The 30 minute rule

I am pretty sure I can do just about anything for 30 minutes.

But let’s be honest. If it doesn’t involve shoe shopping or lunch with friends and isn’t something that I WANT to be doing, I am going to put it off. Instead of working, I can drift into the world of online shopping. Instead of folding laundry, I can drift into the latest episode of Real Housewives (or maybe even a repeat.) I would find it hard to imagine that this is just me.

But I can do anything for 30 minutes. So go with that theory. It is a Sunday afternoon. I want to meet up with friends/shop/nap/fill in with lazy Sunday activities. I also have that laundry on my bed that I need to fold. 30 minutes. “I am going to just spend 30 minutes FOCUSING on this one task”. I saw whatever isn’t done in 30 minutes can wait. 80% of the time (rough estimate) the laundry is done). If I get into the trend of working out for an hour or more I can find it hard to drag myself to the gym (What a commitment!) But thinking about getting on a machine for 30 minutes? Easy. I can find 30 minutes in my day.

Same thing goes with work. The internet simultaneously increased and decreased productivity in the work place. (I am not sure how it netted out – but probably negative overall) It increased by opening communication throughout cities and states and the world. Transfer information. And obtain information. Easy to search. Easy to access information. Oh, but the time wasted by employees talking to one another. Or online shopping for shoes (wow, maybe I need to seek help?) Here is my challenge. Turn off the internet. Or gmail. Or chat session. And focus of work for 30 minutes straight. There is something to be said about not multi-tasking 100% of your day. This might sound old-school, but it is amazing what you can accomplish with 100% of your attention. Those 30 minutes can equal hours of multi-tasked work.

A modern girl simply needs more time. But maybe we just simply need to use our time more efficiently.