“Rule of 10″

Some people think I’m silly to do this. Others have stolen the idea because they liked it so well. I don’t care. I know it works for me.

Because I am self-employed, and often work at home, I sometimes have difficulty staying on task and finishing a job. It’s so easy to step away from writing a contract or entering my accounting to get another cup of coffee…and notice a load of laundry that needs to be done. So, I start the laundry and put away some towels and notice that the cabinet needs to be arranged. I pull everything out of the cabinet and start sorting. There is some out of date medicine in the cabinet, and when I put that in the trash, I realize that the trash needs to be emptied. I take the trash out to the garbage can and notice the roses need pruning and so….before I know it the day is done and that contract isn’t written.

Some days I lack motivation and can’t get anything done at all. I never thought about it until the last few months, but perhaps I have A.D.D. or S.A.D. Or, maybe I’m just easily distracted. Perhaps it’s a lack of discipline. It could be that I’m just not organized….what was I talking about? Oh, yes. Staying on task and finishing a job.

On those days I don’t want to do anything but play Solitaire Mahjohngg on the computer or work a jigsaw puzzle, I declare a “Rule of 10.” That means, I have to do 10 things before I can sit down and play again. Some days I’m so sluggish that I count 1) pick up the paper clip from the counter and put it away; 2) put my shoes in the closet; 3) throw away the Kleenex the teenager left on the table 4) enter one expense on my accounting….you get the drift. Sometimes just doing 10 things causes me to get motivated.

Quite often, I decide to declare “Rule of 10 X 10.” I do that for housecleaning mostly. If company is coming over and I need to straighten the house, I can get the place looking spiffy in a jiffy. Or, if paper is overwhelming me(which it often does), I can file 100 papers pretty quickly.

The Rule of 10 works with a timer, too. That’s how I use the rule while I work on my paperwork. I tell myself, “I’ll just work on my taxes for 10 minutes and then I can go weave for 10 minutes.” I do this throughout the day with my list of tasks. I have to accomplish a little bit of work, then I get to play. But, my “play time” is not allowed to be longer than my work time! Again, it works for me.

Some folks would say that it isn’t an efficient use of time to work only 10 minutes and then break. They maintain that it takes a minute or two to get involved in the task and that if you stop after 10 minutes and switch gears, you are wasting time. Yes, that could be true. But, when I am doing something I don’t like to do, I have the attention span of a gnat. If I try to work much longer than that without a break, I get antsy and don’t accomplish anything anyway. If you don’t think 10 minutes is enough, then set the timer for 30 minutes.

Give this method a try the next time you are having trouble getting going. Set the timer for 10 (15 or 30)minutes, work on one specific project for that length of time, reward yourself…and do it again. You might just find it easier to get those unpleasant tasks finished so you can cross them off your “To Do” list.

This journey began for real on a separate blog (you can click here to read About Out Of Chaos), but that wasn’t really simplifying was it? I moved all of the posts to This Eclectic Life under the category Out Of Chaos. I’ll be adding more from time to time. I hope you join me.

Other posts you might enjoy:

1. A Timer Keeps Me Moving
2. Trying To Get The Groove Back
3. Clutter Begets Clutter
4. Caramelized Mushrooms
5. I Am A Closet Hoarder

Tagged as: de-cluttering, organizing