The “Saturday Morning Laundry” secret to productivity
I do laundry early most Saturday mornings. It’s a ritual.
Why is that interesting? Because it has an amazing effect on my weekend productivity. It’s easy to do and I feel an inordinate amount of accomplishment when I’m done.
I noticed about a year ago how the simple act of putting clothes into the wash automatically jump starts me to do other productive things. I start picking things up around the house, writing some code, or doing something else that just needs to get done. A sense of accomplishment begets productivity.
The Saturday morning laundry keys to success:
- Start early (I try to put the first load in by 9:00am)
- Fold and put away clothes when they’re done
Easy, right? That second step is important. You have to finish the task. Sometimes, I’ll do my laundry, but fail to actually fold and put it away. Then I have to sift through my laundry basket for clothes throughout the week. It’s inconvenient and oddly demotivating. Each morning, it reminds me that I didn’t follow through with a simple task. On the flip side, for some reason it just feels really nice to reach into a full drawer of clean clothes and get dressed in the morning without hassle.
One common reactioin I’ve heard to this theory when I’ve told people about it is, “Why do you need to be productive on a weekend?” While being productive is probably not the best goal for a weekend, there are usually at least a few things that I’d like to get done. If I can use the spark created by doing my laundry, I can knock them off the list early and truly relax for the rest of the weekend.
So how can you use this idea in your work life? What “Saturday morning laundry” can you do to start your work day? Try to accomplish just one thing before checking your email in the morning. It doesn’t have to be big, but you have to finish it. The effect on your motivation will be considerable.
