This expression has stayed in my mind for years and these 6 little words have really helped me be more productive at work.
I had an employer who would write notes of tasks to completed during the workday that were often neglected; mostly because the little jobs weren’t ‘easy’ or ‘fun’ (think toilets!). My boss would bold, underline and highlight these jobs in attempt to get our attention, to no avail. Then, along with the attempts to get our attention came the phrase;
‘This is a Five Minute Job!’
(Also in bold, underlined and highlighted.)
For some reason this made me realize that indeed, these terrible tasks only take a few minutes to complete. It took more effort, time and thought for me to avoid the chore than it did for me to actually do it.
I have carried this phrase with me and I use it everyday when I’m thinking of a reason to not do something (we all do that, right?). Even if the dreaded job is longer than 5 minutes, I can approach it more realistically knowing the small task is not my life sentence and I’ll feel accomplished when I’m done.
- What are you avoiding?
- What are your employees avoiding?
- How much better would you feel if these tasks were simply done, rather than lingering on your do-to list?
I’m done… and it only took 6 minutes!
