The 15-Minute Gardener

A friend of mine told me a story about how one spring her garden was a mess. The bushes were overgrown and tangled, old flowers were brown and lifeless, leaves littered the ground, mulch spilled onto the sidewalk, and weeds had taken over her once beautiful flower garden. Between juggling her teaching career and graduate school, she hadn’t had time to care for it. And she certainly did not have hours to dedicate to restoring it.

That’s when my friend decided to become a 15-minute gardener. She didn’t have hours to spare, but she could commit to 15 minutes a day. It wasn’t much, but it was something. She reasoned that over four days, she’d have put in an hour. And after a week, almost two hours. The small increments of time would accumulate into meaningful progress.

She started by setting a timer for 15 minutes each day. Some days, she simply clipped stray branches or pulled a handful of weeds. But more often than not, she found herself so absorbed that she kept going for 30 minutes or sometimes even an hour. Her garden slowly transformed, and soon enough, it looked as beautiful as it had been the previous spring. And with just 15 minutes a day, she could maintain it effortlessly.

The beauty of the 15-minute gardener approach wasn’t just in the results. It was in her shift in mindset. Instead of waiting for a big window of free time that never came, she carved out manageable moments and trusted they would grow into something meaningful.

I have applied the idea of the 15-minute gardener to many areas of my life- writing, grading students’ assignments, and tackling household chores. I commit to 15 minutes a day, schedule it on my calendar, and set the timer on my phone. More often than not, I’m so engaged in the task that I keep going until long after the timer goes off. That short-term commitment turns into longer stretches of productivity without feeling overwhelming.

The principle can be applied to advocacy as well. One of the most common reasons that educators say they aren’t advocates is that they feel like they “don’t have the time”. But almost everyone can find 15 minutes to make a phone call, write an email, or read and reshare a social media post. And I’ll bet once that timer goes off, you’ll be in the zone and realize that you have another 15 minutes (or more) to spare.

The lesson here is simple but transformative: you don’t need to wait for hours of free time or feel daunted by the scale of the task. Just start with 15 minutes. You might be surprised by how far that little block of time can take you- whether it is a tangled garden, a mountain of laundry, or the work of making your voice heard.

Are you ready to start, or continue, your advocacy journey? Here are some advocacy actions you can do in 15 minutes (or less):

• Post on Facebook or LinkedIn: Post a concise, compelling message about an issue you care about. Use a personal story or data (or both!) to make it resonate.
• Engage with a Policy Maker: Send a quick email or tweet to a legislator about an education policy you support or oppose (*Public school educators- make sure to use your personal email and device & send it during out-of-school hours.)
• Text a Colleague: Encourage a fellow teacher to take action on an issue or attend an event
• Share an Advocacy Hack: Send a quick tip or resource to educators on how they can influence policy in their daily work
• Draft an Elevator Pitch: Craft a concise, persuasive statement about your advocacy focus
• Write an Outline for a Letter to the Editor: Share your thoughts on a policy or issue to educate and influence the public
• Update your LinkedIn Profile: Highlight your advocacy experiences, positioning yourself as an expert
• Create a One-Pager: Draft a simple, single-page document that provides key points of information about a policy or issue
• Read and Share a Key Article: Find a recent piece of research to share with your network
• Record a Short Video: Create a quick message to explain an issue and share on your favorite social media site

The power of the 15-minute gardener is in the realization that small actions accumulate into meaningful change. Advocacy is no different. You don’t need to overhaul the system overnight. You just need to start. Set your timer, take one step, and trust that every action you take, no matter how small, helps cultivate a stronger, more just education system.

(Image Credit: Canva AI Generator)