi Gras party on Friday night.  We were gone a lot longer than I thought we'd be.  So my planned hour or so of sewing ended up being only 15 minutes right before I went to bed.  But in that time, I did manage to get the pieces cut out for Block 9 of the Layer Cake Quilt Along. 

I started this personal challenge after realizing that I'd gone a whole week without finding the time to sew.  In the last 12 days, I've finished a 3 year old UFO, come close to finishing all the blocks for the Buck-a-Block PIGS, finished block 8 and cut out block 9 for the Layer cake Quilt Along.  I'd have done all those things without the 15 minute challenge, but they are done sooner because I made the effort to get upstairs to sew. 

I did learn a few things:
1.  I have to put limits on computer time and be willing to shut it down at a specified time some evenings.
2.  No matter how tired I am, 15 minutes in the sewing room is doable. 
3.  Knowing that I had to write a blog the next day about my success (or actually lack there of) was a strong motivator to get upstairs whenever my motivation was wavering. 
4.  On days with tight schedules, a bit of preplanning helps. Knowing that I had something simple to do upstairs made it easier to get upstairs and not collapse directly into bed. 
5.  Getting into the sewing room is most of the battle.  Even if I feel tired a few minutes of sewing will usually energize me, so what was supposed to be 15 minutes becomes an hour or more. 

What am I going to do with all this new found knowledge?  I'm going to continue to challenge myself to do at least 15 minutes of sewing every day.  There will be days that it just doesn't happen, but that's OK.  The point is to make the best use of the time I do have, to make that conscious decision to sew when I'm just playing on the computer or think I'm too tired to do anything.  I am going to continue to blog about my progress, since having to report failure is a key motivator for me.  But I'll post an update just once a week, probably on Tuesday to avoid overlapping with the Stash Report and Design Wall Monday. 

Is anyone interested in starting their own personal 15 minute challenge?   Let me know.  If there is enough interest,  I'll set up a Mr. Linky on the Tuesday report and we can all encourage each other.