How to Stop Procrastinating by Using the “2-Minute Rule”

by James Clear

Recently, I’ve been following a simple rule that is helping me crush procrastination and making it easier for me to stick to good habits at the same time.

I want to share it with you today so that you can try it out and see how it works in your life.

The best part? It’s a simple strategy that couldn’t be easier to use.

Here’s what you need to know:

How to Stop Procrastinating With the “2-Minute Rule”

I call this little strategy the “2-Minute Rule” and the goal is to make it easier for you to get started on the things you should be doing.

Here’s the deal:

Most of the tasks that you procrastinate on aren’t actually difficult to do – you have the talent and skills to accomplish them – you just avoid starting them for one reason or another.

The 2-Minute Rule overcomes procrastination and laziness by making it so easy to start taking action that you can’t say no.

There are two parts to the 2-Minute Rule:

Part 1 – If it takes less than two minutes, then do it now.

Part I comes from David Allen’s bestselling book, Getting Things Done.

It’s surprising how many things we put off that we could get done in two minutes or less. For example, washing your dishes immediately after your meal, tossing the laundry in the washing machine, taking out the garbage, cleaning up clutter, sending that email, and so on.

If a task takes less than two minutes to complete, then follow the rule and do it right now.

Part 2 – When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.

Can all of your goals be accomplished in less than two minutes? Obviously not.

But, every goal can be started in 2 minutes or less. And that’s the purpose behind this little rule.

It might sound like this strategy is too basic for your grand life goals, but I beg to differ. It works for any goal because of one simple reason: the physics of real life.

Fontehttp://jamesclear.com/how-to-stop-procrastinating

Vocabulary Help

  • accomplish – realizar, conseguir fazer
  • avoid – evitar
  • best part – melhor parte
  • follow – seguir
  • garbage – lixo
  • get started – começar
  • goal – objetivo
  • I beg to differ – peço permissão para discordar
  • If it takes less than two minutes, then do it now – Se leva menos de dois minutos, faça agora
  • laundry – roupa suja
  • laziness – preguiça
  • life – vida
  • meal – refeição
  • overcome – superar
  • procrastination – procrastinação, deixar tudo para depois
  • purpose – objetivo, propósito
  • put off – adiar, deixar para depois
  • rule – regra
  • share – compartilhar
  • skill – talento, habilidade
  • stick to good habits – aderir aos bons hábitos
  • task – tarefa
  • try it out – tentar, experimentar
  • washing machine – máquina de lavar roupa
  • When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do – Ao começar um novo hábito, ele deve levar menos de dois minutos para fazer