Sunday, October 6, 2013

Day 6: Time Dreaded Tasks

Yesterday, we talked about setting the timer for 15 minutes and letting it run down while focussing on one task. It's a great way to tackle tasks you don't have time to finish, may never, actually be finished, (laundry, anyone?) or tasks you dread doing.

Another way to tackle those dreaded tasks, though, is to time them. Just how long does it take, anyway?

I put off putting my new duvet cover on my duvet. It takes some agility--climbing inside the duvet cover to match up the corners is no feat for the inflexible! So, I timed myself.







That wasn't too bad, I suppose.

Even better, though, was putting away this basket of laundry.





I was thrilled it only took 2 minutes and 47 seconds.

And clearing this chair?

sorry for the blur!






It is great when something takes less time than you think it will. You now have a stick to beat back that dread. But even if the task does take a long time, like my duvet cover, you still have useful information. We'll talk about simplifying tasks later in this series, too.

Are there any tasks you dread doing?

If you choose to time any as you do them, today, feel free to let me know how long they took in the comments.

ETA: You can catch all the posts in the series here.    

5 comments :

April at MooreMagnets said...

You got a lot done in just a little time!

onshore said...

wow, putting on the duvet cover does take quite a while. I'm amazed, but we have single duvets and I guess those are much easier to handle.
But I love how little time the other things took!

Alana in Canada said...

Thanks April! I did and I was glad for it, too.

You have only singles? That makes a lot of sense.

This is the biggest duvet and duvet cover I've ever wrestled with. I was a bit surprised it took so long, too, but it was just so hard to handle.

Anonymous said...

i'm a duvet person--the bigger, the better. it sucks putting them on. someone told me once to put the duvet flat on the bed. then put the duvet cover inside out, partly on the bed. put your hands inside the inside-out cover, and grab the top two corners, one in each hand. then, grab the corresponding duvet corners. i usually do this standing on the bed. then allow the cover to start falling, right side out, over the duvet. when this is done (usually about a third to a half of the duvet will now be encased), gently lay the cover on the bed, jump off, and then to the final two corners. zip or button it up, and then shake out gently. i'd say i can do a big duvet in about four minutes.

but, it still sucks.

love the colour of your duvet.

from a fellow (newly minted) prairie girl.

wilma

Alana in Canada said...

Thanks for becoming a newly minted prairie girl, Wilma! We're a select bunch. :) I may try your method. I used to be a lot faster at putting on a duvet--but that was before I had a footboard!

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