There’s a quirk in how the brain handles tasks it’s been avoiding: starting is almost always the hardest part. Once you begin, even reluctantly, the resistance drops. The 5-minute task method works because it exploits exactly this — you tell yourself it’s just five minutes, the pressure lifts, and more often than not you keep going long after the timer ends.
When watching a series or using our phones, we don’t realize how 1 hour, 3 hours, the whole day passes by. Then we blame ourselves that we haven’t done what we’ve planned for the day.
Procrastination happens because our brain is telling us to avoid something that seems like “too much work”, challenging, and stressful. Those instincts give us a direct order to stay away from something that can cause any kind of stress. As a result, we put it off until tomorrow, when it could be done today.
Our brain cannot imagine feeling good about doing something that was sort of challenging earlier, but once we’re engaged the stress goes away and we’re more likely to start feeling good about it.
I can tell for sure that you can achieve higher productivity just by making some simple changes in your daily routine.
In this post, I want to share with you my favorite 5-minute tasks you can do to achieve higher productivity throughout the day.
The secret is…
You will trick your brain by giving a signal that you need to complete a task that will last only 5 minutes.
Most of the time you get engaged in the process and your brain stops identifying it as a stress and you complete more than you planned.
I assigned the 5-minute tasks to different categories to help you identify what you’re more likely to need depending on what you feel. Of course, you can take a task from another category if you feel like it!
If you feel that you need to…
Declutter your space
- Take out the trash and recycle
- Mop/ Sweep the floor
- Shake rugs
- Clean the dust
- Organize 3 kitchen cabinets
- Do dishes
- Do laundry
- Vacuum
- Clean sinks, shower, toilet, tub
- Wipe mirrors
- Clean the doors
- Change towels
- Change the bedsheets
- Wipe counters
- Clean and organize a desk
- Organize your child’s playroom
- Take inventory of your closet and put aside clothes for donation or mending
- Restock toiletries
Reset
- Wash your face
- Meditate
- Write your thoughts down
- Stand up and stretch
- Go for a walk
- Drink some water
- Listen to your favorite song
- Start creating a vision board
- Practice aromatherapy
Save money
- Create a realistic budget (get my free worksheet to track your expenses and create a realistic budget)
- Download coupon apps
- Pack your lunch
- Analyze your receipts
- Write down your weekly save-up plan
- Buy a water filter (instead of buying bottle packs)
- Download Fetch Rewards ( I use it to upload my grocery receipts and get points that I can exchange for gift cards)
- Start a money-saving challenge
- Plan your meals for the week — even just a rough list of 5 dinners takes under 5 minutes and saves money, decision fatigue, and wasted groceries. (If you want a done-for-you option, I use a meal plan service that sends weekly recipes and shopping lists for $5/month)
- Find a way to cut back on your utility bills
Related article: 10 Best Tips On How To Save Money Fast
Get work balance
- Make a list of what you need to do
- Prioritize your tasks
- Apply the “A-B-C-D-E Method” for setting priorities properly
- Take a short break and find out your working peaks and troughs
- Organize your emails
- Return a phone call or email
- Check if there’s one task you can delegate to someone
- Organize your working desk
- Make more time in your schedule
- Schedule that Doctor’s appointment you never had time for
- Decorate your desk
- Work with a timer
- Get some snacks
Get emotional balance
- Write a gratitude list and see how lucky you are!
- Grab some coffee or tea
- Take a walk
- Pay someone a compliment
- Write down why you’re proud of yourself (make a list of your accomplishments)
- Start the most important task of the week
- Send a thank-you note
- Listen to an inspirational podcast
- Practice aromatherapy
- Write down what causes you the biggest stress in your life and find ways to deal with it
- Meditate
- Practice minimalism (focus on the important things and let the rest go)
- Declutter your space
- Donate
- Read the article 10 Ways To Start Living Your Best Life
Get in touch with people
- Call the person you haven’t been in touch with for a long time
- Send a message
- Make lunch plans with your close friends
- Plan a hike and make friends
- Join a book club
- Make a plan to host a party
- Volunteer
- Plan to visit a cultural event
- Facetime your closest people
- Chat with your neighbors
- Make friends at the playground with other parents if you have a kid
- Strike up a conversation with a stranger
Spend more time with your kid/s
- Go camping in your living room or backyard
- Family storytime
- Family game night
- Go for a bike ride
- Bake cookies
- Paint together
- Read one fairy-tail
- Play hide and seek
- Learn a dance together
- Plan a family picnic
- Create an activity board
- Schedule different activities for different days
- Do a quick workout together
Health and beauty routine
- Drink water
- Meditate
- Stretch
- Trim your nails
- Floss your teeth
- Build a healthy meal
- Make healthy snacks
- Put on clothes that make you feel good
- Make a green smoothie
- Track how many steps you take (strive for 10,000 a day)
- Write down your healthy skin routine
- Iron your clothes
- Scrub your body
- If you want to lose weight, search and save diets that could be right for you (how many amazing effective diets out there!)
- Make a doctor’s appointment
Pick one task from whatever category matches how you feel right now. Not five. One. The goal isn’t to be more productive — it’s to start moving. Everything else follows from that.
I made a free printable version of this list so you can keep it on your desk or pin it somewhere visible.
Click here to get the printable!
Does the “5-minute tasks” method work for you? Are there any methods that help you be more productive in your daily routine?
Read More:
38 Things To Do With Your Blank Notebook To Feel Amazing
80+ Things To Do Instead Of Social Media In 2020
10 Best FREE Tools To Boost Your Productivity
9 Powerful Reasons To Start Learning Another Language ASAP
So true! With working out-I start by finding a quick 5 minute video on Youtube and then another and another because 5 minutes just sounds easier. It gets you going with momentum. If I set a timer with Alexa to do some decluttering- I always keep going once I start the task. I will try this though for writing (work from home) and health because I struggle with those 2 areas.
Thank you for sharing, Stefanie!
I agree with you, it’s much easier to start a task thinking that it won’t take you longer than 5-10 minutes. However, with writing, I found it easier to work using the Pomodoro Technique. It helps me be more productive and avoid burnout. 🙂
Hi! I’m curious how I can get a copy of the list for this that is printable- not the blank list. Thank you!
Hi! After you click on “Click here to get the printable!“, and scroll down, you will be requested to join my newsletter, and after, you will be transferred to the page where you will have access to the printable PDF. Hope it helps!
This is a wonderful and creative post. I loved reading all those productive ideas. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Rahul! I’m glad you enjoyed 🙂
You’re most welcome, Alexandra!
There are so many more ideas to add. Like to give to my daughter as she is struggling on how to do things with a 3 year old toddler and a newborn, this should give her plenty to choose from and feel like she’s on top of it all. Thank You for sharing your idea!
Thank you very much for the ideas !!
This 5 minute tip is great ! Greetings from Greece!!!