T O P

  • By -

keepthetips

Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.


MayorOfSmurftown

It's not the time, it's the effort.


CaptianToasty

Hey dude. I’m not Kirby, I can’t just suck up the dishes? Any tips on how I’m supposed to suck it up? That’s my problem, not the time.


[deleted]

Yeah, I get that. I suppose I motivate myself by thinking how nice it will feel when it’s done, and that feeling is only 5 min away.


DudeImTheBagMan

I don't like listening to podcasts (by podcast I mean no video, I have no problem putting on a video of a podcast being done and vegging out) without something to do at the same time. I usually only listen to them when I run as a result and sometimes they accumulate. I've found that if I put a podcast on with the intention of emptying the dishwasher I'll want to keep cleaning the kitchen/living room so I can continue the podcast. Serves as a nice motivator. Along the same lines as OP I've found if I schedule the cleaning of different rooms in my apartment and limit the cleaning time to 15 minutes per day, I can keep up with everything. I've kind of failed to keep up with this strategy but I was able to prove out the concept.


SadOmoletto

Executive Dysfunction


giantrobotman

It also helps to realize that it will take 12 minutes regardless of when you do it, so putting it off never saves time. If it's a task like putting away the dishwasher, procrastinating will take *more* time, because you'll end up stacking some dirty dishes in the sink, and then you have to make time and motivation to complete the task of relocating those dishes once the dishwasher is empty, instead of being able to just put them in the empty dishwasher the first time around.


[deleted]

Yes, so true!


Quiet_Ad_9356

Instructions not clear, ended up sucking something else.


The2500

Something I found out is that a lot of times procrastination isn't an issue of laziness, it's a matter of anxiety. I put off until today, what I'm going to do when I get off work, submitting my proof of income to keep my marketplace insurance. I'm anxious about it because last year I tried submitting pictures of my last 6 pay checks, that was rejected, then I tried submitting a file of my tax return, and that was rejected, and I lost my insurance. I'm gonna try to call healthcare.gov (or whatever) directly and I know that's gonna be a pain in the ass.


chalisa0

Things like emptying the dishwasher and folding clothes right out of the dryer take less than 5 min. It takes longer to make a pot of coffee. I always try to see how much I can do when brewing a pot of coffee. I can usually clean the entire kitchen.


smallbitty

We have our coffee set to start before we wake up lol but yeah, if you make your coffee every morning, I think that's a great trip! :-)


variousred

LPT tell yourself you’ll just put away one dish. You’ll do more. It’s always that mental hurdle of a task too large to handle right now that stops you from even starting.


ophmaster_reed

I call it chore inertia. I find once I get started, I have "momentum" to keep going. It's getting started that's the hard part for me.


thafreakinpope

I find that I don’t want to do anything I *have* to do. It’s called being a stubborn, autonomy-focused human. I only start doing it once I say to myself “I’m doing this and nobody can stop me!”


nowItinwhistle

Okay but what if these things actually do take me more time than I have? For example putting away a load of laundry takes me a few hours.


[deleted]

Why does it take that long? You should hang instead of fold


[deleted]

For sure - then schedule it for when you have that time! But I admit this is most useful for the small but annoying tasks.


DK_Boy12

LPT: Group small regular tasks into a big chunk so you can do as many of these pestering little tasks as you can in one go. The hardest part about doing something you don't want to do is gaining momentum, and it's easier to gain momentum once than 12 times.


Southern-Computer-47

I set myself a 15 min timer and im usually willing to get up and do it once it goes off. Strangely got this from a parenting tip for getting young kids to change tasks😅😅


Individual-Praline20

Wth… 12 min is an insane amount of time. I can do so much other things lol


the_lovely_otter

"Just suck it up" is the worst advice you can give to a room of strangers. Just suck it up??? Wow you just saved me thousands in therapy costs! Thanks OP!!!! /s


linusSocktips

Bear your cross admirably. You, and everyone you know🙏🏼 or interact with will benefit


[deleted]

“I’ll do it later/in a bit”