Five Minutes: Time is Precious

Five Minutes: Site redesigned and rethought

fiveminutes — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:36:08 +0000

So we had a look at what worked and what didn’t. Submissions were as fantastic as we could hope for – problem was, it was easy to get depressed, so we thought ‘why not let people share their best five minutes‘ too.

Then we looked at how the site was growing with each entry, so now each entry is its own page; a page you can bookmark from your Facebook, Twitter,, Reddit, StumbleUpon – in fact, loads of ways to share your interesting discoveries (and maybe your own submissions).

We’ve sent a travelling journal on its way too – a book, being passed from person to person, so people can write, draw, whatver they can think of. Time is precious and that’s what we’re learning with the five minutes project. Less emotional porn and more insight into the true human value of time. When that journal returns (whenever that may be) we’ll share it with you. In the meanwhile, for anyone who feel they’d rather tell us what their best five minutes are, or what they’d do if they only had five minutes to live, you can upload a video from your computer or phone, or live through your webcam. So far, people have been shy. Let’s break the ice, start talking and let us really understand how precious time is to us.

Weird, wonderful, scary, sick, intelligent

fiveminutes — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:38:42 +0000

The redesign is a sucess. Some incredible contributions and discussion happening elsewhere, such as Reddit:

“The assumption is that people are going to confess something horrible… right? That’s the whole anonymous slant.

I think most people would probably just hug their loved ones if they had them… no one will really have enough time to do anything else that served a purpose.

Not to mention the total chaos that would ensue if everyone was notified at the same time… I’d encourage my wife and kids to come hang out with me in the basement for the last 5 minutes… I’d tell them whatever they needed to hear to be as calm as they could.”
“That is where I do not understand people, I have had my whole life to hug my family. But I do not think I have ever had the chance to do something amazingly stupid with no repercussions in the future. I would do something stupid because as you said, no one will have enough time to do anything constructive, but destructive is another story.”

New and improved

fiveminutes — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:22:50 +0000

The site has been simplified. It’s easier than ever now to share your five minutes. We don’t want your email address. We don’t want your name. We just want your thoughts, which is why we’ve stripped it bare. If you have video or an image or audio, you can still use the old incarnation but for ease of use, Five Minutes is where to go.

We’ve already seen some heartfelt and funny reactions.
What would yours be?

It makes you think ….

fiveminutes — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:57:44 +0000

Since coming up with the concept of this intimate socail experiment, I have asked myself the question a lot. What would I do? I always come to the same conclusion; I’d spend it with my family; my little boy, my little girl, their beautiful mother. It’s an easy decision. But then I ask myself again: what would I do?

Perhaps I’d just talk to them all, with the wonderment I still feel everytime my little boy responds and reacts. Maybe I’d read his bedtime story. Thinking about it is so difficult because it’s anguishing to even contemplate him having to deal with something like that. But what this simple little question: what would you do if you had just five minutes left to live? opens my eyes wide to what matters most to me. I embellish the thoughts with details:

What would I say?

What would I be listening too?

What time would it be?

Would they know I had just five minutes too?

Interpret your own five minutes how you will, but it’s a difficult and rewardig process to do it. Tell us on video, record directly from your webcam, upload an image, send an email – whatever way you’re comfortable sharing, it’s a worth doing….

Think about it…

fiveminutes — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:08:28 +0000

What would you do? In this unique social experiment, we want you to show us – through video, image or through posting to our blog, what you would do? You can record from your webcam directly to us, you can upload video you have made, or send us images. Tell us, show us, surprise us.

And to make it honest, you have just 5 minutes to decide….