Five minutes can change a life. In five minutes, you can have a cup of coffee, open an email, or post on social media sites. I like to think of my life in five minute segments. I almost see it as a challenge. What can I do in five minutes that can change my life? For me, my life revolves around two things: my family and my writing. Most recently it has been the book Montana Mustangs, the second book in the Nymph Series. This entire book was written in what always started as five minutes stretches. Once I started looking for five free minutes in my day I started finding them: while I waited for my kids to get out of school I made use of those few free minutes, while I waited for a meeting, or while I waited for dinner to cook. Sometimes I would start with those five minutes and they would stretch into hours. Sometimes all it was were those precious minutes. Yet, in just a few short months I had Montana Mustangs completed. When I was writing Montana Mustangs those minutes were reserved exclusively for writing—not daydreaming or thinking about the next plot point. Suddenly, when I was driving to pick up my children I had great book ideas (How I wish I had a marker I could write on windows with!). As a result, my characters were like my friends, visiting me during the day and telling me how the story should move ahead. It was amazing how I conditioned myself to plan ahead during moments of downtime so when I reached for my computer I was ready.In addition to writing Montana Mustangs (and then the next book in the series), I have had the fabulous opportunity of teaching courses on writing to published and yet-to-be-published authors. The most common excuse I hear as to why a person couldn’t finish a book was/is: “I don’t have the time.” I immediately think of my five minute challenge. Everyone has five minutes at some point in their day that isn’t occupied by crying kids, phone calls, cooking, or working at a nine-to-five job. The hard part is utilizing them. If you have a passion and you really want to change your life I recommend you start with my rule. It doesn’t have to be writing. Maybe you want to lose weight? Start knitting? Find those spare moments in your day and before long you will have attained a goal in which you had never thought possible. When you achieve your goal you will become empowered.