Industry Insights: Here's What Doing Laundry Taught Me About Productivity

Hello and happy Saturday!

Real talk: As I write this, I'm working on a mega pile of laundry. In fact, this laundry was so overdue that had I not done said laundry, I may be researching nudist resorts right now, because I wasn't going to be able to go anywhere that involved clothing until I got it done.

While this may sound like a truly bizarre way to begin my weekly industry insights newsletter, I promise I come to you with purpose. 

Because what if I was to tell you, this laundry is actually rather symbolic of that pile of work we need to get done in order to stay productive?

We look at that pile, and it grows and grows, and we hate it. Yet, sometimes it may feel so overwhelming to just get started and get it done when we have so much else we need to be doing. There's the sorting and the washing and the drying. And, even when the laundry is done, there's the folding, the putting away. 

And, so the laundry doesn't get done. And then we feel SO CRAPPY about it not being done that you feel pretty badly about yourself because of it. And that feeling grows. And then you wonder ...maybe I'm just not good enough to get this done. Maybe I just can't do it. Maybe I should just give up.

This is all getting rather dramatic for the pursuit of clean undies but clearly I'm going somewhere with this...

Don't look at that big mound of laundry as a symbol of everything you can't do or haven't done or what is wrong with you or not enough about you.  Stop treating it like an example of your shortcomings, and then just treat it like any other project - make a plan, move forward, get it done.

Maybe that's creating a better organization process, with different bins or bags for sorting so that it never becomes a big chore to first sort when you are two weeks in. Or maybe it's doing laundry the same day/same time every week so it's so much a part of your routine that you don't avoid it or forget it, but just do it?

Ultimately, my larger message here is not about laundry. It's about how projects that we are working on become a lot more manageable when when break them into smaller, simpler and more manageable tasks and conquer them one by one. 

Here's another productivity tip: Use the laundry (we're not using a metaphor here, but actual laundry!) to help you do your actual work, too.

Think about it. It's Saturday morning, and you are putting a load in the washer or dryer. You now have, what? 45 minutes? An hour? Before you need to change out your clothes to the other machine. That time is a gift!

Remember Parkinson’s law from school? “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” 

Use that time allotment that your clothes are in the washer/dryer to finish a task. The limit of time on the laundry timer is actually your time limit to get that task done. It'll be your motivator because time will pass and expire no matter what you do or don't do. You are making your work a priority and creating an intention. Your brain will totally work this out for you, and use that time as best you can to complete what you can before the timer goes off. It's a great challenge and the reward is checking something off your to-do list.

And then, the timer goes off and you get a break! Actually that break is to switch your laundry, which isn't actually a break. But it's a brain break.  But that physical activity gives the mental activity a break (and vice versa) and that's actually both beneficial for you. Then, you've switched from washer to dryer...you can do another 45-60 minute work cycle now. Change it up to something different, but still make it a priority with a timer expiration.  Win-win!

Hey, even if it DOESN'T work, you still get clean laundry. That's an accomplishment too! But it'll work. I promise. And then, you and your clean laundry (i.e. actual clothes you can wear because you have clothes again) can go get your nails done, you've earned it.

Which is where I'm headed right now...have a great Saturday!

PS: I'm scheduling a Zoom AMA for subscribers about gift guide season and I'll probably do it in early September...feel free to drop me a note below if there's certain days or times of day in a week that are better or worse for you and I'll take that into consideration!