How to Stop Procrastinating and Live a Happier Life with the One Minute Rule

One minute.

Sixty seconds.

You can do anything for one minute.

Right?

I initially learned about the value of one minute from a decluttering book. The author’s premise was simple: if the task will take you less than a minute to complete, do it now. Don’t wait, because soon those one minute tasks pile up and you’re facing an hour of cleanup.

After I started applying the one minute rule to cleaning and decluttering, I realized that the one minute rule is just as useful in other parts of my life.

Learn how to apply the one minute rule to become more productive at work, finish chores more quickly, connect better with your kids AND be healthier!

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Work Productivity

At work, the one-minute rule can help you finish a bunch of easy tasks in a short amount of time. I’ve written before that I typically scan my email first thing in the morning. If I can’t respond to the email in less than a minute, I’ll drag it to a separate folder so I remember to follow up later.

Some emails can be dealt with in less than a minute, and I respond to those immediately. By the time I drag the email to the follow-up folder, remember to go back to that folder later and read the email again, I’ll have expended more time and mental energy than if I had simply responded right away.

Remember: even if you feel ambivalent about your response, don’t put it off. If someone asks me for help on something, I might feel guilty that I don’t have time to assist. I might put off responding to the request, even though my answer isn’t going to change. That’s a huge mental drain as well as a time suck. It takes a lot of discipline to respond right away, despite our emotions, but keep working on it. I guarantee that you’ll save a huge amount of time and energy when you apply the one minute rule at work.

Don’t forget that this isn’t just about emails – the one minute rule can also apply to other work tasks. Returning a call, scheduling a meeting or printing a document might all fall into this category. As tempting as it is to put these items off, you may be better off doing them immediately.

Another note on the one minute rule at work – don’t check your email constantly! Instead, time-block your day and set specific times to check your email and complete other small tasks. DON’T be constantly switching between a presentation you’re working on and your email inbox. That’s not the point of the one-minute rule and you will definitely not be productive. Instead, check your email at regular intervals while allowing yourself “quiet” time to get work done in between.

Chores at Home

I already mentioned a bit about how I apply the one-minute rule to chores. I initially learned it from a decluttering book and the concept is pretty simple. If a household chore or task takes less than a minute to complete, do it right away. When you bring the mail inside, sort it right away. When the trash needs to be emptied, take the trash out to the garbage can and put in a new bag. When a coat or bag needs to be put away, put it away ASAP.

The premise here is that if you take care of small chores as they come up, it won’t feel like too much of a burden. You’ll barely notice one minute here or one minute there in your day.

But when you put off too many one-minute chores, you’re suddenly faced with 3o or 60 minutes of chores. That’s much, much harder to find time for and also feels like much more of a burden.

Instead of letting things get away from you, do your best to apply the one-minute rule to everyday household tasks. You’ll clean up more frequently, but hopefully spend less time on dedicated cleaning. If you can free up an evening or weekend from chores, that’s definitely a win!

Health

High-intensity interval training is really, really good for you. HIIT workouts are usually short – just 15 to 30 minutes, and the health benefits are impressive. A HIIT workout will burn fat, reduce blood pressure and will raise your metabolic rate for hours after exercising.

High-intensity interval training consists of short bursts of high intensity exercise, alternating with periods of lower-intensity recovery time. For example, you might spend one minute sprinting and then two minutes jogging to recover. Repeat that pattern 3-6 times for an excellent interval workout.

This sounds almost too good to be true, right? In 20 minutes a day, or less, you can get a great workout that has a ton of health benefits. There’s a small catch, though. You have to work really, really hard during the intense periods.

If you’re like me, you may find it hard to push yourself during the high-intensity intervals. I don’t really welcome the pain of a sprint, and I don’t enjoy pushing myself physically. So I have to find a mental workaround, and that’s the one-minute rule.

You can do anything for one minute.

Sprints

Squats

Push-Ups

Burpees

Mountain Climbers

Whatever it is, you can survive it for sixty seconds. That’s barely any time in the grand scheme of things, right? The one minute rule is the key to surviving a HIIT workout and reaping the health benefits!

Parenting

I use the one-minute rule in parenting all the time.

Case in point: one of my daughters does things on her own timeline. She transitions slowly, and thinks before she makes a decision. As a result, it can seem like she’s ignoring me when I ask her to do something.

It would be easy to be annoyed by this. It’s not that hard to decide whether you want grape jelly or strawberry jelly, is it? But instead of rushing her (which only results in frustration on her part and does not move the decision-making process along), I give her a minute. For one minute, I don’t bug her or ask the question again. I just see what she’ll do.

Half the time, she’ll give me an answer after about 45 seconds and much deep thought. The other half, she’s forgotten what the question was and I have to ask her again. But that’s OK. I gave her space to do what she needed to do, and she didn’t get frustrated. I know I can’t make decisions with someone rushing me, so I try to be respectful of my daughter when she needs some time to think.

I also use the one minute rule at bedtime.

My younger daughter used to get up constantly at bedtime. She’d be up at least 5 times after we tucked her in. It was so frustrating. I would try to reason with her. I would try to lecture her. I would try to punish her.

Those things made it so much worse. Finally, we realized that she just wanted reassurance. Now, when she comes out asking for me to pat her back, I do it without comment.

For one minute.

I can’t really be annoyed with her, right?

My sweet baby wants me to be close to her. One minute feels long enough that my kiddo is reassured. And it’s just one minute of my life.

One minute of the book I was reading.

One minute of the movie I was watching.

One minute of the conversation I was having.

Who cares? My sweet girl’s happiness is worth one minute to me.

Before, I would try to pat her back for longer than a minute and just end up feeling resentful and grumpy. Because I’ve put a one-minute limit on each back patting session, I’ve freed myself up to give generously and cheerfully.

The best part?

Now she’s only up once or twice a night.

How Can You Use the One Minute Rule?

Think about how you can use the one minute rule in your own life. Can it change your parenting, or put you on the path to a healthier lifestyle? Can you simply get more done at work? Let me know if you plan to try the one minute rule for yourself!