10 MAGIC MINUTES part I

What you do. You set your timer to 10 min. You go into the room. Hit start and stay in that room for 10 min. Your baskets are by the door. 1 is for dirty laundry, one is for stuff that doesn't belong in that room and the trash can, well obviously is for trash.

Why it works. The magic doesn't lie in the 10 min you put in. The magic is in focusing your work on one small area. Trust me, I've tried. 2h of work with the magic minute approach can do miracles. 2 hours of the headless chicken approach might show some results but usually has you frustrated, not seeing any progress.

For those of us having a hard time focusing or having a long history of running away from dreaded tasks, the 10 min do the following.

• You can handle 10 min, they are over fast so just grit your teeth and do it
• If you get sidetracked and started working on something else the buzzer will go off at the most 9 min and 58 sec after you got sidetracked and will remind you of the task you set out to do
• If you go sidetracked and stopped working the buzzer will do the exact same thing
• Working with a timer you will learn how much time certain tasks need,  which will make it easier for you to plan a day's work
• Keeping track of the amount of time put in will make you feel better about yourself. Most likely you will realize that you put at lot more time into household chores than you thought.
• Working in 10 min intervals will give you a feeling of success. The object wasn't in cleaning up the room, the object was to stay focused on that area for 10 min. When the buzzer goes off and you are still working it's "mission accomplished" no matter how far you got. You are free to drop everything and leave the room behind you for that day.
• Some times the hardest part is getting started. Knowing you are free to stop and take a break after 10 min (sorry, breaks are restricted to 10 min also) will sometimes be enough to keep you going, saying:"Oh, I can handle another 10 min." And before you know it you've worked for an hour!
  

If you are a little skeptical at the moment I recommend you give it a 4 week trial run. Try it and see what it does for you. I think you won't be disappointed!