The 1-3-5 Rule may just be the productivity guideline we all need to get moving on days that seem like a bear (and not necessarily related to that fantastic TV show). Instead of focusing on how to organize your closet, this theory relates to how you manage your day. It breaks tasks into manageable (or more manageable) bits. How? Read on as we go over the 1-3-5 Rule in detail.
How Does the 1-3-5 Rule Relate to Productivity?
Picture your average workday. You may have a ton of annoying emails waiting for you. You may have a chapter of a book to write. You could have hours of DIY work to do. Whatever the tasks waiting for your attention, your attention is a finite resource. You need to focus it to get the most done while your batteries are still charged.
The 1-3-5 Rule takes your energy and attention into consideration by recommending that you do the largest, most complex task first thing in the day. It will get the freshest you and keep you from procrastinating by doing less demanding tasks that will eventually exhaust what energy and focus resources you have.
After you finish your most focus-intensive task, you move on to the next three medium-level tasks. After completing those tasks, you move on to the next five tasks that do not require much time or deep focus.
How Do Creatives Employ These Guidelines?
Creative writing, for me, takes a lot of focus and the most significant amount of time in any given day. Going over notes can be challenging. Outlining is crucial. Character rewrites can be very time-intensive but also necessary before writing begins. So, it might feel like you can’t incorporate the rule in your day as a creative. But you can if you think of your day as a whole unit rather than dividing it between all the creative things you want to do. What do I mean?
I start my day by writing. It might be an article, a paragraph in a novel, or the next ten pages of a screenplay. But the greatest amount of energy I have is in the morning, and I need to strike while I can still concentrate on complex story ideas. Unless I’m waiting for notes, I do not check my emails first thing anymore. I’ll get distracted, and I will procrastinate by reading emails. The same is true of Instagram or even Pinterest. I stay away until my most challenging work for the day is done.
My next three tasks may be creativity-related – marketing articles on Medium, working on new notebooks, submitting photos to a stock photo site, or even brainstorming new work. Afternoons find my energy levels seriously lagging. My husband and I joke that we both fall off an energy cliff between 2-3 pm. This becomes our time to do the daily chores of living. Laundry gets done. Cleaning gets done. Errands might also get finished. I’ll review emails to ensure everything has been addressed or filed. Pinterest marketing and also browsing trends for ideas might happen here.
Does the 1-3-5 Rule Work for Home Organization?
Sure. What is the one decluttering task you have been avoiding? It’s typically the biggest one that seems overwhelming. That should be your first task to tackle. Whether it is organizing your pantry, finally reorganizing your closet, or cleaning out the garage, put it at the top of your to-do list for the day. I’d include finally taking all your donation bags to their appropriate donation sites, which can feel like a monumental task to handle and a relief to get off of your list. So, I might even add that to the top of your day.
Your three medium tasks might involve tossing out expired spices, ingredients, and condiments. Do you still have beauty products from six years ago hanging out on your vanity? Throw them away. Go through any mail piles sitting on your end table. Fold up throw blankets. Put away games or other activities still sitting out from the day before. Dishes? Laundry? Do whatever you consider your next three medium energy and time tasks.
The most minor tasks can wait even if they annoy you visually as you do everything else. Fold your laundry. Empty the dishwasher. Clean out the car (unless it’s a colossal mess, move it to an early spot in your day). Replenish your pantry from your backstock. Deadhead your roses or prune some vegetable plants (although, wait until the day’s heat has passed to not send them into shock).
How to Employ the Guideline to Larger Projects
You don’t have to spread the 1-3-5 Rule over your entire day or every aspect of your home organizing plan. You can just as easily apply it to different aspects of one big project. If you are decluttering and redesigning your home office, bedroom, or garage, the step that could take the most time (provided you aren’t knocking down walls) is to remove the contents entirely from these spaces and create your “donate,” “keep,” “maybe,” and “trash” boxes. Then, categorize your remaining belongings to understand better how they should be arranged in your new space.
If your decluttering is already done, and the space has been emptied, your first step may be the physical transformation of the space – painting, adding millwork, new flooring, etc. That can all be incredibly time-consuming if you are doing the work yourself. If not, while that work is being done by the team you’ve hired, you can focus on your medium tasks. That may be making additional design choices, donating the items in your donate box, and calling sanitation for bulk item pick-up of large trashed items.
Finally, cleaning shelving, wiping down window sills, sweeping the space, dropping off dry cleaning and tailoring, or washing windows are all smaller tasks that you’ll love having done when the room is ready. Those require relatively less time and focus but are still incredibly valuable to finish. You don’t want to push them indefinitely only to find that when the physical work is done in your space, it still isn’t ready for you to use.
Have you tried the 1-3-5 Rule? Did you love it? Did it create problems? I’ll leave the comments open for a short time until I get too much spam. I’d love to hear your thoughts. For more lifestyle, home organization, and productivity articles, read us here and on Medium.