How to stop procrastinating, build a new habit, and increase productivity — in 2 minutes.
Recently, I’ve learned about this 2-minute rule and started implementing it in my daily life.
I want to share it with you guys today so that you can also try this out and see how it will work for you’ll. To me, the results are fabulous! It has not only stopped me from procrastinating things but also made me more productive.
The best part here is, it is so easy to try that you don’t need to put any extra energy to do it.
First, let’s see what the 2-minute rule is —
David Allen — New York Times bestselling author, in his book “Getting things done.” popularises this rule. he says
If an action will take less than two minutes, it should be done at the moment it’s defined.
😴 How to use the 2-minute rule to stop procrastinating?
If it takes less than 2 minutes to do, then do it now. An action taking your 2 minutes should not go to your to-do list or should not be procrastinated.
Let’s take an example for processing an email. For any email you get, you can either delete it, file it, or can move it to your tasks list. If you keep procrastinating your emails, you will have a huge number of unread. This will only tire you. The amount of time you will need to plan and execute your huge inbox will be much more than giving it just 2 minutes.
🤩 How to use the 2-minute rule to form a new habit?
When you start a new habit, it should take less than 2 minutes to do it.
Examples —
“Read before going to bed” becomes “Read one page daily”
“Study for class” becomes “open my notes”
“Fold the laundry” becomes “fold a pair of socks”
“Workout regularly” becomes “go to the gym”
The idea here is to make your new habit as effortless as you can to start. It is easy to meditate for a minute or read one page. The strategy is to get you started because once you start doing it, it is easier to continue doing it.
When you start a habit, it should not be challenging. The later part of the habit can be challenging but at least the first 2 minutes should be simple and easy. The aim here is to build a gateway habit that can lead you to a productive path.
😇 How to use the 2-minute rule to be more productive?
Once you begin completing your smaller task, you can strike them out from your list. You will then have fewer actions on your to-do list. It will make you feel like you have accomplished so many things. Now that you have a shorter to-do list, you will be able to centralize all your focus onto the important and bigger tasks. With more focus and dedication you will efficiently complete your bigger tasks faster, making you more productive.
🥰 Here’s what I achieved using this simple yet powerful 2-minute rule. I was planning for the past 5 months to write my first Medium blog. I was scared of starting it because I don’t have enough writing skills. But I wanted to develop the habit and skills of writing blogs that can help others. Then someday, I opened my medium account. Slowly, I started reading one blog each day, but I was still scared to write my own. I, then finally thought that I will write a small blog but won’t publish it. This gave me some confidence to write my very first blog. After a day of writing my first blog, I came back to medium, hit that PUBLISH button, and closed. As expected, there were not many views on it. But somewhere in between dedicating 2 minutes to each step and publishing my blog, I got my confidence to write more. I don’t know if my blog will be read by many people or not, but I am surely going to keep writing blogs. Because this is improving my writing skills and I feel like I am learning a new skill of writing which is many me happy. This is what the 2-minute rule has done to me and I am super happy about it.
Now, that you know why the 2-minute rule works, whenever you feel stuck or try to avoid actions, you can apply this rule to move forward in your desired direction. I am sure you will also find this rule very productive and helpful.
Thank you for reading my second blog. Your suggestions and feedbacks are always welcomed. 😊
