One little corner
Just find one little corner
Put it in order
Stay there 'til you feel like you're alright
Then look out to the others
Soon you'll discover
The peaceful little corners of your lifeFrom the song One little Corner by Jon Troast
Every time I start cleaning, ever since I was 15 years old, I start humming a funny song called One Little Corner. It’s by an artist my family adores named Jon Troast. It’s ostensibly a cleaning song for grown-ups. It’s a clever folk tune that urges listeners to take a deep breath and start small if they ever feel overwhelmed by messy surroundings.
The accidental genius about the lyrics is that they’re spot-on with habit research.
In his book Tiny Habits, Dr. B.J. Fogg outlines something he calls the “action line” within his Fogg Behavior Model. Imagine a matrix in which the y-axis represents your motivation to complete an action, and the x-axis represents the difficulty of the action. The action line runs on a curve, representing a threshold underneath which things simply don’t get done. If we don’t have enough motivation, or if things are too difficult, we don’t take action.
Fogg’s recommendation to turn actions into habits is to make them easier to do. A large project is daunting. Starting small, with just one piece of it is easier.
Whenever I look at a messy home, a pile of unfolded laundry, or a sink full of dishes, I can start to feel overwhelmed. That’s when Jon Troast’s lyrics pop into my head to remind me that all I need to do is start with “one little corner.”
Me and Jon Troast in 2023
