Advice from a procrastinator: Do three tiny tasks today

I'm a procrastinator. I put off doing big things--and even tiny tasks that take less than two minutes to complete. Do you do this too?

This morning when I picked up my frying pan, I the handle wobbled because the screw needed to be tightened. To be honest, I'd noticed the loose handle weeks ago, but I ignored it. I kept telling myself, "I don't have time to fix it now. I'll fix it later."

Today I grabbed my screwdriver from my toolbox, tightened the screw on the frying pan handle, and returned the screwdriver to its place. Done! In less than two minutes, I fixed a little problem I'd been putting off for weeks. It felt good. What a sense of accomplishment!

It took seconds to tighten screw on frying pan handle

Here are some tiny tasks that can completed in about two minutes:

• Change the batteries on the smoke alarm, remote control or another gadget
• Move that thing that's been on the kitchen counter for days and put it away where it belongs
• Clear stuff off  top of my dresser and put it where it belongs
• Clear the stuff off the bathroom counter and wipe it down
• Move shoes left by the door to shoe bag in bedroom closet
• File tax papers so I'm organized to do my taxes
• Take Goodwill donation bag from living room to my car
• Clean my laptop screen and keyboard

Completing a few of these tiny tasks I've been putting off for days, weeks, months cleared my mind to focus on more important things. 

Bolstered with a feeling of accomplishment, I headed to the bathroom to complete a more difficult task I'd been avoiding. My bathroom exhaust fan and cover were packed with compacted dust. The fan wasn't doing its job. 

I'd put off this task because I didn't even know how to do the first step of removing the fan cover. But there's a YouTube video to teach you to do anything. After watching a short video, I was confident I could do it. 

I was grossed out by the gunk I discovered in the cover, including the remains of a large moth. 

I used tweezers to pull the compacted dust from the exhaust fan's cover.

Don't let your bathroom exhaust fan get this gross!

Clean fan can do its job now.

It took about 30 minutes to complete this task: watch the video, get the stepladder, remove the exhaust fan cover, unplug the fan from the power, clean the cover, soak it on hot, soapy water, and wipe down the fan blades as best I could. 

• Now when I'm showering, I won't tell myself: Clean the fan.
• When I pick up my frying pan, I won't think: Tighten the screw.

Of course, life goes on. Many other tiny tasks need my attention. But tackling some easy tasks creates breathing space in my home and my head--and brought a satisfying sense of accomplishment. Why do I put off the easy stuff?

What two-mnute tiny tasks can you do today? Fix it. Clean it. Put it away where it belongs. Then pat yourself on the back. Give yourself a gold star. 

Next on my list: Tackle the BIG thing I've been putting off: finish writing my book, Paddling Her Own Canoe. No time like the present to tackle the next chapter.

I'm paddling my own canoe through life's waters. Sometimes choppy. Sometimes smooth as glass.