The 15-Minute Commitment Test: How Busy Parents Can Finally Pick the Right Projects (Without Analysis Paralysis)
Discover the simple question that cuts through overwhelm and helps parent-entrepreneurs choose what actually matters—even when you only have 15 minutes to spare.
“Would I work on this for 15 minutes right now?”
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Would you?
Picture this: Tuesday morning, 7:23 AM. Your child is having what I can only describe as an existential crisis about triangle toast versus square toast (apparently geometry matters deeply when you’re three).
You’ve got exactly 15 minutes before your next call, lukewarm coffee in hand, and you’re staring at your phone like it holds the secrets to life (Robert Langdon would be proud).
Your notes app opens to the usual graveyard of “brilliant” ideas:
Newsletter course (needs 3 hours of research)
Productivity app concept (requires programming skills I don’t have)
That parenting book I’ll “definitely write someday” (demands monk-level focus)
Newsletter draft (could bang out one messy paragraph between tantrums)
Sound familiar?
I brought up “Shiny Outcome Syndrome” and watched 350+ subscribers nod in recognition, yet for some reason the most common response wasn’t gratitude.
It was: “Okay, but HOW do I actually choose what to work on?”
Fair point. Diagnosing the disease is easier than curing it.
That’s when it hit me: Instead of asking “What should I work on?” I asked “What would I actually touch right now, in these 15 chaotic minutes?”
Here’s what I realized: Your constraints aren’t productivity killers—they’re truth serum for what actually matters.
The 15-Minute Commitment Test works because it forces you to confront reality instead of living in the fantasy land of “someday when I have time.” (Spoiler alert: that magical land doesn’t exist. I’ve checked.)
If you wouldn’t start it right now, in your actual life circumstances, it’s not a priority—it’s a Shiny Outcome in disguise.
How to apply it:
Look at your project list (you know, that digital hoarding situation in your notes app)
Ask: “Would I work on this for 15 minutes right now?”
Be brutally honest about your energy, environment, and the fact that your kid might interrupt to discuss why crackers and cheese can’t be friends
If the answer is no, it goes to the “someday pile”
If it’s yes, congratulations—you’ve found your actual next move
As a financial analyst turned parent-creator, I learned that good data beats good intentions every time. Your willingness to start immediately is the most reliable indicator of what you actually value.
The projects that survive the 15-minute test? Those compound into real momentum.
The rest can stay in your notes app, quietly judging you from the digital sidelines.
Remember that feeling when everything clicks?
When you’re not fighting your constraints but working with them?
That’s the magic of the 15-Minute Commitment Test.
It’s not about having more time. It’s about being honest with the time you actually have.
What’s one project on your list that would pass the 15-minute test right now?
Stop asking if you have time.
Start asking if you’d begin right now—sippy cup crisis and all.
Take care of yourselves,
Matt