“The most effective way to do it, is to do it.” – Amelia Earhart

Amelia’s Rule

It was a crowded space with people milling around and eating the Hors D'oeuvres being offered by sleek servers threading their way between small groups of conversing guests.  One of those guests reached for a delightful morsel and with fumbling fingers she dropped it.  At that moment there was an audible gasp from those nearby.

Then, without missing a beat, and before the gasping sound ended the finger fumbler bent down, successfully scooped up the errant food and as quick and lightening she delivered it successfully into her mouth.

“That was way faster than ten seconds!” Another guest exclaimed with glee. 

Millions of people abide by the so-called 'ten-second rule,' judging food as OK to eat if it only touches the floor momentarily.  But researchers have branded the age-old convention a myth.  But, fret not, I’ve discovered another, personally tested and proven to be true time-based rule, the ‘Amelia’s Rule.’

This rule was discovered after dropping many things over my life-time.  Those of you who know me are aware that dogs seem to flock to me any time I’m seated to eat, or holding food in my hand.  They instinctively know that sitting near my chair, or feet in such instances, will most certainly yield a tasty reward if they have even an insignificant amount of patience.  An additional record of my dropping abilities can be found by going to my closet to take a look at the fronts of my shirts and ties!  In short, I am an expert regarding the ten-second rule followed by dogs.  This version of the ten-second rule is definitely not a myth!

It’s also not a myth that I seem to put off large projects that need to be done.  It isn’t that I can’t do the work or that I don’t know how to do the work.  I just can seem to get started!   I’ve struggled with this for as long as I can remember.  I’ve even purchased and read books such as ‘Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity’ By David Allen, the international bestselling author and business consultant. But, as it turns out after all that reading, learning a simple way to fly forward successfully came after discovering a one sentence quote by Amelia Earhart.

Amelia Earhart once said, “The most effective way to do it, is to do it.”

Amelia’s Rule is a slight modification of this sage advice.  The most effective way to do it, is to do it, by giving it just two minutes.

When you promise yourself to give a larger, or dreaded, task just two minutes of time it becomes easier.  You know you don’t have to spend more time than that because you’ve given yourself that permission.  That’s step one.

Step two is giving yourself permission to spend more time doing the task, only if you want to.  You aren’t committing to doing so, but you can if you want.

I’ve found that getting started is the largest huddle I face when I’m dealing with a dropped, large or dreaded task.  Spending that initial two minutes gets me over that hump.  It allows me to fly forward to complete the once dropped task after only one-hundred-twenty-seconds of effort.

I like to say I have Amelia Earhart to thank for teaching me how to fly. After all, she’s the pilot who taught me to fly over my self-created hurdles!

So, next time you’re struggling to complete a large or dreaded task, take Amelia’s advice.  The most effective way to do it, is to do it, by giving it just two minutes.