Ever since I watched Cheaper by the Dozen (still one of my favorite movies and books) as a child I have been fascinated with efficiency. When I had my own children (two of them, not twelve, so you’d think it would be easier!) I started trying some experiments of my own. When it came time to clean the bedroom and do other household chores the method that I found worked by far the best was the timer method. I would set the timer for a reasonable amount of time that I thought they could accomplish the task (usually 5-10 minutes) and I would have them race the clock to see if they could finish before the timer went off. I didn’t have to offer treats or anything else because they were just so excited to beat the time. Sometimes they won and sometimes they lost but they always moved quickly and never lost sight of their goal.
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I began wondering if the timer method would help me become more efficient. The first thing I did was to see how long it took me to do certain tasks. I was amazed to find that almost every job in the house that I did could be done in under 10 minutes – dishes, make the bed, mop a floor, fold a load of laundry… but I found that setting a timer for my work didn’t go over as well as with the children. Oh, I could easily get the work done that quickly but it was the starting that was the problem.

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I decided to go about my timer method from the other direction. I would work on a project that I enjoyed like reading a book or going online or knitting or playing games with the children or whatever UNTIL my timer went off. I would usually give myself 20 minutes or so for the fun task. When my timer went off I would go do one of the chores on my list – knowing that it was probably only going to take 10 minutes or so and then I could go back to my fun task… until the timer beeped again. This method has worked so well that I am still using it over 10 years later. I especially find it useful when I am doing right-brained activities. My 17-year-old daughter and I do this now together. We play a game or watch television or something until the timer beeps and then we run off to each accomplish a job and come back to our activity. We get a lot accomplished – work and play!

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In using my timer method I spend more quality time having fun with my children and participating in activities that I had put off previously because I felt I didn’t have time for them. I am also more productive at making it through my to-do list.

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I highly recommend purchasing a timer and trying this out for yourself! Let me know how it works out for you.