4 Simple 1 Minute Habits to Save Hours of Time Every Week
We all have a limited number of hours each day to get things done. I don’t want to spend my entire day either working or procrastinating on essential tasks, only to repeat the next day. There are four simple but effective habits, especially if practised together, that I have found to save me hours of procrastination time every week. Applying these simple habits, saves hours of procrastination time, freeing me up for more enjoyable activities like relaxing, exercising, or spending time with friends and family.
1. Time blocking
Time blocking is a time-management technique that takes just a minute but brings clarity to your day. Simply divide the coming day into 30-minute blocks and assign tasks to them the night before. This method, recommended by productivity experts like Cal Newport, helps you prioritise not just work but also personal time for exercise, hobbies, or family. Time blocking is a fancy way of saying ‘if you want to get something done, put it in your calendar’.
Why this is effective:
It eliminates decision fatigue and procrastination by removing the need to figure out when and what to work on throughout the day. If you decide when and what to start working on in real time, procrastination is inevitable. Particularly if that task seems difficult or unpleasant. You might plan to start working on a task in 10 minutes but that time can quickly turn into an hour without realising it. Instead, if you have already decided that you are going to work on that task from 10-11 am the next day, the chances of procrastination are reduced massively.
As well as allocating time to commitments such as work, commuting, and life maintenance, it enables you to allocate time to the things that are important to you so they don’t get missed - whether that is exercise, time with family or friends, reading, or hobbies. Say you want to exercise tomorrow, without planning out when, where and what form of exercise you will do, life can quickly intervene and it’s already evening and you haven’t made it to the gym or for a run. Instead, by deciding in advance that you will go for a run before work from 6:30-7 am, you are much more likely to stick to that commitment.
2. Doing the most important task first
The ‘Most Important Task’ (MIT) of the day is the one that will have the biggest impact on your goals. By scheduling it first thing in the morning, you reduce the chances of procrastination and increase the likelihood of completing it.
Identifying your most important task of the day and doing that task first thing is a powerful technique for being effective and overcoming procrastination. I first came across the power of doing ‘first things first’ in the classic guide to personal effectiveness The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. As part of your daily time blocking, identify the most important, challenging or dreaded task for your next day and schedule it for the morning.
Why this is effective:
By doing the hardest or most important task first, you avoid letting stress or other tasks push it out of the day. Hence, the later you schedule it, the more time you might waste procrastinating because of the stress it induces and the more likely it won’t happen at all if more appealing tasks arise in the meantime.
It’s also a great way to make sure strategic tasks, like business development or planning, aren’t sidelined. If you do it first thing in the morning, you’ll feel like a winner all day. That’s why you must schedule it for the morning.
3. The 10 minute rule
I came across the 10 minute rule from productivity expert Ali Abdaal. The idea is that if we want to do something and we’re finding it difficult to start, the 10 minute rule tells us to set a timer and just work on it for 10 minutes. Then, after ten minutes, we’re allowed to stop. We don’t have to continue if we don’t want to.
This approach leverages a psychological principle called the Zeigarnik Effect—once we start something, our brain naturally wants to finish it. More often than not, I find that if I’ve already started doing something, I end up wanting to continue working on it. The problem was just getting started. I find this particularly helpful for tasks like reading and reviewing a complex document or spreadsheet, as once I have started I like to finish it.
Why this is effective:
It helps to overcome the procrastination of getting started by breaking down a large and daunting task into a manageable amount of time to work on it. Even if you decide after 10 minutes to switch to something else, 10 minutes is a decent amount of time to make progress on a task.
By giving yourself permission to stop after 10 minutes, the 10 minute rule builds momentum by getting you started. Once I’ve got going, having done 10 minutes on a task, I often don’t want to stop especially when I’m making progress. Suddenly momentum builds up, one task leads to another which leads to another. Obviously, you might be bored after 10 minutes but we don’t like leaving tasks half-done, so 10 minutes quickly turns into 20, then 30 and suddenly you’re making progress.
4. Using a timer
Parkinson’s Law states that ‘work expands to fill the time available for its completion,’ which is why tasks can take longer than necessary. From my own experience, I have found a task that should only take an hour or two of actual work can quickly take all day with procrastinating in between. Instead of spending all day on it, estimate how long the task will take or how long you want to spend on the task and set a timer.
The timer is one of the most underrated productivity tools available on your phone. The Pomodoro technique is a popular approach to time based tasks, with a cycle of 25 minutes of focused work and 5 minute breaks. After a cycle of four Pomodoro’s you take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes. By breaking work into manageable chunks, the Pomodoro technique boosts focus while preventing burnout.
I apply the Pomodoro principle but adjust the length of the work period as I find I can sustain my focus for different periods of time depending on the task, time of the day, how cognitively tired I am, and how cognitively demanding the task is. When you start working on a specific task, set a timer for an hour, or maybe 40 minutes. Whatever works for you. Do incorporate time for short breaks, we all need them as we can’t focus effectively for endless periods of time. I tend to do 55 minutes of work with 5 minute breaks.
Why this is effective:
A timer anchors you to the task at hand and makes distractions almost impossible. Because your mind knows the timer is on, it’s going to stay focused. By actively incorporating break times, your mind has time to rest and reset and reduces the temptation to procrastinate during work time - you can use your break time for that.
Using a timer creates accountability. For instance, if I get up to go to the bathroom, I’m going to pause my timer. I’ll resume only when I sit down again. Even if I want to start browsing social media or checking email, I can only do so during the scheduled break time or after I pause the timer. This adds a layer of accountability that enforces focused work.
In summary
Time is a fixed resource and we all have things we would like to spend more time on each day but struggle to find the time. Applying these four boring but effective habits can save you hours of procrastination time every week.