What If We Took an Hour?

Sometimes, things pile up.

• A messy desk with layers of paper strewn across it
• A pile of books waiting to be re-shelved
• An inbox left unprocessed for a couple days (or weeks)
• That one counter where the random bits of life’s non-urgent action items collect: a shirt needing a button, a child’s toy requiring superglue
  

Over time, these piled-up places become a burden: extracting bits of mental vigor with each exposure, each walk past, each recriminating glance. We underestimate the costs of these spaces to our sense of vitality.

“What’s wrong with you?” the piles silently question. “Why can’t you just take care of this?”

If you’ve got a pile like this, do yourself a favor: pause life and take 30 minutes to clean it up. For those 30 minutes, be all in on doing something that’ll make you feel better for days.

Or better yet: what if we took an hour?