The small things in life, like putting away the laundry, doing the dishes, folding our clothes from the day, feel bigger than they are because they are physically in front of us. They feel like they will take a long time, so we put them off.

But when we avoid doing small things, they build up, as well as weigh on our minds and take more energy by being put off then by just being done. In reality, the time it takes to do small things is smaller than we think.

On the other hand, the big things in life, like projects, internal change, or long-term goals, take longer than we think, because everything about getting it done isn’t physically in front of us. It’s hard to judge the scope and there are things we can’t see or anticipate. Big things are bigger than you think, and should be given more time.

When it comes to small things, I like to use David Allen’s Two-Minute Rule, which simply states, “If it takes less than two minutes, then do it now.”

For things I find I keep putting off, I’m experimenting by setting a timer to see how long it actually takes. Most things take less than two minutes, sometimes close to five, but rarely more than ten.

This is giving me evidence of how small the thing actually is, as well as the experience of feeling great that the thing is done, instead of me thinking about it needing to get done for days.

Things are getting done, and I have so much more energy available because I’m not holding them in my head. Win-win.