Overcoming Procrastination â€“ The 10-minute Rule

August 7th, 2008 -

“The best way to get something done is to begin”

One technique that can be used to overcome procrastination is to implement The 10-minute Rule.

This is a very simple technique. In fact, its simplicity is a critical factor because if you feel like procrastinating chances are you wonâ€™t have the motivation to implement any complex, involved processes to overcome the procrastination. You might not even be able to summon the mental stamina to examine the consequences of procrastinating as described in the article “Overcoming Procrastination - Examine the consequences”.

How to use The 10-minute Rule

The 10-minute Rule involves simply making a commitment to do whatever it is that you are procrastinating for a period of just 10 minutes. After all, 10 minutes is not much time - usually it passes in a flash, especially if we are plunked down aimlessly in front of the television. So make a deal with yourself to do the activity for just 10 minutes and if after that 10 minutes you still donâ€™t want to do it then you may stop. Thatâ€™s the deal you make with yourself. Very simple.

So the next time you donâ€™t feel like doing your 30 minutes of exercise or doing that homework assignment or cleaning the house or writing that report or balancing your cheque book, make a deal with yourself to do it for just 10 minutes. And if after that 10 minutes you still donâ€™t want to do it, then stop.

How the 10-minute Rule works

The great thing about this technique to overcome procrastination is that the human mind and body are designed such that once you begin to do the activity you get into a flow with it. Perhaps the hardest part about engaging in an activity is getting started. Once you overcome the original inertia and get into it, it is actually much easier to continue doing it than to stop. Also, usually after the 10 minutes, you have already made some progress and you generally think that since you are already into it, you might as well keep at it. For instance if the dreaded activity was 30 minutes on the treadmill, then after 10 minutes, you have already gotten one third way through that goal, so you might be more inclined to complete it and derive the accomplished feeling that accompanies that success. And voila, procrastination has been thwarted.

Studies have shown that it takes about 10 minutes to become engrossed in what you are doing â€“ to get into the zone, which is why it becomes easier to overcome your original reluctance at that point. And once you are deeply involved in the task, you sense the progress you are making, and realize that you are on the way to completing it. This is often incentive enough to keep going rather than stop. The basic laws of physics also apply to procrastination â€“ a body in motion will stay that way unless some external force acts on it â€“ so a mind engrossed in an activity will also stay that way unless it is distracted.

Repeatedly apply the 10-minute Rule

It is critical that once the 10 minute period is up, you decide if to keep going. In the unlikely event that you want to stop at that point, it helps to consider implementing the 10-minute rule again. So after 10 minutes of exercise, you might decide to keep going for another 10 minutes and see how you feel about it. In fact, the 10-minute rule should be implemented as many times as necessary to overcome procrastination impulses.

The 10-minute Rule works so wonderfully that soon you will find that you have completed the activity which you had spent so much time and energy procrastinating.

So the next time you feel like putting off a â€˜taskâ€™ try out the 10-minute rule and see how it works for you.

“A year from now you may wish you had started today. ~ Karen Lamb”

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How to Manage Your Time Effectively - Part II

August 4th, 2008 -

“Time=Life; therefore, waste your time and waste your life, or master your time and master your life.” ~ Alan Lakein.

In Part I we defined nourishing and malnourishing time and explored how to go about identifying just how we are spending our time and whether it is in line with our goals. Once you have identified how you currently spend your time, you need to look at how you might want to change this use of your time by replacing malnourishing time with nourishing time, and maximizing your nourishing time.

Converting malnourishing time to nourishing time

For those blocks of time which you have identified as malnourishing, you have to consider how you might make it nourishing. How can you use that time so that it nourishes your goals, and your objectives? So maybe you decide that 4 hrs of tv is really malnourishing however 1 hr of tv will be nourishing, what do you do with the other 3 hrs? How can you use it so that it nourishes you? Which goal can you nourish with that time? Perhaps if you have a goal to become healthy, you could exercise for an hour. Maybe you have a goal to finish a book, so you could read for an hour. Maybe you have a goal to sleep better, so for the last hour before bed you could meditate and listen to soothing music. Of course in order to use your time to nourish your goals you need to know what your goals are. If you need help with this you can access the article “Achieving Your Goals Part I - Goal Identification.”

Maximising your nourishing time

So you are done right,? You have got this time management thing down? Not quite. The next step is to consider your current nourishing time and see if you can maximize it. You want to see if you are making the most effective use of your time here. It is time spent nourishing your goals but could it be spent to nourish even more of your goals or to nourish the same goal more effectively?

So letâ€™s go back to the goal of studying. If you spend one hour studying, how do you do it? Do you simply read the book for the entire hour? That is nourishing certainly but it might not be as nourishing as it could be. You could be reading a section then verbally explaining what you just read â€“ reviewing it to ensure that you really understood it. You could be making notes. You could be quizzing yourself on it. Is your time as nourishing as it could be? Is it the most effective use of this nourishing time?

Further, are you nourishing your goals in the correct proportion? The correct proportion is determined by your priority. Letâ€™s say you have two goals â€“ one is to study and get an A and the other is to exercise. You might decide that your priority is to get the A so therefore would you spend one hour exercising and 10 minutes studying? Nope. You would have to allocate the time in proportion to your priorities. This is a clear obvious example, but in truth, your life is more complicated than this and you have more than two goals and many different blocks of time.

Further your priorities will fluctuate depending on what is happening in your life. As you get closer to the exam you might find that the studying takes on an even greater priority than before and that other items are reduced in priority. So you must always be conscious of how you are using your nourishing time to ensure that it is nourishing your goals most effectively and in the correct priority.
So to summarise, you need to:

Carefully note how you use your time â€“ nourishing or malnourishing
Decide how to change your malnourishing time to nourishing time
Decide how to maximize your nourishing time

This might seem like a lot of work and possible waste of time, however this is an excellent investment of your time that will allow you to better manage your time.