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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Emma Beddington

I watched a woman clear her shower drain – and realised I had to get my own life in order

A clock and cleaning products on a blue background
Time to stop ducking the drudgery? … Photograph: Alas_spb/Getty Images/iStockphoto

How long would the tasks we’re putting off actually take? TikToker Christi Newrutzen has gone viral for timing herself completing chores she has been avoiding. “I have been procrastinating on making a dentist’s appointment for three years,” Newrutzen said in one video, viewed 3.6m times (presumably by people like me, ducking their own drudgery) before filming herself doing it in a mere nine minutes. Clearing her shower drain for the first time ever took only seven (albeit impressively revolting) minutes.

Newrutzen is comfortingly unvarnished and relatable; people have started thanking her for inspiring them to tackle the long-neglected corners of their own lives. After a week of algorithmic nudging to watch her, I too felt compelled to try, despite a sense of foreboding. (Surely I have good reasons for letting things fester?)

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