Living Life In Five Minute Chunks
Last summer David Zinger showed up at Jodee Bock’s annual Bigger Small Talk Summit. I heard him say that he can do almost anything for 10 minutes so tends to break down difficult or unappealing tasks into 10 minute chunks. That sounded wise to me and I determined to try it out. When I returned home, however, I quite promptly forgot about it.
When I need to pay attention to something but forget about it, reminders are sent my way. So along come Alexys Fairfield and Curt Rosengren, both suggesting 5 minute chunks; Alexys writes about contemplation and Curt about writing. They shrink the time frame, but the principle is the same.
Alexys wrote:
Take five minutes for yourself everyday to contemplate your life, reflect your thoughts and contribute to the world. Think of what you can give and what you can do to improve your relationships, hone your people skills and operate on your deepest plane.
Those five minutes could teach you the difference between “I” and “we,” and that there really is no difference between “you” and “me.”
Curt wrote:
I downloaded a free digital timer and started setting it in five-minute increments. My intent was to focus on writing in five-minute chunks and not let myself do anything else but the task at hand during those five minutes.
I’ve been finding it a really effective way to reign in my entropic focus. Every time I wanted to wander over and check my e-mail, or read Twitter, or go to the kitchen to get something to nibble on, or…well, you get the idea, I checked myself and stayed on task. Because I had committed to focusing only on what I was writing for those five minutes, I stayed with it.
David was talking about tasks in general, while Alexys and Curt are talking about specific undertakings, contemplation and writing, respectively. But the principle is the same: break tasks down into chunks of time–5 minutes, 10 minutes, whatever.
I think this will come in handy especially when tasks seem difficult or onerous, or when I imbue them with BIGNESS or importance and so shy away. Contemplation and writing are like that sometimes.
Maybe now I’ll remember; I wrote this in about eight 5 minute chunks.
Tags: Alexys Fairfield, Curt Rosengren, David Zinger, Jodee Bock, time
Dick
The act of deliberately chunking tasks and times is so central to getting things done.
I have a radio shack timer.
A water proof timer.
A stop watch.
Gongs and whistles for marking time in training and facilitation.
One of my favorites is a little brass hour glass/egg timer that I picked up in the gift shop on the Prime Meridian, in Greenwich, England.
I turn it to start a coaching conversation and to make sure we are on agenda and forwarding the action within 3 minutes.
Thanks for sharing these thoughts and the link to “Cool Timer”.
Cute icon.
I have it down and ready to go.
Best,
Nick
I like the hour glass Nick. Don’t know that I’d want bells and whistles while I’m working on something alone. I have a great little chime for workshops!
I like this idea very much Dick. In fact, I have already started to apply it this morning to some very difficult projects I have to accomplish in a timely manner. 5 minutes of anxiety-producing activity I can stand.
Rinatta — “5 minutes of anxiety-producing activity I can stand.”
That’s the spirit!!
[...] Living Life In Five Minute Chunks [...]
Dick:
Thank you for reminding me of what I already know. Sometimes I suffer from such profound resource myopia…there are things right in front of my nose or in my brain and I don’t see them, smell them, or experience them.
David
David — geez…you too!!!
There’s another blog post: how/why we forget. I like the term “resource myopia.”