Do It Now

     There are lots of times that the amount of time I spend thinking about doing something and figuring out how to not have to do it right then is greater than the amount of time the action actually takes.  I build it up to be a huge deal but it's not.  Some examples- unloading the dishwasher.  Amount of time I feel like it takes- 15 minutes.  Amount of time it actually takes-5 minutes (that is without "help" from my baby girl, but you get the idea).  Folding a single load of laundry and putting it away.  Amount of time I think it takes- 30 minutes.  Amount of time it actually takes 5-15 minutes depending on the type of laundry.  The problem starts when I think it is going to take a really long time, so I don't want to do it, like folding and putting away the laundry.  But then I end up with three or four or eight loads of laundry to fold.  And that does take a while.  But if I would just do it when the dryer beeps-it really isn't bad.
     I didn't realize that those daily activities didn't take as long as I thought until I found FlyLady a few years ago.  She talks a lot about setting a timer for 15 minutes and doing a task.  Then tell yourself you will take a break.  I started doing that with the dishes and I would finish putting the dishes away and still have 7-11 minutes left on the timer.  I was shocked.  I have to remind myself often that these things don't take that long.  When I am thinking about it I need to "Do it now" instead of just thinking about it and dreading it.  Try it.  Set your timer for the things that you are dreading doing and see how much you can actually get done in 15 minutes.  It really is surprising.  Thanks for reading.  :-)