Are you looking for a way to be more productive around your home? Do you have tasks that need doing that you are struggling to motivate yourself for? Do you have days at home where you feel you haven’t achieved anything? A power 10 minutes can change all that. It is achievable for anybody and you can even get your children to have a go.
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| You can motivate yourself to make big progress on housework and tasks with this technique |
How To Use 10 Minutes To Make A Big Difference
What is A Power 10 Minutes?
It's simple: a Power 10 minutes is just 10 minutes fully focused on 1 activity. In 10 minutes you can get a huge amount done if you decide to do a power activity. I will often use the 10 minutes to do tasks like putting clothes away, tidying a room, cleaning the car or scrubbing the bathroom, but really it can apply to anything. If you do 10 minutes all in exercise then that’s enough to get hot, sweaty and aching muscles (if that’s your thing). If you have an admin to do list with tasks you keep putting off like booking appointments and paying bills you will find a huge load off your mind after 10 minutes. You can even apply it to work eg clearing out your inbox or getting a report started.
Who Can Benefits From Using The Power 10 Minutes Technique?
Deciding you are going to have a power 10 minutes is great for busy people or those with lots to do because instead of thinking “there is so much to do” and being overwhelmed you can blitz a task and make a huge difference. It can be the motivation you need to get started on something and if you have time you can keep going beyond that 10 minutes if you want. But never start off with that intention because you won’t work as hard in the 10 minutes.
As someone with ADHD this is a particularly powerful technique I often use. Whereas many people with ADHD are known for being late for everything, I go the other way and hyperfixate on appointments. If I have to be somewhere at a specific time (like school pick up) I spend the time leading up to it totally focused on it just to make sure I’m not late. This can lead to a lot of wasted time, but the Power 10 technique works and means I can stop focusing on counting down in my head to the time I need to leave the house.
How To Make Progress In 10 minutes
There are just 3 rules:
1. Decide what you are going to do. It helps to be specific eg work on the surfaces in the kitchen, put clothes away, change the bedding, vacuum as much of the house as possible (pick one of these obviously, not all of them).
2. Set a timer to help create the feeling of urgency that will make you move faster. I like to use Alexa because I can just say “Alexa, set a timer for 10 minutes” whereas if I use my phone I might get distracted my notifications on the way to the timer. I also have a standalone timer I sometimes use.
3. Go for it. This isn’t a time to leisurely approach a task that needs time and consideration, you are really trying to move quickly and get as much done as possible.
It can be hard to motivate yourself to do big jobs that need doing at home, whether cleaning, gardening or sorting out items to sell, but to motivate yourself for 10 minutes is so much easier and you will be surprised at how much you can achieve.
Great times to try this include:
- 10 minutes before you need to leave to pick the children up from school.
- In the evening when you have finally got the children to bed and you just want to sink into the sofa (trust me sinking into the sofa feels so much better if you have done a Power 10 minutes first).
- While you are waiting for dinner to cook.
The best times are dead time that you wouldn’t really use for anything useful. It becomes extra rewarding because you achieve recognisable progress instead of scrolling social media or whatever else you might be doing.
Why not give it a try now?
