A 15-Minute Weekly To-Do List for Life: A Mini Solo Retreat

I'm Arisa Oki, a freelance writer.

Articles about solo retreats continue to be widely read.

However, a friend who read them told me:

“Well, I want to do it, but it takes a lot of courage to set aside a whole day, doesn't it?”

I get it, I really do. I completely understand. Even when someone tells me a share lounge is less than 500 yen an hour, I'm the type to think, 'But what if I want to go home halfway through?'

When I looked back at what actually triggered me to start doing solo retreats, I remembered a certain book.

That book is 'If You Have 15 Minutes, Go to a Coffee Shop' by Takashi Saito.

According to Amazon, I think I read this book in 2022. At the time, I was really struggling with the fact that remote work had increased and I was just letting things slide. I remember asking about 'switching between on and off' a lot in interviews back then.

And that's when I found this book. Well, the content is exactly what the title says. It's about trying to focus for 15 minutes at a coffee shop, whether it's to switch gears, for yourself, or for miscellaneous tasks.

So, I've been practicing an arranged version of this.This time, I'd like to introduce a mini solo retreat I had on a certain day.

0:00–0:15 Write down and prioritize your to-do list

I couldn't focus at home at all and was just letting things slide, so I went to a cafe that stays open until 9:30 PM.

The goal this time was to drink a cup of cocoa to refresh myself and write down things I wanted to do outside of work. I'm the type of person whose thoughts constantly pop up and disappear in my head.

For example, 'I haven't decorated my planner lately, I want to do that,' 'Actually, I want to organize my tickets,' 'Oh, I have to organize my receipts too,' 'Wait, didn't I forget to register my point card?' and so on...

I just jot down all the things I want to do for myself, even if they aren't quite at the level of a formal to-do list.

Sorry for the messy handwriting from when I wasn't feeling particularly motivated.

For example, looking at my to-do list for that day, I hadn't brought the receipts or the podcast editing materials, so I had to do those at home. I thought the honto registration I'd been putting off was in my wallet, but it wasn't there at all, so I put that off. I cross those out with a single line first.

Honestly, it would be perfectly fine to stop here, but... strangely enough, by the time you reach this stage, you should be feeling like, 'Oh? Maybe I want to do a little more work.'

I'm the type of person whose thoughts constantly pop up and disappear in my head.

So, I went ahead and loosely prioritized the things I needed to do right there.

The key is to just go with the flow! You know, you should just do things as you feel like it, so this is really just a rough guide. It's more like, I just wanted to get it done so I wouldn't waste time wondering, 'Hmm, what should I do next?'

0:15 - 3:30 Do as much as you feel like

On this day, I kept a time log...

I wrote up some reading notes that had been piling up...

I tried migrating my M-size Rollbahn notebook that I always carry around...

And I also registered some returns and shipments. (I'm proud of myself for doing that first.)

What was especially fun was this!

Reading leaflets found at bookstores and libraries, and jotting down books I want to read in the iPhone notes app. Even though I wasn't actually reading, I felt just as satisfied as if I had!

And then, with 30 minutes left until closing... I remembered, 'Oh, I wanted to go shopping,' so I left.

In the end, I started at 15 minutes and stayed for about 3 hours and 30 minutes. (This is only possible because the chain cafe in my neighborhood is empty.)

If you feel like a solo retreat is a high hurdle, I recommend starting by making a to-do list for your daily life!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!