The Last Ten Minutes

I’m not talking about the past ten minutes, any 10 minutes, or your last 10 minutes on earth.  Nothing as deep as that.  How you spend the last 10 minutes of a work activity can greatly impact your entire day tomorrow or week this week.

We are taught from a young age to put our toys away when we are done with them.  We do this because the teacher or mom told us to, and so that the play room looks nice, and our toys won’t be stepped on and we’ll be able to find the toys again the next time we want to play with them. 

Now, let’s translate this into big-people terms, in the home or office.  The next time you spend an hour at your desk or the table paying bills, spend the last 10 minutes actually filing the paid bill stubs in the right month or category, so the space looks tidy, the papers are protected and you can find them if you need them again.  If you pay your bills on-line, spend those last 10 minutes printing your receipts to paper or PDF, and filing those and / or your email notices of payment in the appropriate sub folder on your computer (you can do categories or months on there, too!).     

If I am working with a client, the last 10 minutes of our session is spent:

1. hauling trash and recycling out the door;
2. loading up donations of clothes or electronics to leave the house or office, and delivering the “Going elsewhere in my home” pile;
3. reviewing what we learned during this session;
4. determining and discussing client homework; and
5. scheduling our next appointment and what we want to do at that session.

We wrap up today, clean up our mess and look at our new organized space, then set up the plan for next time.  I am looking at my desk right now, and if I were my own client, my last 10 minutes would be spent:

1. shredding the small shred pile accumulated today;
2. filing stuff that needs to be filed for future retrieval (that is the only reason to keep anything, by the way); and
3. Tossing the recyclable stuff in the bin in the kitchen.
4. Then there is the “Going Somewhere” pile.  Today it all goes in my purse, and it includes both personal and professional items:
   • the note to go to the principal tomorrow about the Recycling Drive;
   • the campus map I need to find an office at a nearby university;
   • a check received against an invoice, which will be deposited;
   • a handwritten Get Well card to a friend; and
   • mail to be mailed.
   • Other example of “Going Somewhere” could be items I need to keep, but put elsewhere in my home, like bills to pay, calendar items, receipts, etc. 
5. Now for my plan for tomorrow.  Tomorrow’s pile is actually in a Day of the Week folder, Tuesday to be specific.  It includes things I did not get finished today that I am moving ahead to tomorrow, and it also has things in it for Tuesday that I have added since last week.  Clients to call, work to do, classes to schedule, bills to pay, etc.   I can leave myself a note on urgent items, or even email it to myself as a reminder.  If I scout out these things today, it helps me to plan my day tomorrow and foresee any challenges to resolve.

So I shut the door on an office that is cleaned up and ready for tomorrow.  Imagine how much more productive my day will be tomorrow, spending those Last 10 Minutes in a useful way today!