Getting Things Done with the 15-minute Rule

A few years ago I read a book titled, “Where There’s a Will, There’s an A”, by Claude Onley. This book completely changed the way I get things done. I am a procrastinator by nature, but surprisingly I get a lot done and I am darn good at it.

The major premise of the book is that you shouldn’t force learning. I translate this into; I shouldn’t force completing a project. I find that if I spend too much time trying to squeeze out one more word or come up with one more creative idea my brain goes numb. The remedy is to do things in 15-minute spurts.

The author of the book says that when the brain is overloaded it has a tendency to shut down. Nothing is comprehended. For example, if you are studying for an exam and have to read 20 pages, only the first 10-15 minutes of what you read actually sinks in. After that time period it’s like mental white noise. You see the words on the paper but nothing is getting through.

It is much the same way with working on a project for school or business. Even writing an article or paper can be mentally taxing. The ideas stop flowing after a while. So that is why spending a maximum of 15-minutes engaged in a single task is all that you really need to do to be productive.

That’s great news for us procrastinators. Just the thought of having to sit down and concentrate on one single task is mind numbing and overwhelming.

So instead of staring at your computer screen and torturing yourself for hours on end, shift your focus. Do this by going for a walk, going to the kitchen to get a drink of water, playing with your kid or dog for a few minutes, or playing a quick game of solitaire. These activities may seem counter-productive, but that is not true. Your brain is still at work on the task you just took a break from. It is still processing ideas, coming up with answers, and fleshing out those last few paragraphs left to write. After you short break youíll find that your mind is fresh and you can jump right back in and get 15 more minutes of work done.

For every 15 minutes of concentrated work take 10 minutes to distract yourself with something pleasurable. Before you know it you will have completed more in an hour and a half of quality work that you can be proud of versus two to three hours of mediocre work that you will have to revisit more often because you just weren’t into your task.

To make this work burst effective find an electronic stop clock for your desktop. You may be able to find a free one to download from the Internet. There are probably several widget applications available that will do the job nicely. Once you have your stopwatch just set it for 15 minutes at the beginning of your task. When it stops, you stop and either take a break, go to another task, or simply meditate for 5-10 minutes. After that time you are ready to get back to your task and continue on to completion or until another 15 minutes have passed.

This method may not work for everyone. Some people must maintain their momentum until they complete the task. It may be a right-brain versus left-brain thought process. So if you have trouble staying focused for hours on end or you are a procrastinator this article is perfect for you. If you lose focus because you take a break then itís probably best to skip this bit of advice and just move on to the next article.