One Minute Rule: More Happiness
Recently, in the midst of a crazy (awesome) July, I moved into a new one bedroom apartment. Moving into my own place is something that deserves a post of its own, as it’s a major milestone in my Boston adventure. But this post isn’t about that. This is about something I’ve taken to heart during my unpacking phase that has increased my happiness: the one minute rule.
The one minute rule is simple: if I see something that needs 
doing, and that thing will take one minute or less to do, I do it.
Why have I been happier because of it? Simple. There’s less clutter, more things seem to get done faster, and - bonus! - I feel more moved in.
For example, Tuesday morning, I was getting ready for work, normal routine. As I was walking out of my bedroom, I didn’t like where my dresser was, and — since it was still empty from my move — I dragged it across the room. Took me less than a minute, but boy did it increase my happiness. And it enabled me to do another quick one minute project when I got home Tuesday night: unbox the pictures that sit on my dresser. Just like that, another box gone!
Sure, there are projects that will take more than one minute, like setting up my computer speakers (5-10 minutes), setting up my Wii and Playstation 3 (15 minutes), unboxing all my books (30 years). But the little things! The ones that usually get in the way of big projects — these I can accomplish in the midst everyday life.
I definitely recommend trying the one minute rule. And experiment with expanding it too, when you have more time. Maybe it could be the five minute rule one night! It’s great for those things you see and you think “uggghhh, I’ve been meaning to do that forever” and then do something, letting it remain undone, because it’s too hard.
I used to let forever go on way too long. Not anymore.
PS - Credit where credit is due! The “one minute rule” originally came from a post on the Happiness Project blog. Definitely check Gretchen out, she’s got great ideas.
Working from Home
I work from my apartment. In my bedroom. At my desk. Every day. This is probably the single best conversation starter since “I work at Apple”.
I generally get three reactions:
“That must be awesome! You work in your pajamas right?”
“Oh wow, I’m so jealous. No commute!”
“Man, I could never do that. I’d get nothing done.”
There’s truth in all three of those. It is awesome. The commute from my bed to my desk is the best. But, it is also a challenge. Having my throw pillow be my co-worker can suck. No matter what reaction though, the conversation ultimately turns to “no but really, how do you do that?”
Here’s how:
- I never work in my pajamas. Every morning I shower, and get dressed up as if I was going to work. Some days it’s more businessy, some days it’s more casual (jeans!). Regardless, I almost always make myself look like I’m going to have an in person meeting at any moment.
- I exercise. To start each day, I do some yoga and push-ups. There are days where I haven’t do that, and it’s amazing how much less productive I am.
- I have a weekday morning routine. Once I’ve showered, I come back to my room, make my bed, open both blinds and turn off my air filter that I run only at night. Since I literally work at my desk in my bedroom, this routine has come to mark the transition from “bedroom” to “office”.
- I leave the house at least once during business hours. Some days it’s for lunch, some days it’s to get coffee (or, really, if you know me, chai). If it’s a period where I won’t be making calls, I’ll set up shop in a little cafe down the street.
- Regular phone calls and in-person meetings. Since I am not working for myself, I do have a bunch of co-workers, some of whom are local. We get together at least once a week, and I talk to them on the phone daily.
- Set weekly expectations. There’s a lot of potential distractions when you work from home. I set goals for the week every Monday, which is helpful to drive my weekly tasks. (And makes it possible to be held accountable for work, since I submit them to my manager.)
- Use online tools to combat the Facebooks. It’s easy to get lost online. But I use a free tool called RescueTime (Mac/PC) which tracks what websites and local applications that I’m using. It alerts me if I’ve spent too much time on certain sites/applications that I designate (facebook, gmail, iTunes etc). I can then get a general idea of how productive I’ve been. It’s hard to argue with raw data.
- I set time limits for myself. Whenever I have tasks, I give myself certain amount of time to accomplish them. There’s a great site called e.ggtimer which is a simple timer. It quietly counts down in the background, and beeps at you when it’s done. (And often scares the crap out of me.) Helps me stay focused when I know that I don’t have a giant expanse of time to do any one thing.
- Self discipline. Honestly, the above tips wouldn’t really matter if I didn’t consider myself an independent worker. They may help, but honestly, I love the company I work for and — more importantly — the people I work with. And that drives me.
Hopefully that helps shed some light on the question. But maybe a better answer would have simply been to smile deviously and announce “How do I work from home? [dramatic pause] Magic! mwahahahaha!”
