The 15 Minute Rule
If you drop it on the ground, as long as it sits for less than five seconds its still good right?
Well the jury may still be out on that one, however the 15 minute rule should be something we should all get behind.
While there will always be naysayers (for everything), the 15 minute rule should be an important factor in remaining a successful productive member of working society.
For those unfamiliar – the 15 minute rule implies that if you are to start work at 9am, you arrive by 8:45am. 15 minutes ahead of your scheduled start time.
While understandably, in a society that has become insanely busy with kids, family, friends, culture, finding a bit of space for ourselves, and life in general, 15 minutes can sometimes feel like a lot of time. And sometimes its a lot of time we don’t want to give because we feel like we really don’t have a spare second to give anymore. This especially holds more value when generally those 15 minutes do not count towards the bottom line of your paycheque.
So why bother?
At the end of the day, those 15 minutes are going to create a better work day for not just the client, or your company – but really for yourself.
These first 15 minutes are integral to clearing space in your head, adjusting your frame of mind, and setting yourself up for a successful day.
In the security industry, these 15 minutes are imperative to gaining knowledge of your surroundings, learning of any important details, going over any briefings, and learning exactly what your mission or goal for the day will be.
If you are scheduled to start at for example 9am, then that implies you are ready to go with all the tools necessary to complete a successful day.
Not that you arrive at 9am and try to figure out what you’re doing for the day. If this is your plan, you’re now possibly 15 minutes into your company’s time, and the clients time, trying to figure something out.
Not only this, if you think about it, and you realize and understand that you’ve arrived to work with little knowledge of the day ahead, it can create a more stressful day for you.
Stress can breed anxiety. Anxiety is not going to help make anyones day progress smoothly. Especially being in the security industry, you need to be as least anxious as possible.
Clear space in your mind with clear visions ahead will allow for better focus and overview of the site you are looking over.
If you’re calm, cool, and collected, the odds are you’ll have a much brighter day.
You won’t be stressed as you will know what the mission is to accomplish, and there won’t be that nagging stressful feeling of being unprepared.
As little as some people may sometimes care about things, if they are better prepared then they’ll look and act the part a lot better, and with a lot more ease.
Along with being prepared, these 15 minutes can be something that your coworkers are relying on. You may very well be relieving someone and these 15 minutes are for you to discuss anything that has happened or could happened and allow for your coworker to leave on time as well.
While money may make the world go round, being able to live productively and with as little stress as possible is also going to improve your quality of life.
And while you may view this as putting extra time in for your employer for free, think about it as setting yourself up for a more stressless and successful day.
A day where you can look and feel productive, and go home knowing you’ve completed the task above and beyond your expectations.
The feeling of being prepared will ideally carry you through your day allowing you to go home and be more at ease and stress free, setting you up for a calm and relaxed evening with your family.
So 5 seconds, or 15 minutes – knowing what lies ahead makes all the difference.
Guest Blogger Rayna Davies
Rayna Davies is a graduate and practitioner of Business Management. She has developed an expertise in blogging, covering subjects like travel, world events and security. Having grown up with a father who has developed an expertise in Physical Security and Executive Protection in the RCMP and two major corporations, she has personally observed and 
experienced many security details. These experiences have included personally meeting HM Queen Elizabeth, Prime Minister Jean Chretien and many celebrities. She presently assists Sentinel Security in Executive Protection workshops and guest blogging and also assists Gloprosec Preventative Services in Intelligence gathering and Business Administration. Her passions include World travel, having visited every continent.
