Give me a fifteen minute deadline and I can accomplish more than I can all day without one. Have you ever been overwhelmed by all the to-do's on your list, whether you actually have a physical list or one in your head? Have you ever looked at your mounting housework or weekly, monthly, yearly chores and just didn't know where to start ... so you didn't start at all?
I have a solution. It is tried and true.
Get yourself a timer or use your cell phone. Look at the area you are wishing to clean up or bills to pay or whatever it is that's dragging you down. Survey what you have in front of you. What is it you wish to accomplish? Picture it in your mind quickly.
Set the timer
Go!!!!!!
Just do it
When you have just a couple of minutes left on the timer, you'll have to decide how you want it to end. But my rule is, you must stop when the timer goes off.
My fifteen minute fix has worked well for tackling jobs I hate with a passion. You know what I'm talking about. Who likes to clean the bathroom? Ever found yourself spending two hours cleaning the bathroom? No wonder we hate cleaning. It should not take you more than 15 minutes. Seriously. Try it!
Got a couple of rooms that need picked up? Use my 15-minute method for each room and let me know how it works for you. I used it to write this blog post.
love, susan
Hi. I've tried this but it never worked to me especially it is some work that I dislike. My suggestion to this problem is, whatever you do make it interesting enough. For example, if it is cleaning, get perfumed phenols, room freshners, so that you will enjoy doing your work.
ReplyDeleteCheck out my blog http://www.malavikka.blogspot.com//
This works for me. I'm exactly this way. I will put off the simplest things and then let them bug me. It also helps me if I tell someone else I'm going to do it. Or make a commitment out of the task
ReplyDeleteIt helps to be accountable, I think. K and I play this game of back and forth photos of areas we're cleaning up. It works for us!!!!
DeleteI need to try this. Great tip Susan!
ReplyDeleteOh, I hope you do and come back tell me how it worked for you. Or blog about it!!!
DeleteI use a very similar system, especially when I'm feeling overwhelmed by household chores. It's amazing what you can accomplish in 15 minutes!
ReplyDeleteI know, right? Back in the day, there was a game show called Beat the Clock. I think this is very much like that.
DeleteI've done timer thing.
ReplyDeleteCame over from A to Z challenge.
Coffee is on
Hi there! Thanks for stopping in! I've always got the coffee on too! Will come over and visit your site now!
DeleteI just got to try that...I never seem to get what I hate doing done. The office has been a disaster for over a year. If I could just close the door but it is not on now... Tks Sue...Nancy
ReplyDeleteOMgosh, Nancy, it works! And it's kind of fun ... if you can only imagine rushing to tidy up and area in order to beat the clock. I like to do before and after pics!
DeleteHi Susan - I'm visiting from the A to Z Challenge and think this is a wonderful idea - I have 3 such pesky jobs lined up to do that I know I will just end up not doing and kicking myself at the end of the week for not doing so and I think I might just try this method tonight and see if I can't rattle through them in less than an hour!! I'll let you know how I get on.
ReplyDeleteGood idea, let me try it tomorrow :) Thanks !
ReplyDeleteWhat a brilliant idea! I will give it a try. Nice to connect and follow through a to z http://aimingforapublishingdeal.blogspot.co.uk/
ReplyDeleteGREAT point!!! I had a professional organizer come in because I was overwhelmed with my closet, my spare room and my office. And she taught me about setting time limits. My spare room was the "overflow" room: where everything went that I didn't have a place for or didn't know what to do with or didn't want to take the time to find a place or put it in its place and it got to the point where I'd open the door and just close it again. It was COMPLETELY OVERWHELMING. But the taking it in chunks of time is how to plow through those big jobs. I love your 15 minute idea. I always worked in hours. But the 15 minutes rule can be great for chores. I hate dusting, with a passion I hate it, and it always surprises me when I do it that it really doesn't take more than a few minutes! Great reminder post. I even have an egg timer that I'll have to start using more often. Thanks Susan!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I set a timer, and sometimes I just visually partition off a task. For instance, I have a box of papers that accumulated for who knows how long, so each night before I go to bed, I pull out a few of the papers (only enough to take a few minutes of filing/shredding/scanning) and put them in a designated area and tell myself…by the end of the day, tomorrow, I will take care of these. I tell myself a phrase I learned from a time management book, "Do little, often."
ReplyDelete(P.S… by doing little, often, I am now just one day shy of completely emptying the box!)