Tiny pockets of time—5, 10, 15 minutes—they add up. Don’t believe me? Just look at your screen time report on your phone.
Minutes add up to hours, hours add up to days, and days add up to a lifetime. And even small chunks of time are part of what we’ve been called to make the most of as stewards of these lives (Ephesians 5:16).
Too often, however, we overlook the potential of small pockets of time. They seem too short to get anything meaningful done in them. But with a pinch of discipline and a dash of strategy, you can train yourself to redeem these little bits of time for the glory of God.
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13 Ways to Redeem Small Pockets of Time
1. Take an actual break.
Making the most of every moment doesn’t mean working in every moment. When you’ve got a small gap in the schedule, often the best thing to do is to take a break. Get a warm drink, lay your head down for a little nap, or have a chat with someone. Resting isn’t wasting time; it’s a legitimate way to redeem it.
2. Keep a “little tasks” list.
Keep a list of miscellaneous tasks that take less than 5 minutes to complete. For example, you could update your information on an online account, pay some bills, or file a return.
If you keep a list like this handy, you can pull something from the list and tick it off whenever you have a few spare minutes—time redeemed.
3. Read a few pages.
You’d be surprised how much progress you can make by dedicating 5–10 minutes a few times daily to reading. Consider this: It takes the average reader 6 hours and 40 minutes to read a 200-page book. The average screen time for an adult in the US? 7 hours and 3 minutes.
I’m not saying you should try to read a book a day, but simply that tiny pockets of time add up. And if you want to get more reading done, investing 5 minutes here and there accumulates quicker than you realize.
The same is true of Bible reading. 13 books of the Bible take less than 10 minutes to read in their entirety. And most of the New Testament epistles take less than 15 minutes to read.
4. Break your projects into bite-sized chunks.
This is one of the many advantages of pre-planning your projects. You can knock out a discreet piece in just a little bit of time. People have written entire books by writing for a few minutes on the train to work each day.
5. Pray.
Pray for the day, pause and give things, or keep a list of prayer requests.
praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
Ephesians 6:18
I keep a little set of notecards by my desk with prayer requests on them. When I have a few minutes between calls, I can pull one out and pray for a family member, missionary, or church.
6. Practice something.
In 5–10 minutes you can practice guitar, review notecards for a language you are learning, or otherwise practice something you are trying to improve.
7. Exercise.
Take a short walk, stretch, or do some bodyweight exercises. When I worked in an office, I would often shut my door around 2 pm, do as many pushups as I could, and then get back to work. It was a great way to wake up after lunch and get a little exercise.
8. Love someone.
Our Lord said the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. What if we redeemed some little pockets of time for intentionally doing just that?
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:39
Spend 5 minutes chatting with a co-worker, ask your kids how his day is going, or send an encouraging text to a friend. In relationships, those little touchpoints add up, and individually, they don’t take much time.
9. Tidy up.
Straighten your desk. Put a few things away in the kitchen. Empty your computer’s trash. Make the bed. Resist the all-or-nothing mentality, “I don’t have time to clean everything, so I won’t do anything.” Just aim for a bit of progress.
10. Think.
Instead of staring at your phone, try staring out the window. Journal, brainstorm ideas, daydream, and reflect on the day. In the information age, we could all use a little less consuming and a little more processing. Don’t try to fill every 5 minutes break with dumping more information into your brain. It’s good to kick back and think sometimes.
11. Answer some emails.
Inbox overflowing? Make a game out of answering emails. If you have 10 minutes before your next appointment, try setting a timer and see how many emails you can get through in that time.
12. Plan your week.
Sometimes, we only get to look ahead when there’s a lull in the day. Redeem that pocket of time to take a peek at the calendar, appraise yourself of what’s coming up, or make some quick adjustments to your plans.
13. Check the budget.
Steward your money while you steward your time. We use You Need a Budget for managing our household finances, and I’ll often spend a few minutes during my breaks each day categorizing transactions and moving money around to make sure we’re on track.
Conclusion
There are plenty of ways to better steward the small pockets of time the Lord brings our way. Those are just a few ideas to get you started.
