How the 1-Minute Rule Can Make Your Life More Serene and Successful

<p>I am going to confess. This past holiday season just about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/7-levels-of-busy-tell-how-close-you-are-breaking-brain.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">broke my brain</a>. And not (thankfully) because of any major crisis or terrible trauma. Instead it was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/brain-handle-more-than-5-projects-at-once.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">a pileup of little things</a>. It was too many loose ends at work, errands to run, presents to buy, emails to send. It got to the point where&nbsp;<a href="https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/that-feeling-when-you-have-so-many-things-to-do-you-cant-do-any-of-them-psychologists-have-a-name-for-it-a-solution.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">my to-do list was just paralyzing</a>.</p> <p>Which is why I am implementing a new rule for 2023. I stumbled across it recently on the social media of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Gretchen-Rubin/author/B001IZTAPW?ref=ap_rdr&amp;%3Bamp%3Bstore_ref=ap_rdr&amp;%3Bamp%3BisDramIntegrated=true&amp;%3Bamp%3BshoppingPortalEnabled=true&amp;%3B_encoding=UTF8&amp;%3Btag=inccom05-20&amp;%3BlinkCode=ur2&amp;%3BlinkId=564e54e85359ba9e882662487d1d2aac&amp;%3Bcamp=1789&amp;%3Bcreative=9325&amp;tag=wwwinccom-20" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">author Gretchen Rubin</a>&nbsp;and then scoured the web for more information. It&rsquo;s called the one-minute rule, it&rsquo;s dead simple, and I should have signed on to using it years ago. I am hoping it will help save my sanity this year. Maybe it will help you, too.</p> <h1>Quieting the Zeigarnik effect</h1> <p>Here&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href="https://gretchenrubin.com/articles/one-minute-rule/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">a basic explanation of the rule from Rubin</a>: &ldquo;I must do any task that can be finished in one minute.&rdquo; Right now, no excuses. And yes, everything. From filing that paper to hanging up that quote to sending that two-word email.</p> <p>The idea couldn&rsquo;t be simpler, but consistency is key. The one-minute rule &ldquo;must be followed consistently if I want to see results. And it does take work,&rdquo; Rubin emphasizes. But she also promises that the results are worth it.</p> <p>&ldquo;One friend told me that her apartment went from being a wreck to being quite tidy, without much effort on her part. Another friend said that his productivity had shot up; because he got so many little things got done quickly, he had much more time for the bigger tasks,&rdquo; she writes.</p> <p><a href="https://entrylevelrebel.medium.com/how-the-1-minute-rule-can-make-your-life-more-serene-and-successful-b89d0f6b3822"><strong>Read More</strong></a></p>