I have overcome procrastination and the truth is that my house has never been as tidy as it is now. And that reduces my stress levels
Procrastination had always been my Achilles heel. I tend to put off the simplest tasks over and over again and that causes them to end up becoming big mountains, especially when it comes to tidying up. In order to put an end to this problem, which seemed more and more unmanageable, I looked for a trick that could put a stop to it and that’s when the “one-minute rule” appeared. Not only has it made my house tidier than ever, it has also increased my productivity.
The effect of the one-minute rule in my house (and at work)
The “one-minute rule” is aimed at avoiding procrastination of everyday tasks and the term was coined by happiness and habits expert Gretchen Rubin. The idea is that when we have a task in front of us, we ask ourselves if it is something we could do in less than a minute. If the answer is yes, we do it without thinking twice and without leaving it on the to-do list. Here are some simple examples: put the breakfast cup in the dishwasher instead of leaving it on the sink. Pick up the blanket from the living room after using it. Hanging up your coat on the rack. Taking out the trash when it’s full. Replying to an email. Putting a book back on the shelf after consulting it for work. All these are small tasks that I used to accumulate to do later. Only that “later” never came and my house ended up looking like Chernobyl.
Rubin explained that because they were small tasks, getting started and keeping using it wasn’t particularly complicated. “Fulfilling all those small and annoying tasks makes us feel calmer and more energetic because we are not weighed down by the accumulated mass of small and insignificant chores,” he added. The truth is that the trick works like a charm and has become the key to two things: order in my house and my productivity.
By doing small tasks and preventing them from accumulating, I have managed to maintain order in my house in a much simpler way and that affects my productivity. Disorder overloads the brain with stimuli, which reduces the ability to concentrate and generates more stress. Conversely, an orderly space contributes to mental clarity and improves mood, which positively influences productivity. What’s more, order affects the amount of the stress hormone cortisol in our blood, and people with more disorderly spaces have higher cortisol levels.
When we do small tasks in this way, we are devoting the bulk of our energy and focusing on the truly important tasks. And we also maintain order. You can’t ask for anything more.
