10-Minute Tasks You Can Do To Be More Productive
Garnering the motivation to be productive can be extremely difficult somedays. Many of us often find ourselves stuck in a pattern of doom scrolling, laying in bed, and just being all around lazy. This is a tricky rut to get out of, but sometimes all it takes is just a few minutes of doing something easy—yet productive—to get going! Here are some simple, 10-minute tasks that will instantly boost your motivation and help you feel more productive.
1. Make Your Bed
Sometimes, simply stripping all your sheets, blankets, and blankets from your bed completely and starting from scratch is the fresh start you need. When your bed—which is often the focal point of the bedroom—feels neat and tidy, everything else sort of falls in line, too!
It doesn’t have to be first thing in the morning but try to remake your bed at some point during the day if you’re feeling particularly unmotivated; it will boost your mood and make you feel more productive instantaneously, and when you crawl into bed at night, you’ll definitely be thanking your past self!
2. Put In A Load Of Laundry
It doesn’t even take ten minutes to quick start a load of laundry; this is such a quick task that merely involves throwing some clothes into the machine and pressing start! You can do this right before you’re going out if you’re feeling behind on chores, or you can do this before taking a nap! No matter when it is, this simple task is a super quick way to boost your productivity for the day.
3. Sweep/Vacuum One Room
Try choosing just one, single room in your house or apartment to clean. Whether it’s vacuuming or sweeping, this is great way to get bit by bit done, and who knows, maybe you’ll even feel productive enough after one room to do even more!
By breaking things down and picking one specific area to focus on, the task of vacuuming or sweeping won’t feel as overwhelming, and it really goes a lot quicker than you think!
4. Put Away Dishes
Whether they’re sitting on your drying rack or waiting to come out of the dishwasher, this is another productive task that doesn’t take as much time as you’d assume. This is a quick and easy thing to do when you have a few spare minutes, and it will make your kitchen area feel way less cluttered. You can even turn on a song and have a little dance party in your kitchen as you put dishes back in their place!
5. Take Out The Trash
Taking out the trash can feel like a big and overwhelming task to accomplish, but once you actually do it, you’ll be kicking yourself for putting it off for so long! This will ensure that your living space doesn’t get too stinky, and sometimes just doing something that you’ve been meaning to get done will kickstart your productivity.
6. Clean Out Your Bag
Maybe you use a purse often, or a backpack, or some other kind of bag. These kinds of bags can get really messy and cluttered, and it can feel really nice and productive to take the time to clean them out!
Dump out all the contents of your favorite purse and make sure to throw out trash, reorganize items, and restock your essentials. You’ll feel as though you’ve got a fresh start and it will be so much easier to find what you’re looking for when you dig through your bag!
7. Wipe Down Surfaces
There probably aren’t actually that many surfaces in your living space, and if there are, isolate this task to a single room for starters. Grab a paper towel and some cleaning spray, and just spray down as many surfaces as you can and wipe them off! This will leave your space feeling so much cleaner and fresher, and this quick clean will make you feel extra productive all day!
8. Delete Junk Emails
Our digital spaces can become cluttered, too; try setting a timer for ten minutes and just go through as many emails as you can, sorting out junk and deleting spam. A full inbox with dozens—or hundreds—of notifications can feel overwhelming, and just taking a few minutes to organize your digital workspace will make productivity seem within reach.
9. Water Plants
Watering your plants is an important thing to do if you want them to stay alive! This is a quick and productive thing you can do to help out future you, and your plants will silently be thanking you. Again, this is a task that really doesn’t take as long as it seems like it will, and depending on how many plants you have, this could just be a couple minutes of productivity to liven up your day.
10. Clean Off Nightstand
The nightstand or table next your bed has a habit of easily and quickly becoming the messiest spot in your room. It’s very easy for little knick-knacks and items to accumulate here over time, and it can become extremely cluttered and hard to organize.
Take ten minutes out of your day to sift through everything on your nightstand and get rid of what doesn’t need to be there. The more minimal you can keep this area, the easier it is to organize it and keep a productive living space.
11. Clean Out Your Fridge
The refrigerator can be a chaotic place; it’s very easy for food to get lost amongst the clutter, and if you don’t clean it out regularly, food starts to go bad and stink up your kitchen. If you have few spare minutes, look through your fridge—yes, even at the very back—and get rid of any expired items.
This is also a great opportunity to reorganize and restructure the way your fridge looks. Find new spots for certain items, organize and separate fruits, vegetables, and dairy. It will be much easier to see what you have, and opening your refrigerator will feel calming instead of overwhelming!
