15 Minutes is All It Takes

When I look at the mound of laundry that needs to be folded or the sink full of dinner dishes, I try to remind myself that it never takes as long as I think it will in my head. See, I think we convince ourselves that those things we don't WANT to do, take too long and we don't have time at the moment to do them. So we tell ourselves we'll do it later, when we have more time. That's when things start to build up and chaos takes over.

One of my favorite websites, FlyLady.com, reminds us that if we limit ourselves to 15 minute increments, we don't get overwhelmed by the work. Many times, whatever needs to get done takes less than 15 minutes to do (such as folding a basket of laundry or rinsing the dishes and tossing them in the dishwasher or even analyzing that data your boss has been asking for). Set a timer and go...for 15 minutes. That's it. You'll see that most things you've been procrastinating on take less than that. If you've let things go for some time, take 15 minute baby steps to getting back on track...you'll be 15 minutes closer to having it finished. If the timer goes off and you're compelled to do another 15, great, but remember the idea is to make some progress...and to teach yourself that most things don't take as long as we think they will in our head.

See, and I'm done with this post in 9 and have 6 more minutes to clean off my desk!