13th October - Climbing out of the pit - The 15 minute rule

There are a number of jobs and tasks that come my way that I really don't, DON'T want to do. They hang around the edges of my life like a bad smell that won't go away.

For example;

The Tax Return - probably at the top of the list (and still not done).

http://www.wikihow.com/Take-Minutes

Writing up Committee Meeting minutes (a thing of the past, and never to return, I hope)

Writing Christmas Cards - looming up on the near horizon. I have a friend who writes hers in the Summer holidays (!)

Cleaning the Oven.

Ironing Clothes.

Tidying up.

You get the picture? Then I came across this genius idea:

15 minute rule

So simple - you set yourself a time limit of 15 minutes to tackle as much of the task as you can get done in that time, and deal with the rest another time. So, in 15 minutes; 

I can get down the box where I dump all the paperwork that accumulates over the year for my Tax Return, and organise them into folders for payslip / bank / receipts, and put them back, knowing that the next phase of the task will be that much easier.

I can get through about three or four pages of the address list for Christmas Cards (hint, start at the end of the list on alternate years, just in case you never quite complete this task before Christmas. That way everyone gets a card at least every other year)

And so on. Having made a start helps get rid of that "ugh" feeling. Sometimes I even find that time has run away with me and I have accidentally completed the task... happy happy happy!