You can do (pretty much) anything for 5 minutes. Even if you “don’t have time”, you can find 5 minutes. Trust me. I totally get it though… I’m human too and there are times where those 5 minutes feels like 5 days. Why is it so hard for us to do the simple tasks that we know we will thank ourselves for later on?
Here’s what I tell myself: “You are literally helping out your future self. You will thank me later.” And you will! These 5 minutes add up throughout the day and you will end up saving yourself half an hour by the time you go to bed. I’d like to share with you what I incorporate myself on a (mostly) daily basis. Like I said, I’m human too.
- Wash the dishes AS you dirty them (this is #1 for me – I despise the dishes but it feels sooo good to have an empty sink)
- Throw dirty clothes into the hamper right away instead of on the floor/bed/couch/etc. (and try and get your husband to do the same ;))
- Prepare tomorrow’s lunch while you’re already in the kitchen making dinner
- Get my gym bag ready for the next morning as I’m changing into pajamas at night
- Sort through the mail as you’re bringing it inside the house and throw away any junk mail immediately (instead of tossing it on the counter to take care of later)
- Meal plan – to keep this under 5 minutes, you can always just do a quick meal plan for the week’s dinners. That way you at least know what meat you need to take out of the freezer!
Notice one thing that all of these have in common… do whatever “the thing” is right away. When we take just a few minutes extra to finish something up instead of pushing it aside and procrastinating, it saves us an incredible amount of time at the end of the day or week. Time that can be used wisely for something more useful.
Time is invaluable. Remember, it is something that we do not get back. It is precious.
How about we start thinking of our future selves a bit more now so that we can enjoy more time for the important things in life? If you knew that 5 minutes throughout the day would give you 30 minutes more to spend with your kids or your spouse, would you then wash the blender after making your breakfast smoothie?
Comment below any quick tasks you do during the day that you thank your future self for. I’d love to hear them!