Photo: Mackenzie Stroh

You can skip this article if you (a) are passionately devoted to exercise, (b) have laserlike discipline, and (c) can't imagine what it's like to feel your patience snap like a mousetrap or to fall compulsively in love with a certain ice cream.

Now, for every other woman who would kill to unearth the healthier her—if only she had time—we have a proposition: Just give us 10 minutes, and we'll get you in shape, mentally and physically. Not that we're pretending you can perfect a well-lived-in butt and testy disposition in 10 minutes—you wouldn't fall for that anyway. But here's the thing: If you can find a little window each day to do something for yourself—and who doesn't have 10 minutes?—whether it's doing yoga, meditating, or fixing a nutritious lunch, you'll feel a difference that will make you want to pry another 10 minutes from your schedule. And then another. You see where we're going. Ten minutes, we promise…the clock is ticking!

• Beat procrastination now!
  
• Learn how to have patience
  
• Try three non-woo-woo meditation exercises
  
• Get 10-minute workouts to end yo-yo exercising

Extra Boost: Eight inspirational figures offer an irresistible dose of motivation.