Swiss Cheese Method

What is the Swiss Cheese Method?

Work on daunting tasks in small 5-15 minute chunks, poking holes like Swiss cheese rather than tackling the whole project at once.

How It Works

1. Identify daunting task
2. Work on it for 5-15 minutes in gaps:
   • Waiting for meetings
   • During commutes
   • Between appointments
3. Make incremental progress through many small sessions

Benefits

• Reduces intimidation of big projects
• Uses otherwise wasted time
• Creates momentum
• Lowers barrier to starting
• Often leads to longer work sessions

Best Applications

• Reading long documents
• Research projects
• Writing reports
• Learning new skills
• Organizing files

Keys to Success

• Keep sessions truly short
• Lower expectations per session
• Track holes poked
• Notice reduced intimidation