The magic of 20 minutes a day

Sometimes simple things are much harder than the bigger things. Simple doesn't mean easy.

Personal administration is a constant bugbear. I used to start with a complete mess of paper, letters and emails. Phone calls would interrupt me on the rare occasion that I did try and get something done. As much as I got done, there was always so much more being added to the pile.

But I found the solution: 20 minutes a day.

If I set 20 minutes as a target, at least I could get started. I could open the envelopes, especially the brown ones. Then I could begin putting them into piles that made sense.

Gradually, the red letters got dealt with. Then I found myself responding to the letters that had been hanging around for a while. Now I aim to turn around any mail within a few hours.

Even if I am on a roll and think I can go on longer I don’t. 20 minutes every day is a lot of time. I can focus for that amount of time and get one thing done well. Sometimes it would take me that amount of time to find the correct address and reference number, or just draft out a letter.

If I needed to negotiate, for a job or with a creditor, calling someone up for advice and making notes would take up the 20 minutes. I would leave it there for the day and pick up the following day. It eventually got done and done well.

I stopped fearing paperwork and other administration. Some days, my 20 minutes would be to buy a book of stamps or some envelopes. That would leave me free to get on with earning money or having a good life, guilt free.

My taxes are sorted out at the beginning of the tax year now rather than the end. I don’t get red letters anymore, in fact I barely get any mail. I get quite excited when I do, as it's so rare. My email box only has on-going projects in it. New emails are replied to and then filed or deleted within a few hours.

I set aside 20 minutes at the end of the week to write my figures into my spreed sheet. It is now very rare that I use the full 20 minutes, as the process is so easy.

Rewarding myself at the end of the 20 minutes can be dangerous. I was used to going and spending money, which of course can lead to further debt. But having a cup of tea, walking the dog or reading some pulp fiction works just as well.

Speaking to a friendly person and telling them what I had done encouraged me to come out about my financial mess and get some excellent ideas on how they dealt with similar problems.

A friend who had no issues with debt, but who had a lot of paperwork around his business, managed to clear his floor and desk for the first time in years by following the 20 minutes suggestion.

He had wanted to employ someone else to do it for him as he was so overwhelmed, but he did not have the time to teach them how he wanted things organised. He now has a system that works for him.