The tiny rule that ends procrastination
From dread to flow in 5 Minutes
Itβs Monday morning, youβre staring at you to-do list and sheβs staring at you back.
You know you need to do it. But the sheer size of it feels overwhelming, and your brain comes up with a dozen other things to do instead.
Weβve all been there. But have you also experienced the other side? The moment you look up from your desk and realize two hours have flown by. You were so completely absorbed in that same task that the world just disappeared. You were actually enjoying it.
How do you get from the dread to the deep work?
Thereβs a simple mental model I use for this, and it works almost every time. I call it the 5-Minute Rule.
You tell yourself you are only going to work on the task for five minutes. Thatβs it. Youβre not trying to finish it. Youβre not even trying to make a dent in it. You just have to start.
βIβll just write the title.β
βIβll just outline the first paragraph.β
βIβll just clean this one small section.β
You make the barrier to entry so laughably small that your brain canβt fight it. And then, the hardest part βstartingβ it, is over. Momentum kicks in, and suddenly youβre in the middle of the action.
More often than not, those five minutes turn into two hours of focused, satisfying work.
I love finding these simple mental models that make work easier and more enjoyable. If you do too, you might like my daily newsletter, where I share more of them. subscribe here.
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