So, I've been pulling together Best Practices for overcoming procrastination and getting things done, and I must say, my kitchen timer (suggested by FlyLady) has to be one of the best things I've ever bought (Ocean City Job Lot: $4.99).
In the past I've tried using my iPhone timer for the same purpose: to set aside a finite amount of time to get something done. But for some reason, there's something about the physical winding of the dial and then the tick-tick-tick as it counts down the minutes left on your chore that is so effective for me. I'm using it for everything: meditation, yoga, decluttering, cleaning up the kitchen after dinner.
It really works. There's something psychological about telling yourself you can ONLY do something for 15 minutes.