How to Stop Procrastinating by Using the “2-Minute Rule”
A simple time-saving hack that you can use to boost your productivity almost instantly.
Did you know that 9 out of 10 people never finish their daily to-do lists because they include a lot of mundane tasks?
That’s where the 2-minute rule comes into play: it helps you get rid of a ton of unimportant things from your to-do list so you can focus your time on finishing the most important ones.
There are two parts to the 2-minute rule:
Part 1: If something can be done in two minutes, just do it.
If a task takes less than two minutes of your time, do it right away. Don’t add it to your to-do list. Don’t put it aside for later. Don’t delegate it to someone else. Just do it.
Some examples:
Answer an email
Retweet winning content
Come up with a few blog ideas
Send an update to a colleague
There are a ton of tiny, seemingly trivial tasks that take less than two minutes yet need to be done EVERY DAY.
Part 2: If something takes more than two minutes, then start it.
Once you take an action on any 2-minute task, you will feel better equipped to work on even bigger tasks because of the sense of momentum you’ve built.
For example:
Want to write a thousand words every day? Write 50 words in the next two minutes.
Want to meditate for 20 minutes a day? Go to Calm.com and meditate for two minutes.
Want to exercise for one hour a day? Do jumping jacks for just two minutes.
Once you start acting on small tasks, you can keep the ball rolling.