How does 15 minutes + a toddler = 1,043 books?

For the first time the other week, I got access to the back-end system for the book reviews that I've been writing for the last 15 years.

What I saw there floored me.

Since 2011, I've typically read and reviewed 2-3 books a month for Booklist. As a devoted reader, it's been fun to get fresh galleys to dig into every few weeks, and a good mental stretch to write about what worked (and what didn't). And it's helped my own writing as well (including confronting how often I want to describe writing as "vivid." I've had to impose a "vivid" ban on myself.)

But I had no idea how much all that reading had stacked up until I saw the number next to my name: 1,043.

Somehow, page by page, I had reviewed more than a thousand books. And I'd had no idea.

The Time Horizon Reframe

It's common to look at what we've done in terms of what we've accomplished lately.

And the linear ladder model encourages this thinking. After all, if you're climbing rung by rung, you've either reached the next level – or not. There's no in-between.

But this line of thinking misses the bigger picture. With the advantage of a bigger time horizon, that picture shifts drastically.

Because when it comes to our work, it's not just about whether we've accomplished something lately. It's about what we can build bit by bit over time.

The Career River shows us that any progress is progress, incremental though it may be. These days, I usually spend about 15 minutes reading a book I'm reviewing each night while my toddler is settling down to bed. I'm not exactly drowning in extra time each day, but 15 minutes is doable.

You don't have to make massive strides to make a difference. Just give yourself the benefit of time to see what can happen with whatever you've got to give. You'll be surprised at how it all adds up.

Happy navigating,
Bridget