120 Seconds

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[Music]

[Applause]

i’m a procrastinator

always have been i put off tasks that

aren’t even that difficult but feel

almost impossible to start

for example homework every night it

feels like the tallest mountain i have

to climb and the biggest struggle is

simply starting it

usually i start way too late which

stresses me out and ruins a good night

of sleep

sometimes even the smallest tasks like

picking up my

clothes taking out the trash or

unloading the dishwasher

seemed almost intimidating i piled these

on at the end of the night as well

i could have done them earlier much

easier but no

like i said i’m a procrastinator i was

stuck in a never-ending cycle

until i learned about the two-minute

rule coined by david allen a

productivity consultant

the two-minute rule is a concept that

encourages people to spend two minutes

working on the tasks they often put off

if you’re trying to get something done

do it for two minutes no matter what it

is

folding your laundry studying for your

biology test

changing that one light bulb in the

hallway that always seems to be out

set aside 120 seconds just for that task

some tasks may only take two minutes and

if it does go ahead and get it done

but most will take a little longer while

you might not get it all done in that

time it’s the key to getting yourself to

start

and before you know it you’ll have

finished whatever it was hanging over

your head

telling yourself you only do something

for two minutes takes the stress off of

finishing it and you’ll feel less

reluctant to start in the first place

it allows us to switch our focus on

starting so chances are

even after those two minutes are over

you’ll find it a lot easier to just keep

going

the two-minute rule isn’t about trying

to get everything done in two minutes

it’s about inviting yourself to start

the tasks you often put off

and then after those two minutes are

over giving yourself the chance to stop

but you’ll find just by doing it for

that small amount of time

a lot of what made you put it off in the

first place disappears

think about how you can apply this

concept to your life many people want to

work out or exercise more

but often fail to start because of the

overwhelming amount of work ahead of

them

what if we tossed out all that noise and

just focused on two minutes

let’s say you want to start running

every day because it’s a difficult task

you might struggle staying motivated to

keep up a routine

and skipping out on a run once turns

into twice

turns into three times until eventually

you stop

if you want to find something that works

run for two minutes

it sounds crazy because it’s so easy but

that’s the point

after those two minutes are over it’s

your choice to either keep going

or stop but by doing this you’ve made it

incredibly easy to do every day

forming a habit to go on a run even if

it’s for only two minutes

eventually you’ll be able to go for a

lot longer

i started applying this concept to my

life and it’s crazy how much more

productive i’ve been

for example i’ve always struggled

finding motivation to start my homework

i started setting a timer for two

minutes of uninterrupted work i didn’t

get it all done in that time

but once the timer went off i found it

was a lot easy to just keep going

i found that once i forced myself to

start working even if it was for such a

small amount of time

it gave me the boost i needed to go

ahead and finish by applying this role

to my daily life i’ve been more

productive than ever

this method is so effective because

those two minutes of focus or hard work

act as a boost of momentum to help you

complete your task

it’s so easy to start small that it

becomes easy to keep going

by applying this to your daily life you

can open up a whole new door to

productivity

it has never been easier for me to

manage my time efficiently

and check things off my to-do list this

works because

far too often we’re so focused on the

angle

so much so that we get anxious thinking

about how we’re going to get there

this causes us to distract ourselves

from the task at hand but the two-minute

rule forces you to forget about the

angle

and instead focus on the beginning this

relieves the stress of the final product

allowing you to take a deep breath

and focus on the first step starting it

i encourage you to try this take 120

seconds out of your day to do what you

need to get done

see if it helps you continue working if

it doesn’t you haven’t lost anything but

two minutes but you’ve gained

two minutes worth of that work so next

time someone asks

got a minute you can give them two

thank you