I have the pleasure of moving on June 1st. I also happen to be a horrible procrastinator. Granted, I always manage to pull things off and have them done well, but there have been a few occasions I’ve wondered why I do this to myself. Such is the case with my packing situation. Or, rather, lack of packing situation.
Recognizing how common this kind of pattern is, Dr. Pete of 30GO30 decided he wanted to launch the site after turning 40 and reflecting on the long list of things he just hadn’t managed to make time for. As a Ph.D in Cognitive Psychology, he understood what it took to get people motivated. So, he came up with a simple challenge: work on one thing 30 minutes a day, for 30 days. The catch is, it has to be something you’ve been meaning to work on for awhile. The website and blog chronicles his own struggles, as well as provides support for those accepting the challenge.
After using the method this weekend to tackle my packing debacle, I might be a bit of a convert. I even got my room mate involved and we’re pretty pleased with the dent we made. Now we just need a strategy on how to get rid of junk that we’ve overly-sentimentalized.
Dr. Pete answered a few questions:
How would you explain what you do to somebody’s grandmother?
To be honest, I think grandmothers might get my core concept better than the rest of us. We’ve become so enamored with technology and shortcuts that we’ve forgotten the value of plain, old-fashioned elbow grease. Some things take time and commitment, and there’s NOT an app for that. My blog is about tough love, which I think many grandmas do very well.
What are some specific challenges you faced/are facing?
My first boss built our company out of pocket, and I’ve always admired the pay-as-you-go mentality. I’m not afraid to spend money when I need to or to pay for quality, but 30GO30 was a project where I wanted to support it out of pocket and build it organically as much as possible. Naturally, that means carefully choosing what I spend real money on.
