If It Takes You Less Than a Minute… Do It Now!

There’s this mantra that changed how I move through my day… simple, short, and powerful:

“If it takes you less than a minute… do it now.”

It sounds small, right? But for me, it’s been life-changing.

See, I grew up with ADHD. Back then, they didn’t really explain what that meant… they just labeled you. Said you couldn’t focus. Said you needed help sitting still. So, like most kids with ADHD in that era, the “solution” was medication.

I remember being in elementary school when they handed me those little pills. They said it would help me “stay on task.” But even as a kid, something about it didn’t sit right. I didn’t like the way it made me feel… quiet, detached, not me. So, I started cheeking the pills, pretending to take them but holding them under my tongue until I could spit them out later. I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t broken. That I could do this without it.

Eventually, my dad stepped in and told the doctor, “My son’s not taking no med because he’s not himself.” That moment stuck with me. My dad probably didn’t know it then, shit he probably doesn’t know now, but that sentence shaped how I saw myself… and how I’ve learned to manage my mind ever since.

These days, I don’t, and won’t even take a Tylenol for a headache. (But that’s a blog for another day.) The point is, I’ve spent years learning how to live with my brain, not against it. Managing ADHD as an adult isn’t easy. Especially now that it’s a trend, Every day takes effort… structure, discipline, and creativity, just to stay focused, inspired, and present. I don’t operate like most people do, and I’ve made peace with that.

But that’s where my mantra comes in: If it takes you less than a minute, do it now.

Because ADHD or not, procrastination is real. For a long time, I let small tasks pile up… not because I didn’t care, but because my brain made everything feel bigger than it was. A simple email felt like an hour’s work. A five minute clean up felt like a chore I could do “later.”

But later rarely came.

So I started small. Literally… sixty seconds small. If something took me less than a minute, I just did it. Close the tab. Send the text. Wipe the counter. Write the idea down. And over time, I realized something wild: a minute is actually a long time when you’re intentional about it.

You can get so much done in a minute without rushing, without overthinking. And those small moments of action started building momentum. They became proof that I can do things right now… not someday, not “when I feel like it.”

As creators, we live in a loop of inspiration, distraction, and doubt. We’re juggling ideas, projects, and emotions all at once. We tell ourselves we’re “waiting for the right moment,” when really, we’re just avoiding the discomfort of starting. But every time you put off something small, you feed the habit of hesitation.

And “hesitation kills creativity.”

So I started treating that one minute rule like a promise to myself. It’s not just about time… it’s about discipline, clarity, and self-respect. Because I’ve learned that when I show up for the small things, I build the momentum to handle the big ones.

If it takes you less than a minute, do it now.

Not because it’s convenient, but because it’s necessary.

That one minute could change your entire rhythm. And if you’re anything like me, you know how hard it is to find rhythm when your brain is always running a marathon with no finish line. But that’s the beauty of it: the more you practice presence, the more power you have over your distractions.

I’m still learning every day. Still practicing. Still repeating my mantras.

And honestly, that’s the point…”progress, not perfection.”

So to my fellow creators: start small. Do it now.

You’ll be surprised how much peace there is in a single minute.

Because if my Neurodivergent brain can…I’m sure your Neurotypical brain can…

Hope this helps,

-B