The Five-Minute Rule

The “Five-Minute” Rule is a variation of a rule taught to me by my great friend, Dalton.

I doubt he even remembers telling me, but I still use it in my daily life.

I believe he had watched a video or read a book about the Five-Minute Rule and he was telling me how great it was. He explained how this rule can help stop procrastination and put an end to laziness.

The original Five-Minute Rule is simple:

Set a goal of doing whatever it is you would otherwise avoid, but only do it for five minutes. If after five minutes it's so horrible that you have to stop, you are free to do so.

What will usually end up happening is that you become immersed in that task and you totally forget about the Five-Minute Rule, thus letting you get the work done. This is truly a great trick to help those who procrastinate.

HOWEVER... I took this rule and gave it a slightly different meaning.

I find myself always having to complete these unexciting little tasks every day...

Flossing, taking the trash out, replying to an email, wiping off the counter after cooking, making my bed, putting my clothes in the laundry bin, putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, picking up Koa’s dog toys that are strewn across the house, just to name a few.

Each of these small, albeit very annoying tasks usually take about five minutes or less to complete. To be frank, sometimes I don’t feel like doing them… until I started applying my Five-Minute Rule to them!

I made a deal with myself:

If I think I can complete a task in under five minutes, then I HAVE to do it.

No excuses.

It’s only five minutes out of the day and it’s a task that really needs to be done. If I can spend five minutes scrolling through social media without even thinking about it, then I can spend five minutes on a task that’s actually productive.

I know you also have annoying little five-minute-or-less tasks that you could be completing throughout the day.

I encourage you to try the Five-Minute Rule (either version, really) and I guarantee you will not only get those tasks done, but you’ll get more done than you even intended to.