 |
The art of 1 hour a day |
Your first time here? If you like what you see, consider subscribing by RSS feed or email (it's free!). Thanks for stopping by :) Diggy
Imagine what you can learn in 1 year, 3 years or 10 years by dedicating 1 hour every day to learning what you want to learn.
Why this post is titled ‘The art of 1 hour a day’ is because being able to dedicate 1 hour every day to something you want to learn is really an art, and takes willpower and dedication to get right.
I’m going to use myself as an example, but I am pretty sure a great majority of people have a similar situation. Most days of the week, I have a few hours a day that I spend doing non-essential things which could be used much more productively. This could be checking emails or sitting on facebook, unefficient driving for groceries and errands (meaning not combining a trip to do multiple things at once), or simply procrastinating.
Even with doing all these things, it is possible to teach yourself the habit of taking the last hour before you go to bed, and to use that hour to learn a skill. It can be anything from an instrument to a language to a martial art to affiliate marketing. Have a look at 14-ways-to-enhance-your-life for some more ideas what you could learn.
With these kind of habits, it’s all about the long haul, by chipping away at something day by day, one small baby-step at a time. That is why it seems hard and a lot of effort, but never fear! Diggy is here! 
I chose 1 hour because it is a very reasonable amount of time to get things done, yet not long enough that you lose concentration. I tried doing research to find out how many hours it takes to learn a martial art, or an instrument or to get a degree, but I would lie if I sucked a number out of my head. It all depends on how fast you learn, how interested you are and what natural feel you have for the subject.
Some people it may take 30 hours and others 300 hours.
Right now as I’m writing this post, I look back on my life, and if I had done this,spent 1 hour a day learning the things I want to become proficient at: martial arts,french,german,japanese,guitar,drums,affiliate marketing…and the list goes on, how good would I not be at those things already?!
(I’m definitely going to make my kids do this when I have them) 
However, life is not about looking back. The past is behind us and cannot change, so there is absolutely no reason to dwell on it. We live as much in the now as possible, only peeking back in the past to learn from our mistakes and successes, to make our future as pleasant as possible. That is at least how it should be and how Eckhart Tolle describes it in his book ‘The power of Now’.
I have started the art of 1 hour a day a few months back, where actually I’m spending more like 4 hours a day before I go to bed on my affiliate marketing / blogging. The results are still small, but every time I make a sale or create a new site, get a beautiful comment for a reader or help someone with my work, it inspires me even more to keep working at it.
Think about it for a second…!
From this moment on you have the choice, the opportunity, to take that last hour before you go to bed every day, and dedicate it to achieving some of your deepest desires. I cannot tell you what those are, only you do, and if you do not really know what you desire, I suggest you take an hour tonight, with absolutely no distractions, a pen and notepad, and write down ideas that come to mind. Something that makes you excited by thinking about it, makes you want to make plans and ideas how you are going to do it.
Some of the things to learn I have already mentioned, others goals might be less for yourself but more for others. For example, making an art piece for someone you care about, starting a project to earn and save money for someone you care about, maybe someone’s wedding day or start of college.
In a book about Warren Buffet, one of the richest men in the world, he hammered on the point ‘Never underestimate the power of compound interest’. Compound interest is interest upon interest upon interest until infinity. Basically your money grows exponentially over time. This post is not about money, but about time.
1 Hour is not much, it will not teach you much if anything at all.
10 Hours is still not much.
Imagine 100 hours, 1000 hours and 10 000 hours dedicated to learning something.
How good will you be after so much time? Using the art of 1 hour a day, 1 000 days is 2.7 years.
You only live once!
Are you able to do every thing you want to do? I know I’m not.
If you aren’t, then why not start with this habit from today?
Start chipping away at that massive rock and turn it into the statue of your dreams
Indeed, saving up pennies in a jar helps a lot in the long run. Nice article Diggy!
Mr Felix Noir!
Thank you for being the first to comment:)
*makes a bow*
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Hey Diggy! This habit has already changed my life, so I completely agree with you. Now I’m looking at how I can work 1 hour per day
That’s still interesting for me.
Oscar
Once you have the formula for that…let me know!
You already know it. Don’t you?
Amazing things can really be accomplished with 1 hour a day. However, sometimes I feel that can be too much of a commitment particularly when you are just getting started with something new.
It is easy to demotivate yourself if you think you have to do something not particularly pleasurable for one whole hour. For my personal motivation, I stick with only 5 minutes. Anyone can do anything for 5 minutes. A consistent 5 minutes a day is far more productive than sporadic larger efforts.
5 minutes of language learning.
5 minutes of stretching
5 minutes of cleaning
5 minutes of music scales
5 minutes of organizing your computer, etc.
1 hour is better of course, the key is to do an amount that you can consistently deliver on.
Hi John!
How are ya?
Like you say, it’s whatever amount of time you are comfortable with to learn something.
I prefer an hour a day, because you make more progress, but even if it is 5 minutes, at least you are making the effort and dedication to learning something new:)
Thanks for stopping by!
