Create A Story Library in 1 Minute Per Day

Create a story library in just one minute per day.

It’s pitch dark in the room and the floor feels exceptionally cold. I fumble my way to the closet only to trip over a book one of my kids left on the floor the night before.

“It’s time for my swim,” I think.

But deep in the morning haze, I forget that I am no longer in Hong Kong, where even during the winter a morning swim in an outdoor pool is not only feasible but an easy start to the day.

However, I am now back in Chicago, adjusting from Hong Kong’s climate—where 50 degrees is often the low—to Chicago’s negative teens.

Let me explain.

For six weeks at the end of 2015, my family and I packed up some of our belongings and stayed in a service apartment in Hong Kong. My husband and I kept working while homeschooling our oldest child. We also made plans with friends and family, as desperate to see them as if we were North Koreans who had been separated from their families in the south for decades.

Six weeks sounds like a long time, but at the end of our annual trip, we asked ourselves, “What happened to our time here? How come we didn’t do much of anything?”

Contrary to the reoccurring sentiment at the end of our trip each year, we did a LOT in six weeks. We felt like we hadn’t done much of anything precisely because we were so busy doing that we left no time for remembering.

And according to psychologist Daniel Kahneman, “We don’t only tell stories when we set out to tell stories. Our memory tells us stories, that is, what we get to keep from our experiences is a story.”

Without making the time to remember, even a busy six-week stint felt blank to us. If we felt that way, then what happens to those who are busy working, climbing the corporate ladder, raising families, and getting involved with their communities—and spending decades on these commitments?

From my experience working with clients, they draw a blank too. Deep down they know they have done a lot. But when asked to tell their stories—the most memorable, the most life altering, the most educational— they came up with random, incoherent laundry lists of facts.

Don’t let it happen to you!

“But I’m busy and I have no time to sit down to remember!” You might protest.

Sure. We don’t have time; we make time. And making the time to remember AND record doesn’t need to be so onerous. Here’re a few tips and tools for building your story library one step at a time.

Related Articles