If you don’t have anything better to do for the next two days—besides rest because we need to take advantage of holidays like these—you might as well get some chores done and tidy up a bit.
I stumbled upon the book “Unfuck Your Habitat” by Rachel Hoffman, and inside I learned about a cleaning method called the 20/10 system. How does it work? For every 20 minutes of cleaning, you take a 10-minute break. It’s practically a guide to forming habits through small steps. The idea is that for every task you accomplish, you become a neater and more disciplined person—plus with more time to laze around. So what did I learn after setting the timer and committing to the schedule?
I started by making my bed
Research says that it takes 21 days to form a habit, and I suggest that you start with small ones. I used to be guilty of leaving my sheets undone after I wake up. But lately, I’ve developed the habit of making my bed because after I do, the entire room looks so much neater and livelier.
Do it once or twice a day, then increase as you go
Depending on the task at hand, you can start by allotting one 20-minute session and then gradually increasing as you go. The best way to do it is right after you get home when you’re still in a work mindset: You can wash the dishes while listening to your favorite podcasts, fold your clothes while catching up on your favorite series, and so on.
Avoid dumping your things in random places in the house
That small, dusty corner of your room, an unused chair, or even your bad, are what the book calls ‘invisible corners.’ These corners are where you usually dump things after you go home from work or when you clean a different part of your room. You may think that it looks neat, but only because you’ve grown accustomed to it. A nice trick to avoid this is to decorate those spaces with large objects. You can place a medium-sized plant on that corner of your room, remove the chair from your room and place it somewhere where it can be used, and fold your clothes immediately so you wouldn’t have to dump everything on your bed.
In conclusion, the 20/10 system is not hard to practice. You only need your willpower to push through it. Here’s to accomplishing chores for the next two days!
Read more:
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Decide what tasks you should focus on with this productivity hack
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