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.

Choose Joy

I'm not a church going gal. I have my own ideas about God and religion, which I'm not going to discuss here, but I do want you to know I try to respect people's thoughts and beliefs about the aforementioned. That being said, I wanted to share this sweet and inspiring blog I started reading about a month or so ago. I think whether you are Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, something else or even unaffiliated, everyone can take something away from this blog. I'll let Sara speak for herself because she does it so well. Choose Joy.

Friday

WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Today I am Thankful

Over the past week I've been overwhelmed by the amount of support I, and the team I walk with, have received on our Avon Walk for Breast Cancer adventure. We don't actually walk until May 2012, but people have already opened their hearts in so many ways.

Last week, in exchange for a $10 donation, I promised to write a poem about how awesome the donor was and post it on Facebook for everyone to see. I received two donations in excess of $10 and rave reviews of my poetry, even though I'm obviously no Robert Frost.

This week, my employer pledged to match any donation I receive in the month of October. The WHOLE month! And we're not talking about a huge corporation here ... this is a small family owned business. In addition, they want to outfit us in team t-shirts. Their continuous generousity over the years has been amazing and always encourages me to pay it forward, which I try to do whenever I can.

The match pledge created a domino effect. People have been donating steadily over the past few days, knowing their gift will be doubled. A lot of these people don't know each other or my employers, but they are still coming together, giving what the can, and helping others.

On days when I'm feeling grumpy or the evening news is one sad story after another, I will try to remember this past week and that small things can make a difference.