Brain Food #682
Being the architects of our environment
Thoughts of the day
Good morning, and happy December.
You may be rushing to finish things off before the holidays, or even before the end of the week. It may sound counterintuitive, and gift-buying or closing that big project might be occupying most of your current headspace, but handling the quick, less important tasks first may be a truly liberating act.
The OHIO rule stands for “Only Handle It Once.” Coined by Harvard lecturer and productivity expert Robert Pozen, the rule suggests that if something will not take a lot of time or effort, do it now, and do it once.
Do not leave emails unread if you are not sure whether you will ever respond to them or read them. Put the empty cup in the dishwasher, not on the counter. Send someone a thank you note for something they’ve done for you today. Read that article in the new tab you opened now. If something will require only a few minutes of your time, do it now. The OHIO rule can be an antidote to procrastination, which can eventually take over how we spend -or do not spend- our days.
Of course, a hundred one-minute tasks can quickly add up. A solution could be to create five-minute gaps in your day, so you can go back to whatever needs to be handled once, without losing focus from what you are truly trying to achieve.
As James Clear said, “You don’t have to be the victim of your environment. You can also be the architect of it.”
Our lives can be filled with clutter, our minds with things we wish we had the time to have done. Though being idle is as important, and extreme productivity can sometimes verge on the inhuman, some productivity tools can help create space for what is worthwhile, and what is worth returning to more than once.
Thank you for reading today’s Brain Food. Brain Food is a short daily newsletter that aims to make you think every day, without taking up too much of your time. If you know someone who would like it, why not forward it to them? Brain Food is, after all, alive thanks to you, its readers.