Just Do It

One of the worst parts of The List is how fast it grows. Mine can grow like a nightmare. A couple months ago I read somewhere (can’t remember where! I didn’t put it on The List!) a rather obvious tip that changed my perspective on The List.

If it takes less than five minutes, do it now.

I know. Stupid easy, right?
But I suddenly saw so many things on my todo list that I should have just finished and been done with.

So I started following that rule for a week. A child asked for a drink of water, and I bounded up and got that cup for him.

My son called for help in Algebra, and I ran over, fixed the error, and went back to what I was doing.

My coworker emailed a quick question, and I answered it the first time I saw the email, rather than waiting to answer it “when I do my emails.”

Now, I did have this fear that so many interruptions would drive me off task. And sometimes, they did distract me. But over all, getting it done right away had great rewards!

My family suddenly thought I was in a great mood, because I actually was helpful immediately instead of saying, “Just a minute” to everything they asked.

My todo list shrank because I just got things done rather than letting them pile up.

I felt more responsive, more productive, and more connected to my loved ones.

So I upped the ante!

I’m up to “10 or 15 minutes.” If my coworker, child, husband, ANYBODY ask me something I can do “real quick,” I try (don’t always succeed! But I’m working on it!) to just knock that chore off right away rather than letting it fester.

What do you think? Could doing five-minute tasks immediately shorten your todo list? Let me know if it works for you!