How much time does it take to do a task or get ready to go somewhere? Do we really know? Are we accurate with what we think? The next time we aren’t able to accomplish what is on our to do list or when we are late for an event we may want to start using a timer or clock to gather some information.
To Do's
Making our way through our to do list can be an adventure full of ups and downs. There can be feelings of accomplishment when we cross something off our list and there can be feeling of defeat when we cross off less than what we had hoped.
One way to use our lists more effectively is to know the time that it takes to accomplish the different tasks. It can be valuable to time how long it takes to do something. We may think that it only takes 20 minutes when in reality it takes two hours. The opposite is also true. Perhaps we are not doing something because it is unpleasant and it feels like it takes forever when in reality it takes five minutes.
How long does it take to
-clean the bathroom
-put the seasonal decorations away
-do a load of laundry
-pick up the kids
-wash the stove top
-take the recycling to the center
*As we start keeping track of time we may begin to notice that there are many steps involved in one of our to do's. For example, in the task “doing the laundry” there is sorting, washing, folding, and putting away. In the task “take the recycling to the center” there might be sorting, loading car, driving, unloading, driving, and unloading containers. If we only think about one or two parts of the task (putting laundry in washer and dryer) instead of all of the little steps that it takes to actually complete the task, we may not be thinking about time accurately. The great thing is, it isn’t hard to start timing ourselves.