The Five Minute Solution

I think I'm a pretty likable person and I know God has gifted me with a good amount of talents, but I am also aware of my faults.  Rising to the top of that list is the fact that I am easily distracted.  While I have the ability to focus, my desire to do a lot, means there is always a ton of stuff floating around my head.  That easily distracted trait has left me with a propensity to run late and often find myself procrastinating. 

Over the years I have discovered some solutions to this issue.  The latest solution proved very profitable so I thought I would share it with you! 

Have you ever made a list of the tasks you had to do, only to get distracted on your phone?  Or maybe you started to do one thing only to be met with five other tasks in the midst of doing the first task? Getting lost in the many lists of life can be easy to do!  However, that to-do list only gets done if you attack it. 

I'd heard about making a list of five, ten & fifteen minute jobs around the house (or even the office) so when you have a free moment you get a chance to knock your list out.  The list is great, because without it, you will end up wasting the free time in figuring out what you should do. 

Last week, my family left for AWANA.  I had an hour and a half to get something done and I knew it would be easy to get lost in Instagram and find myself with five minutes to spare running through my house trying to accomplish something before the garage door opened. 

I decided to make a list of five minute jobs.  It wasn't long before I realized the list included tasks that clearly lasted longer than five minutes.  But I left them on it anyway.  I did stick with the five minutes though and set the timer on my phone.  If I got done with the five minutes and the task wasn't finished, I simply reset the timer and kept on going.  I managed eighteen, five minute, time blocks in the moments before my family returned.  While I may not have gotten eighteen different jobs accomplished, doing this birthed a wonderful result - I got a lot done! 

Dividing an hour and a half into five minute time blocks kept me from getting distracted.  If I got distracted half-way into a task, the five minute timer ensured, I would quickly be awakened back into my task-list reality.  It was amazing!!! 

I encourage you if you are easily distracted or just need to stay motivated to get'er done, that you try this method.  Live a few hours, five minutes at a time and see if your productivity doesn't go up.  If you need to answer a text or email, just give it one five minute slot then power on back to the list. 

I'd love to hear how this worked for you.  So try it and comment or message me your results!  I can't wait to hear what you got done!!

Bonus: Message me with the number of times I said five minute/s in this post (don't forget title and labels) and I will send you some happy mail (so make sure I have your address too)!

My Latest Project - Garage Mudroom

I've wanted an area for all our incoming junk for a long time. We enter the kitchen through the garage and there is really no place to put stuff aside from the floor and kitchen countertops which ends up getting cluttered, fast! My neighbor gave us a bench toy box for Caleb that we really don't have a place for just yet (he still have a nursery, not a big boy room), so I thought why not use it for my entry station for now. So I set out on my plan. Here's all the before shots:

I first painted the bench with a combo of black spray paint and chalk board paint (had some leftover from another project).

Then I decided to use the rest of the chalkboard paint to do the wall behind the bench. I bought a 1" foam pad and got a cute gray and white chevron fabric and made a bench pad. Since it opens at the time, I attached the pad to the bench with velcro and because its in the garage, I made the cover like a pillow sham so that I can slip it off and wash it. Next I got a wall letter hanger (great deal at Marshall's) and some cute paper I had and labelled each slot, then used a old creamer container, cut it down, washed it out and painted it to use for chalk holder. I got some hooks and two cute cabinet knobs to hang stuff up on the wall. There you have it.