Small, Consistent Improvements

Don't Wait Until You Have To Make Major Improvements to Take Action

I don’t know where I first saw the idea, but it’s something that has stuck with me for a while about keeping a space clean:

“Your home should always be within an hour of being guest-ready.”

I really like this idea. It gives us permission to live in a home—to use it and not feel like we have to be spotless all the time. But it also encourages consistent tidying and regular cleaning.

In my home, we don’t always live this principle, and our home is often many hours away from being guest-ready. But as I’ve embraced this idea, I find myself doing minor tasks much more regularly.

For example, rather than waiting until Thanksgiving when we’ll be hosting family to clean baseboards and blinds, I periodically clean those often neglected items when I have a few minutes of downtime while the kids are getting ready for bed or I’m waiting for food to heat.

Frequently doing small cleaning prevents us from having to spend an entire day getting our house ready to host a party or have someone visit from out of town. It helps things feel more liveable, but also more manageable, so we don’t have to stop everything for a day or two to clean.

The same principle can apply to almost everything. Rather than waiting for a major health issue, making small changes to diet and exercise now to live a healthier life. Rather than waiting for your car to need major work, you can do routine maintenance. Rather than waiting for major issues with family or other relationships, you can address problems early so they don’t boil over.

But how does this apply to work and product development?

Coworkers and Teams

I once had an employee who consistently struggled with being on time to meetings. He would arrive halfway through some meetings, or sometimes right at the end. At first, I said nothing. I know that most of us have too many meetings and that going from one to the next can be a struggle.