For many of us, procrastination gets in the way of our best time management efforts. But here's a simple trick to try that comes from David Allen's Getting Things Done system. It's called The Two Minute Rule.
Allen's premise is that part of what gets in the way of our productivity are all the little items that pile up in our heads and on our desks, making us crazy. With the Two Minute Rule, we can clear many of them up immediately.
Here is the rule in a nutshell:
When something comes up that will take you two minutes or less to act on, do it now.
This seems pretty simple, but it's actually an incredibly powerful way to handle things, especially for procrastinators. who often think about some "to do" item and then another and another and another and pretty soon we're overwhelmed. We may write all of these things on our "to do" list, but then we'll just feel overwhelmed by the list. By implementing the Two Minute Rule, we can start to clear up many items immediately, creating both the psychic space and the time for the bigger items on our list.
Here are some tasks that fit well into the two minute rule:
- Send email reminder, for things you are waiting for.
- Send reply emails seeking yes/no answer or confirmation
- Moving emails to Archive folder
- Deleting emails you know you don’t need
- Schedule a meeting (This at time may take longer if you need to book a conference room or other resource)
- Bookmark important information
- Reminders to self (add an entry in calendar)
- Compliment others : Really, it takes just few minutes, can be done right away, and it very important thing to do.
To help you keep track of how long a task takes, you can download this free Two Minute Timer, which will help you track other tasks, too, like phone calls, filling out paperwork or forms online, etc.
And here are a few more resources on implementing the 2-minute rule.
- It's Just Two Minutes. . . and It's a lot of time!
- Two Minute Rule FAQ
- Two Minute Playlists--Chris Schmitt has compiled a list of 2-minute songs for his ipod that he plays when he's working on his 2-minute tasks. Sounds more fun than using a timer.
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