0 60 Second Rule

The 60 second rule (also known as the 1 minute rule) is a simple concept that helps you stay on top of all those minor jobs/tasks that you don't get round to.
The 60 second rule is that for every job/task that you see needs doing, if it takes 60 seconds (1 minute) or less then you need to do it. No ifs, no buts, you just have to get on and do it as it's only 60 seconds or less. Some people are really quite pushed for time during their day and have hardly any time to spare, but the great thing about this is that everyone can spare an extra minute putting something in its right place, which is why this rule is so useful because everyone can do it. Some of you may be saying, "no, actually I don't have that time". Well my response would be yes you do. If you were to look at it like; If you leave the house 1 minute later is it going to make a huge impact on your day? Or, if you were to go to bed 1 minute later would that affect your sleeping pattern? When you ask questions like this, it makes you realise that actually 1 more minute isn't going to kill you.

I don't know about you, but for me I really hate to have small jobs/tasks laying around to be completed, especially those that have been put off. They just feel like they're nagging on me for the whole day (or for however long it is left) and over time build up until there are many more nagging jobs for me to complete. Normally its because of the fact that I say to myself "I'll do it later" or "I'm busy at the moment so I can't do it now". These aren't really that great of excuses to stop me from doing them right away and I know that 60 seconds won't make a difference to my day, so I might as well do it.

It is a concept that I have only recently started to use, I would say during the last 2 weeks, and it has definitely helped me to take care of those small annoying jobs. I am someone who likes a tidy and organised space. I'm not too concerned with throwing things out and am fine living in a minimalist home. My family on the other hand, whilst they also like a tidy home, are not one for being minimalist, and even though I said that they like a tidy home - there are often things left out or in the wrong places - Discs always seem to be one of these, so for me there is never a day I can't put the 60 second rule to use.

Whenever I have heard someone speak about this concept or have read something about it, it is always in reference to tidying and de-cluttering. I can understand why as it is an extremely useful rule for helping to stay on top of things, however, I don't think it should be solely used for tidying and de-cluttering. I think that for any job or task that needs doing with an estimated time of a minute or less should be done too. Why limit it to tidying?

For anyone who hasn't tried the 60 second rule or hasn't heard about it before reading this post, and has trouble motivating themselves to do these small jobs, I encourage to try this out.