The One-Minute Rule

With the Page-A-Day Calendar I purchased for my desk this year, I received a free email version of another calendar of my choice. I chose "The Happiness Project", which is based on a book (and project) by Gretchen Rubin. I hadn't read the book, but I liked the idea, so I thought I'd give the calendar a whirl.

The first few weeks of the calendar were ho-hum. I think a lot of it would have made more sense if I'd read the book. Every few days I'd find something inspiring, but for the most part is wasn't too earth-shattering. Last week however I read a tip that I really liked:

Follow the “one-minute rule”: Don’t postpone any task that can be done in less than one minute. Put away your umbrella, file a document—such steps take only moments, but the cumulative impact is impressive.

Huh. That's a cool way to think about those tasks that tend to pile up around the house and work. I tried the rule out that day at work and I loved it! Instead of stacking things on my desk and filing them at the end of the day, I filed them as soon as I was done. It made getting out of the office at 5:00 much easier. At home, I took the recycling out right after dinner instead of letting it sit on the counter. The result was a clutter free kitchen and a happy Jessica!

Honestly, I'm probably not going to follow this rule all the time. We all slip up even when we have the best intentions. Getting some of those one-minute tasks off my plate though eases the feelings of "I have so much to do and not enough time to do it." Apparently, I do have the time. A minute here and a minute there.