Quarterly Planning Strategies for Productivity on Autopilot – Get It Done Two Minutes At A Time

Kick procrastination to the curb with the "2-minute rule", a simple "snackable" time management or better said, focus management technique.

Use it whenever you feel you're procrastinating and indulging in it-can-wait mentality.

Procrastination only leads to missed opportunities and lost chances for personal growth to build up your business.

And believe me, it will put the brakes on any momentum you have, leading to confusion and triggering bouts of Shiny Object Syndrome.

What Exactly Is The 2-Minute Rule?

It’s a stress-free approach to starting new habits and kicking bad ones. It’s designed to help you achieve more goals without feeling overwhelmed and keeps you from delaying action any longer than you should.

The two main concepts for the rule include:

• If it only takes two minutes, then get it out of the way right now.
• Establishing new habits or routines should only take two minutes to begin with.

As with most methods, if they are misused, they provide the opposite results than you intend.

Here’s how to use the 2-minute rule effectively to kick your undesirable habits and achieve the most effective productivity:

Keep It Relevant and Realistic

Only use the rule if it's relevant to what you're working on at the time. In other words, don’t do whatever task comes to mind if it doesn’t relate to what you're actively doing.

For example, if you're working on finishing your next online course with a Friday deadline, it’s not a good idea to be checking what's going in in your favourite Facebook group.

It's unrelated and will ultimately get you down a rabbit hole of delay and move your focus away from what really matters.

Instead, think, “what can I do in two minutes to finish this course?”

If you think that there isn't anything you can do in two minutes - there's lots. Just break down activities and you'll find all kinds.

For the course example above, in two minutes you can look for an image online, upload a video or format text.

Don’t Make It Hard

Don’t make adopting new habits challenging and overwhelming by forcing the process.

Small gradual changes make it easier to accomplish and stick around long term. For example, science proves that those who lose weight over a more extended period of time maintain the weight longer than those who lose it very quickly.

Meaning you shouldn’t focus on what you can’t do - rather, look at what you can do instead.

For just two minutes, what can you do towards changing a habit that's hindering your progress?

Then the next day, add two more minutes and keep repeating the process.

It’s All About Perspective

The main goal of the 2-minute rule is to change your perspective on how you see a challenge or what you deem to be annoying tasks.

Anyone can deal with something for just two minutes, and often the most challenging part is just starting.

Give this 2-minute rule a try the next time you feel that you need to push off your work to next week.

You won’t regret giving it a try.

Image by fancycrave1 from Pixabay