Why.
Why?
WHY?????
It’s going to take less than 5 minutes to do it.
Why do I walk past it, feel the guilt of not getting it done and repeat that over and over again?
——–
The pictures I want to hang up of past trips.
They’re all framed and ready to go but there they sit. Just waiting for 5 lousy minutes of my time.
It isn’t worth the guilt and shame I have put upon myself for not doing it.
In our 1st Book Club book of 2022, Effortless by Greg McKeown, there is a section in Chapter 15 called, The Long Tail of Time Management, that really stood out to me because I am totally guilty of the things he talks about.
He shares an example very similar to mine with the pictures.
His is from a friend who has to jiggle his desk drawer every time he goes to close it, repeating the pattern of opening it as far as it would go, shaking it, closing and opening it again, and moving things around.
So, a colleague asked him, how long have you been doing that?
About two years was his answer.
When they actually figured out that a single pencil tray was in the way, it took less than 2 minutes to fix it.
What is your “pencil box” that is constantly causing you a little bit of grief, but it feels like it would take too long to fix it?
Here’s what Greg McKeown suggests: Adding up the cumulative costs of the time (and don’t forget to add in the time you are also frustrated) from today, plus tomorrow, plus hundreds of tomorrows, suddenly the few minutes it takes to solve the cause of the frustration doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal.
We seem to just get used to those little frustrations, pushing them to the back of our minds, and don’t do anything about them. What time and aggravation could we save in the long run if we would just break that habit of avoidance?
He gives 3 ideas of how we can begin to break this habit.
Ask yourself:
- What is a problem that irritates me repeatedly?
- What is the total cost(time) of managing that over several years?
- What is the next step I can take immediately, in a few minutes, to move toward solving it?
Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it?
Just becoming aware that we do this could save us YEARS of frustration, guilt and shame that we put upon ourselves.
When you start doing this, you’ll start noticing the small actions you could be taking to make sure your life is easier in the future.
Here’s what I am vowing to do.
The next time I walk past something that I have been meaning to do that is literally 5 minutes or less to complete, I’m either
A: Stopping to do it or
B: putting it on my to-do list for tomorrow.
If it is something that will take longer than 5 minutes, I’ll break it down into the next, small step that I can take.
I promise you here and now that I am going to do one of these stupid little tasks that have been overburdening my mind repeatably, every day.
There are many of them.
The piles that form on my desk is one of those things.
I am actually a really good organizer, but I usually put it off until I can’t stand the disorganization anymore.
I’ve shared multiple messy desk shots over on my hunkeedori Instagram feed over the years if you’d like to see the truth of this.
Now, I don’t think for one second that I’m going to run out of things I could quickly do and haven’t.
New ones show up all the time.
One a day is what I’m going to commit to.
If I honestly can’t think of one little task that I need to do, I’m going to do something quick for myself.
I’ll:
Sit down to read.
Watch a quick video
Do a massage with that awesome massage chair I never use that my kids gave me for Mother’s Day a few years ago
Or, send a text to a friend that I’ve been thinking about.
What are you going to commit to doing?
How often are you going to try to tackle one of these little annoying to-do’s?
Send me an email Marla@hunkeedori.com I’d love to hear about it and I’ll be your accountability partner!
If you really want to up your accountability, post a before and after photo of what you’re doing on instagram. Make sure you tag @hunkeedori so I can follow you and your progress!!!
During the month of June, I have decided to dedicate my podcast to one of the pillars that holds up my systems of Connection that I teach. This month it is focused on the pillar of TIME. Each podcast in June, I’ll be talking about a way that we can reconnect to our time. A way to pay attention to it in a way that honors who we truly ARE and not who we’re trying to BE for anyone else.
I believe, that when we prioritize the way we spend our time, we not only make time to do the things that are most important to us, it creates an environment within us so we actually have more time to spend loving others.
That’s a big piece of becoming less burdened isn’t it. (not a question)
Feeling more connected to how we use our time instead of letting time be the boss.
I get to choose how I spend my time and so do you.
Thanks for joining me here today.
I see you. I understand how hard you’re trying, and I’d like to help however I can.