The Rule of 3

Many days I struggle with procrastination, lack of motivation, and a decidedly long to-do list.

Cooking, cleaning, nurturing, bathing, listening, laundering, refereeing, exercising, manipulating, playing, and blogging all conspire to sap me of the will to do anything but lie on the couch and feed myself caramel turtles.

This is where the Rule of 3 dominates.

I find that my days go much more smoothly when I begin with a list. I am easily overwhelmed, so my list only ever has 3 things on it. If I check off 10 additional things, all the better. But these 3 are my bare minimum of to-do's. The world won't implode if I don't get them all done, but if I do, I am more likely to x out a couple of additional chores.

I like the Rule of 3 because once I cross off 1 thing, I'm 33 1/3 done. 2 things and I am 66.6% closer to feeling accomplished. And if I nail all 3? It's like getting a gold star.

The key to making the Rule of 3 work is to be reasonable. If your list looks like this, you're setting yourself up to fail:

• Lose 10 lbs.
• Paint house
• Learn Quantum Mechanics

Start like so, and you might feel a little more like SuperGirl:

• Run day 1 of Couch-to-5K program
• Look at PB catalog to get ideas for paint colors in Master Bedroom
• Check registration requirements & class fees for DMACC

Just remember: If you have to eat frog, do it fast, and start with the biggest one. Works every time.