has a television show changed your life lately?
ummm, yes... and it wasn’t “jersey shore”.
the game show, minute to win it (on nbc), has changed my life. in a david allen getting things done kind of way...
the kids and i happened to watch part of this show the other night. i had never even heard of it before. it involves a contestant doing all kinds of kooky tasks and they have only a MINUTE to complete said kooky task it they want to move on up the money ladder (up to a million dollars). some contestants PREPARE for these kooky tasks by visiting the website and seeing all the previous tasks and practicing them at home. because they may be given those tasks on the show. and some of them are just plain fun to practice. and a lot of them involve items that you already have in your house and your kids WILL want to try some of them out after the show...
well, in a MOMENT OF OUTSTANDING POP CULTURE BRILLIANCE i decided to tell my kids that we were training to be on the show and that i was sure that dishwasher unloading was one of the tasks that they would be getting on the show. i set the timer on 60 seconds and told them that if they broke anything that they would lose a life (on the show you get extra lives and can miss a task and then try again if you have extra lives) and then i let them have at it. AND THEY BEAT THE CLOCK. and were able to move to the next level. which happened to be cleaning off all the kitchen counters and wiping out the sink... all in less than a minute.
we have since conquered many other possible minute to win it tasks (not this one though sometimes it feels like we go through toilet paper rolls just that rapidly). making the bed in under a minute- DONE. wiping down the important parts of the bathroom with a disinfecting cloth- HECK YEAH. vacuum the playroom rug- NO PROBLEMO. putting up a basket of folded laundry- CHECK IT OFF, I AM MOVING TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
it is amazing how many things you can MINUTE TO WIN IT. and it is even more fun if when you complete the task you jump up and down like CRAZY and shout out some redonkulous number of dollars that you just hypothetically won “ONE BRAZZILION DOLLARS BABY”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! or if they don’t get it in time, just say in your robotic voice “you have two lives remaining” and let them try again. if they think they might need extra time on a task they can ask for 10 extra seconds (which they earn along the way also in the real game).
it is amazing to think how many little annoying tasks i put off that would ONLY TAKE A MINUTE. or less. it is the small things that make the biggest difference sometimes. and sometimes all you need is ONE MINUTE TO WIN IT. or to finish it. or to begin it and make a start.
p.s. there is a FAMILY minute to win it coming up this week (on nbc, wednesday at 8 and an encore on friday at 8) where a whole family competes and believe me... we WILL be watching. right after we put all the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. which will only take a minute. marshall style.