The Power of Ten

Are you stuck on a project? Is your stomach tied in knots because you're not doing what's on your "to-do" list? Have you heard of The Tolerable Ten?

On a post about overcoming procrastination, http://www.successfulacademic.com/ recommends we work at a task for ten minutes that we've been putting off. Is it something we need to start? We can do that in ten minutes. Is it a project we've bogged down in? We can tolerate a ten-minute tackle of a difficult spot. After staying with the venture for ten minutes, we can choose to continue working on the project or quit. Staying with a dreaded task for ten minutes builds our confidence. We can do it, even if we have to do it ten minutes at a time.

The important thing is just starting, or in many cases, starting again. I have an article I promised I'd rewrite the night before I left for the Philly writers' conference. After the conference, I had company for almost two weeks. Then I lost a week concerned with many things. When I finally sat down to do the rewrite, I discovered my notes were missing. I probably left them in Philly. So I've dreaded having to admit to the person I interviewed I haven't finished the profile rewrite.

I can do this. I really can. In perspective, it's not that big a deal. I've allowed myself to be sidetracked. All I have to do is sit down (half-way there--I'm sitting) and rewrite the article ten minutes at a time. I can pick up the phone and dial her number to ask for details if I need to. I can do that in ten minutes. I might be a little embarrassed, but I will survive.

So what have you been putting off? Writing? Editing? Cleaning? Calling? Confronting? Set a timer for ten minutes. Take a deep breath. Let's get unstuck. Let's get started. Let's begin and finish incomplete projects ten minutes at a time.