Top Time Management Tip - The 10 Minute Rule

Top Time Management Tip - The 10 Minute Rule

By Sue Ellson BBus AIMM MAHRI CDAA (Assoc) ASA

If you have been wanting to improve your productivity and manage your time a little better, applying the 10 minute rule could not only save you time, it could save your sanity!

When I was first put in front of a computer in 1987, I didn't even know how to turn it on! It was a top of the line IBM PS/2 with a 20 MB hard drive! Back then, when you asked a computer to do something it could do, on virtually every occasion, it would do it!

Fast forward to now and we have phones, tablets, netbooks, laptops and desktops that sometimes work and sometimes, don't work!

Have you noticed any of the following?

• You can't work out how to do something that should be easy to do
• You find that was working for you now isn't working for you
• You forget what you did last time and can't remember how to do it again
• You are asked to do something new and you have no idea where to start

When I left the corporate world in 1994, I no longer had an IT department to call for help. I cannot tell you how many hours I have wasted in front of electronic devices trying to solve technical challenges (either hardware or software related).

What have I learnt?

• Things can go wrong, for no apparent reason
• Things fix themselves, for no apparent reason, in their own time
  (and sometimes you just had to turn it off and turn it on again)
• Some things can't be fixed, even by an expert
• You can get sucked into a vortex of time and only surface many hours later, without a solution

So the good news is, I have come up with a solution - and I regularly share this tip in my training and courses, and last week, I was told I should write an article about it and share it with the world!

It is called "The 10 Minute Rule."

It is quite simple really. All that you have to do, whenever you have a technology related glitch, you simply look at the clock, allocate 10 minutes to fixing it and if it still isn't working, you STOP.

You can go away and have a nice drink of water, a stretch, a walk outside or even simply change what you are doing so that it takes your mind off of the challenge you are trying to solve.

Human nature is such that we often say to ourselves, "I am JUST going to fix this before I do anything else" - and guess what, three hours later, you could still be working on it.

So when you stop, your sub conscious mind has a chance to work it out, or your own commonsense will say - I will get some help from elsewhere, even if it costs me some money because my time and my sanity are way more important than spending the next three hours on this issue.

The irony is that after I stop and take a break, I usually find that I instantly work out what I need to do to fix the problem and solve it myself! But if I still can't work it out, I start thinking about who I can call on the phone to give me some clues as to where to start with a solution.

I can guarantee you that it has saved me hours and hours of time!!! I encourage you to try it the next time you start swearing at an electronic device!

There are also a few other ways you can apply "The 10 Minute Rule" to other aspects of your life.

1. Once begun is half done

Have  you ever had something to do that you simply didn't want to do? By applying The 10 Minute Rule, you can say to yourself "I will just do it for 10 minutes and I will stop after that."

Now you are more than welcome to stop once the 10 minutes are up, there is no obligation to continue. However, you will have spent at least 10 minutes getting closer to achieving the task - in fact you may even complete it either within the 10 minutes or shortly thereafter.

2. 10 Minutes will help you prioritise

If you only have 10 minutes of time, you can say to yourself, what is THE most important thing I should do in the next 10 minutes? It is a way to determine the level of urgency and importance for the task and start with a task that is both urgent and important.

3. 10 Minutes will help you focus

If you only have 1o minutes to complete an activity, you will naturally try and work out the quickest way to get it done. Do you remember finishing a school assignment in three hours the night before it was due when you originally had three weeks to get it done? When my children were little, I had to meet their demands as well as run a house, life and work. Interestingly enough, my productivity increased by about 600% - because I had to get things done in short 10 minute stints.

4. 10 Minutes will incentivise you

If you are anything like me, you will get very excited when you get a task done quickly. If you are working on a high priority task with laser sharp focus, your rewards will come. Once the 10 minutes is up, you can reward yourself with something you enjoy - even if it is just a pat on your own back!

5. 10 Minutes can reduce distractions

If you know you only have 10 minutes to get something done and it will take all of your energy and focus to do that task within 10 minutes, you will be less likely to interrupt yourself with other distractions. You might decide to turn off your phone or not check your email or social media. A short burst of concentration can be far more effective than hours at an even pace with lots of little distractions.

6. 10 Minutes will help you get healthy

I have spent years and years staying up until all hours of the night and I know full well that I am not functioning at 100% at 3am. I have learnt, by bitter painful experience, that I am better off going to bed at 10pm and getting up at 6am and spending 10 minutes with a 'fresh brain' rather than 5 hours with a tired brain. I also find that it is far easier to get moving in the morning after a good night's sleep (for example, espresso coffee at 2am still won't wake me up).

7. 10 Minutes can help reduce big goals into small steps

Have you ever felt overwhelmed with EVERYTHING that you have to do? Do you sometimes set unrealistic goals that are virtually impossible to complete? By breaking down your 'to-do' list into 10 minute tasks, you will start ticking off a lot more items and get much closer to your goals in increments that you can realistically manage.

8. You can allocate 20 minutes if you wish

Perhaps you have decided that there is something that you would like to do and that you will probably need at least 20 minutes to make a dent on the task. No worries mate! Give yourself the luxury of allocating 20 minutes to the special task, but still stop and stretch and break after 20 minutes and watch your productivity soar!

Please feel free to adapt "The 10 Minute Rule' to your personal circumstances. You may decide that you want to make it a "15 Minute Rule" or even a "5 Minute Rule." You might decide that if you can't complete the task because of a challenge, you will simply write the challenge down and move on to another task and come back to it later either on your own or with some help.

I have been doing a lot of writing lately and I have been using computer programs that make absolutely no sense to me at all. When I look back at what I have achieved by stopping before continuing, I am fascinated by how far I have come in such a short space of time. It has also given me quite a bit of confidence.

When you realise that there is usually always at least one person you could ask for help if you need it, life (and time) become a lot easier to manage! I hope you find that the concept of "The 10 Minute Rule" could be useful and I welcome your other tips and suggestions as to how you manage your time - especially when you are working with technology!!

Keywords

#timemanagement #10minuterule #toptimetip 

First Published: 15 February 2016
Last Update:  9 March 2016

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Sue Ellson BBus AIMM MAHRI CDAA (Assoc) ASA
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