The 30 Second Rule

Remember the 30 second rule
Sandra Felton

Sandra Felton is my absolute favorite organization guru. What I love about her and her writing is that she is funny, down to earth, and all of her tools are in "plain speak." Her strategies follow my rule of thumb for success. Easy to follow and easy to carry out.

Her "30 second rule" is, if you can do it in 30 seconds, do it now. This is a great tool. I encourage you to take a look at your home, your office, your life and examine how many 30 second tasks are staring at you.

Seriously, I am looking at my desk an a quiver of fear is running up my spine. Yipes. There are a whole lot of tiny .....okay. I just took a few minutes from my writing to take care of my 30 second tasks. Well, at least the ones at my desk. Every one of the things I did took between 10 and 30 seconds.

It's amazing how easy it is to leave those little things for "later." The end result can be shocking. It took me about 10 minutes to take care of my loose ends just now and my desk looks great.

Sandra knows what she is doing. Anyone can do something for 30 seconds, right? What if you began to train your mind to watch for 30 second tasks? What would your life be like if you quickly and unceremoniously took care of the little stuff immediately? I was surprised that there was only one item on my desk that would take more than 30 seconds. Now, it's easy to see and not buried under a lot of little stuff.

Think about taking 5 minutes at a time this week to knock off some of your 30 second tasks. Do what I just did by starting with my desk and take care of one area of your life at a time.

Then, imagine what it will feel like when you are living without a "30 second pile up." The key here goes beyond getting organized. It is the incredible emotional benefit we reap when we are free of the little tasks that can tie us down.

Good luck and get it done. 30 seconds at a time.

You can find Sandra Fulton's books on my website under the products page. Go to books and click on organization. Her books can be found in bookstores around the world as well.

You can go to Sandra's website at http://www.messies.com/ to learn more about her books and organizational tools.

Treat Yourself Like A Baby And Remember Your Magic 3

For anyone who has had a baby, you might remember the magic 3. “Is your baby tired, hungry or wet?” The answer to a crying baby is almost always one of these. Strangely enough, that doesn’t go away. As my children get older, tantrums, crying and irritability are frequently due to things like hunger, exhaustion, even the need to use the bathroom. Of course, as we move through life, other factors affect our kid’s happiness. School work, relationships with friends, and learning independence are a few examples. Sometimes the complicated stuff covers up the basics. Let’s put it this way, I can focus all I want on helping my daughter prepare for her math test, but, if I forget to have her fed and well rested, I am "shooting myself in the foot."



I was thinking of how relevant this is in adulthood. We are all so muddled with complicated problems that we can forget the basics and the impact of them on everything else. How often do you treat yourself like a baby and remember your Magic 3?

Ever look at the clock and realize it’s 3pm and you haven’t eaten since 8am? Ever have to hit the bathroom, but find yourself putting it off…sometimes for hours? What’s with that? How about taking your medication? Would you make an uncomfortable and achy baby “wait and see” how bad that headache will get? We are so attentive to our babies and children, but how good are we are treating ourselves with the same attentiveness?

My challenge to you this week is to treat yourself like a baby and remember your Magic 3. Take care of your most basic of needs. Attend to them and respect them. See how listening to the needs of your body affects the rest of your day.



The Magic 3 is as easy as remembering whether you need to rest, eat or get comfortable!



R - Rest. Do I need to rest right now?

• More sleep time
• Time outs to give your brain and body a rest
• Change in activity to give the part of you that is working a break

E - Eat. Am I hungry, thirsty or energy depleted?

• Physiological hunger
• Dehydration
• Energy depletion

C - Get comfortable. Is my body uncomfortable in some way?

• Tight clothes
• Tight shoes
• Too cold or too hot
• General body discomfort
• Aches and pains

Good luck, have fun and remember to take care of the basics. In truth, you will perform better everywhere else in your life when you take care of these details!

PS Check out the new stuff on my site! Listen to my radio interviews, check out my new bookstore with my recommended readings and look at some of my publications!