How The 10 Minute Rule Will Conquer Procrastination In Your Business
If you could solve your business procrastination problems in 10 minutes, would you do it?
We talk a lot about how hard it is to run a business. We’ve talked about the importance of staying on top of those important marketing, business, and customer service tasks that are vital to your success.
But sometimes… we really… just don’t want to.
Everyone has parts of their job they don’t want to do.
But ignoring those tasks doesn’t make them go away. They will sit there and pile up. They will hurt your chances for business success.
So, what if we could fix all of that in just ten minutes? Let’s take some time to talk about the 10 minute rule and we can use it to overcome procrastination and develop stronger habits to improve yourself and your business.
What Is The 10 Minute Rule?
You can break out the 10 minute rule whenever you have a task that you don’t really like doing.
Get yourself ready to work on your task, break out your phone, start a 10 minute timer and force yourself to work on that hated task.
You can muscle through it for 10 minutes - forcing yourself to work on that task you hate. Don’t check your phone, and don’t get distracted. Just focus all of your efforts and your brainpower on that task and that task only. Don’t stop working until you hear that 10-minute timer alarm goes off
When the timer does go off, take a step back and ask yourself a few questions.
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Did you finish at least one iteration of the task?
- If you couldn’t, then your tasks need to be broken up further to make your target thing you hate doable at least once in a 10-minute span. If it’s already a pretty simple task and you just couldn’t muster the focus, get some other work done, take a break, and come back again to try it later.
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Did you feel like you really needed to stop when that alarm went off? Or could you go for longer?
- If you could continue, feel free to do so until you have your next to-do comes up.
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How do you feel after you finished your task? Did you feel accomplished? Or do you still hate that task?
- The 10-minute rule can help to find pleasure in a job well done.
The point of the 10-minute rule is to push you past your procrastination breaking points and to force yourself to try it. To expose yourself to the thing you don’t like so you can get past the initial hesitancy and discomfort and to show you that perhaps it isn’t so bad after all.
So - what things that are important to your business that you hate are a good candidate for the 10-minute rule? For many contractors, “asking for the review” and feeding your review management systems is likely a good option. Doing follow-ups on cold leads could also be on that list.
Find the bits of the business that you hate but that you know are important, and test out the 10-minute rule on them today.
About Chris Lonergan
Chris Lonergan has over 12 years of contractor marketing experience with Footbridge Media. With a background in web design, print design, content creation, and online marketing, Chris is focused on providing quality marketing and business solutions in the construction and service industries - helping small business owners to more efficiently manage their companies and grow their operations.
Chris Lonergan has previously contributed to and/or been featured in PM Magazine (Plumbing & Mechanical | Contractors x Engineers), theNEWS (ACHR - Air Conditioning | Heating | Refrigeration), Service Roundtable's blog, inPAINT Magazine, the SMB Marketing Agency Show, and the Green Industry Podcast. Chris is also a past SGI/CertainPath breakout session presenter.
