I’ve been singing the praises of all of the extra time that I have during this quarantine. I’ve called it a gift and have been tackling some projects at home, like decluttering. Imagine my surprise this weekend when I said to myself “I don’t have time for that”. I’m not even sure now what I didn’t think I had time for.
Was it serendipity, then, when I found a YouTube video from Wheezy Waiter called How to Stop Procrastinating with the 10 Minute Rule?
Here’s the thing: I am a big believer in using small actions and brief moments of time to accomplish things! Apparently, I need to keep reminding myself that this technique works for me. I asked my husband to watch the Wheezy Waiter video with me. After the video, we worked on weeding our backyard landscaping using this 10-minute anti-procrastination method. After 3 - 10 minute sessions, it is almost finished. I will keep using this 10-minute method to maintain the weeds.
Like a lot of projects, I got that overwhelming feeling because there were a lot of weeds over a fairly big area. And weeding is a lot of work. But like most projects, taking the first step is the key to finishing something. Weeding itself wasn’t the issue. It was my thoughts and feelings around weeding because it became a thing I needed to do. The Zeigarnik effect helps explain this - our brains are wired to remember incomplete tasks. Once we complete the task, we are able to forget it. Unfinished tasks (or a to-do list of things I need to do) take up a lot of space in my brain, so I need to write them down (similar to my declutter guide).
It’s the lesson I will need to keep re-teaching myself over and over and over…