Resources - Solution Oriented Strategies
The Ten Minute Rule
Everyone dislikes some aspect of the work they have to do [saints and CEOs included].
You can avoid the disliked tasks in several ways:
- You can tell yourself on a daily basis: “I’ll do it tomorrow,”
- Use denial as in, “I never said I’d do that.”
- Use forgetfulness, “I forgot all about it.”
Disliked tasks do not go away: you can protest having to do them, forget them, procrastinate, curse the necessity of doing them, ignore them, stuff them to the back of you desk or your mind, put them out of sight.... they do not go away...
You can feel angry with yourself for putting off the disliked tasks; feel irritated by the fact you know these tasks are lurking in the background waiting for your attention; you can tell yourself how bad, incompetent, lazy, stupid or ridiculous you are.... they do not go away...
Take ten minutes and do as much as you can do in that amount of time.
Schedule this time regularly either once a day or more until a particular task is complete then start the next task. Schedules that seem to work well are ten minutes before you start your regular tasks; ten minutes before you leave for lunch or, after you return from lunch; before you go home; or after every trip to the bathroom or coffee machine and so on...
Remember: Even a mountain can be moved
one rock at a time.