Hey Diggy, great advice! I’ve been doing an hour of reading first thing in the morning and I find doing the “one hour” at the beginning of the day really helps make the rest of my day better because I’ve already accomplished something *I* want before I get to the stuff I “have” to do. However, your article got me thinking about the fun stuff, like languages, martial arts and music lessons and I think you may be on to something with doing that sort of thing at the end of the day. Sounds like a nice way to relax and round out the day.
Hey Dave!
Nice to see you here!
Great to hear you are already applying the art of an hour a day, of course like you say instead of doing it before you go to bed, you can wake up earlier and spend that time devoted to what you WANT to do and that way start your day off with a smile everytime:)
Enjoy the weekend!!!!
Hey Diggy, I like your idea. I tend to go with the flow without any regular time to devote to learning. I typically spend more than 1 hour a day reading or doing something to improve myself but it seems kind of helter skelter. I’ve been thinking about instituting something more rigorous.
Hey Stephen!!
Most people interested in personal development will constantly be doing things to improve themselves, however, if like you say it’s kind of ad hoc and without a plan, then the results you get from it may not be as good as you’d like:)
Thanks for stopping by!
Years ago when I first took up guitar, I’d get easily frustrated because it seemed like everyone around me was so much “better” than I was. Of course, I wanted instant gratification and wanted to become an overnight rockstar, which I soon learned wasn’t quite that easy.
Needless to say, I adopted the “1 hour a day” routine, where everyday I’d practice for at least an hour and regardless of my other plans. If I wanted to practice for 3 hours or 6 hours then they, that’s great too, but as long as I put in an hour a day I was happy.
Fast forward to today and I make Jimmy Page look like a novice (… or not!) and since I’m only putting in an hour a day, I don’t feel like I’m slaving my life away to this hobby. I don’t feel “stuck” by playing guitar, as I know I can still make time for other things too. All too often people think they need to completely absorb their time into a hobby to be effective, yet rarely is that the case.
Good to see I’m not the only one who shares this viewpoint!
Hey there Travis!
Haha, I feel the same, when you start with something and look at the people around you who have made it big, it’s easy to desire instant gratification, but what we don’t realise often is that these other people who are so good have years of experience and many many many hours of practice.
Congrats on the learning guitar:)
Thanks for stopping by and commenting:)
Hi Diggy!
I love this concept. I spend about the same amount of time as you doing the non-essentials each day. Definitely dedicating 1 hour to something I love to learn is do-able. I would feel so much better, too. Thanks!
Hey Jodi!
Nice to see you here!
Welcome:)
Happy to hear you are already applying this concept!
Keep well ma’m
Loved this. I want to put this to the test as soon as I can carve out an hour a day…I know that that sounds bad, but seriously, I have plans. Big plans. Ok, it isn’t exactly world peace but I am thinking one hour a day on my poker game would really pay off…eventually.
Heya Miss Holly!
Thank you for stopping by and Welcome to Upgradereality!
Just start doing it right now, stop procrastinating! Start with even 10 minutes a day, make it a habit:)
Ciaociao
[...] What steps do I need to take to achieve my desires? Which people have achieved what I want to achieve so I can study their ways? Where can I take classes or lessons? Do I need to move/get up earlier/get a different job/make new friends etc. in order to achieve my desires? How much time do I need to dedicate to achieve my desires? ( Have you read The Art of 1 hour a Day?) [...]
Hi Diggy,
This is a great article. I follow the teachings of Warren Buffett and the rule of compounding is something that fascinates me too. By just doing something for 1 hour a day, the results will just keep on building up even though it may seems small at first.
Cheers,
Vincent
Hey Vincent:)
Thanks for stopping by sir!
Yes, compounding is a great way of doing something, especially since we are still young now, the money we save no combined with the compound interest over the next 30 years turns into a lot of money.
Then again, since money devalues so much every year, $1000 now may be the same purchasing power as $1 000 000 in 30 years. So its all just a gamble anyway:)
Glad you enjoyed the article!
Have a great weekend!
Very cool, idea. I’m definitely guilty of the facebook/twitter mind numb. So the first step is becoming aware and the 2nd step is changing it.
that said, i’m devoting my hour for the next weeks to getting my video portion of cheerupnation off the ground. it’s time, already!
Yes:)!!!!
Great step towards great progress Papa!
That’s the way to do it:)
Keep us posted about the progress on cheerupnation.com!
Hey Diggy
I think this is a great concept – I did something similar a few months back and managed to get a novel finished in three months, just by committing to sit and write for an hour each day. It’s winter now and I’ve let things slide, but I think it could be time for another project
curiousjessica´s last blog ..Plan of Attack
Hiya Jessica!
Yeah, It’s time for another best selling book, you’ve got it in you:)
Glad you enjoyed the post, hope you keep applying the principle!
Cheers
D
[...] The Art of 1 Hour a DayImagine what you can learn in 1 year, 3 years or 10 years by dedicating 1 hour every day to learning [...]
Thank you So Much Diggy.
It really made me think.
And to think that i spent at least half an hour a day masturbating…
I am going to cut that habit and invest my time on reading self help books and blogs like yours.
I hope my reply is not offensive.
Again , thank you so much.