Another two-second task for you.
That (stupid) curtain had been whompy-jawed for . . . ummm . . . a while.
At least all summer.
And I hadn’t fixed it.
Even when we had friends over for dinner.
Even when it bugged me like crazy.
I only fixed it when I knew someone was coming over who had likely seen it before.
People who hadn’t seen it before wouldn’t know if it had been like that for an hour or a day.
Or a season.
But the person who had seen it before would know. And that somehow mattered enough to finally motivate me to fix it.
And it took all of about ten seconds.
Which is more than two seconds, but a whole lot less than the number of seconds I’d spent thinking of reasons not to fix it.
Fine print: Two-second tasks generally take more than two seconds. However, as I am prone to exaggeration in my assumption that tasks will take hours and hours of time that I do not have, I feel it is appropriate (and artistically logical) that I exaggerate in the opposite direction when naming these posts.
--Nony
This reminds me so much of changing the grease filter of our extractor hood. It really only takes a couple of minutes, including cleaning the parts. Yet I dread that task and imagine it taking away hours and hours of my life…I fall for this every time. I can’t seem to remember that it doesn’t take long at all.
This behavior has to have some type of a scientific name. I know we’re not related so it’s not that, but we have the same symptoms/habits…. just bizarre
You inspired me to do a two-second task of my own. One kitchen cupboard door has not been closing all the way for quite awhile, I’m pretty sure since before last Christmas, so almost a year (or maybe more than that). Why wouldn’t it close, you ask? Well, that would be because there is a large cracker box waaaaayy on the top shelf (it requires me to stand all the way up on my tippy toes to reach it <— excuse). The flaps for that box were sort of ripped and snagged on each other so they were sticking out past the edge of the shelf. Then when I closed the cupboard, it would pop back open a little bit. It probably took me literally two seconds to fix it (including the time it took me to get up on my toes).
And just to clarify, this was a large box of soda crackers in sealed sleeves. I didn't have an open box of crackers getting stale in my cupboard for a year. At least not these ones, and not any that I want to talk about.
Ha ha ha! You make me laugh. I have old crackers I am throwing out all the time. And by all the time, I mean like once every six months or so….
Hahaha!!! Oh my , I DO completely understand!!
I throw out empty cracker boxes. You know the kind where your son takes the last sleeve out, then puts the box back in the cupboard. That way when you go to make meatloaf or meatballs, and you get all the ingredients out and grab the cracker box…you know you’re either going to have to make a quick trip to town…or figure out something else for supper. :/
My daughter moved my office chair today. As a result a neglected task was exposed. A craft cupboard had items spilling out simply because I didn’t to rearrange the chair to get to it. Chair gone, task done, chair replaced.
Good for you! Why is it those 2 second tasks are so difficult to take care of initially? We are always surprised at how quickly they are resolved and then so happy we did it. Never mind, analyzing it is what keeps me from taking care of it. You’ve motivated me to take care of a 2 second task today.
I just came here because I like your blog. NO, I wasn’t procrastinating because I am missing a deadline and would rather do anything else on the planet but work on that project. Really. It’s the truth. Okay, so it’s not. I was hoping to find some motivation to get back on task. Instead, this post caused me to glance to my left, sigh, sigh again…and just get the five minute task I’ve been putting off for about ten days out of the way. It’s done. I feel better. And I’m going to go read another article or two because I’m still procrastinating and need to get back to work. Cue third big sigh.
Way to go on the curtain though. Please send me some of whatever it is you have that I am missing tonight. 🙂
I love your blog! You’re the friend in my head! ????
Could it be I am your long lost identical twin? Every sentence here about you not fixing the “stupid curtain” describes me to a T, even this
“I only fixed it when I knew someone was coming over who had likely seen it before.” AND the subsequent sentence.
I was/am like that, couldn’t figure it out why, and thought it was only me in the whole wide world!!! Until now, reading it!
Hey, last night I started the dishes because … in the morning I will unload it and will have the dishwasher ready during the day for dirty dishes to go in and thus a clean sink… 3 days in a row. Tada.
The main principle I have noticed in all your practices is this: baby steps won’t solve the problem; CONSISTENT baby steps WILL.