Comments on: Do it now

By: Karin Stewart - Daily Mastery

Karin Stewart - Daily Mastery — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:35:09 +0000

The 2-minute rule is often a great one, but only when used along with judgement. I’ve seen many cases of people who were using the rule religiously and were very unproductive as a result: there are simply many of those under-two-minute tasks that didn’t need to be done in the first place…

By: Productivity, Motivation, and Personal Development Links – 9th August 2009 - DIGTD - Making You More Productive

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:02:03 +0000

[...] fourth link is a link to link to a blog post from the Uncluttered blog about the power of doing it now. I cannot agree with this more that there will never be a better time to start than now. Even if [...]

By: Lukas

Lukas — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 12:26:37 +0000

I have an under-10-minute ‘do it now rule’ but I’m just a teenager without a job so I’ve got some time

By: cakemix

cakemix — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 08:01:06 +0000

thanks so much for sharing this rule!
i’ve invoked it many many times since reading it last week.
and will definitley be spreading it amongst my colleagues.

By: Corporate Barbarian Links: Another Day Closer to Death Edition « The Corporate Barbarian Blog

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:09:09 +0000

[...] at Unclutterer tells us to do it now! She talks about the two-minute rule and how to deal with email. Some good [...]

By: chessiq

chessiq — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 02:47:42 +0000

Thanks for the reminder! I have used it here and there, but never consistently. I will put it in my mission statement that way I can see it every time I read the M.S.

By: Julia1060

Julia1060 — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 21:18:39 +0000

I teach Do it Now to new college students entering our department – then they have no excuses later on!

By: Marcie Lovett

Marcie Lovett — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:37:39 +0000

I recommend Getting Things Done to everyone; it’s a great book. As a professional organizer, I was already doing a lot of things he recommended, but the 2-minute rule changed my life. I use it at home and at work, especially with my clients: Put back the file you were using, throw recycling in the bin, toss the dirty clothes in the hamper. Most things only take a few seconds to complete and, if left undone, pile up. I like to say: Do it now or save it until later when it becomes an overwhelming burden.

By: Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome

Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:29:12 +0000

I use it all the time and I remember a story from a colleague who had a huge pile of stuff on her desk to work through.

Instead of focusing on the pile, however, she just kept in mind the idea of Do It Now and because she didn’t add to the pile, it disappeared much more quickly than she thought possible. And she didn’t get stressed about it because that wasn’t her focus.

By: PS~Erin

PS~Erin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:54:18 +0000

I try to keep a similar mantra in my head… To try to leave each room/area I enter better when I leave. Short, simple tasks that would build up to big ones if left undone. I’ll have the 2-5 minute thought to that. thanks.

By: SJR

SJR — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:01:03 +0000

My grandmother worked her whole life as a night-shift nurse. Her mantra was: ‘Never leave a room empty-handed’. When I was studying I used the twenty-minute rule. As in I’ll just do twenty minutes, that’s not even a whole tv show! Once I’d gotten started it wasn’t a problem, I’d just keep studying, for me it’s always been the getting started that’s a problem. Somehow I can manage to convince myself to do twenty minutes though. Those options as well as the two-minute rule have always stood me in good stead!

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:28:39 +0000

The 2-minute rule only works when you’ve set aside specific times to accept incoming mail/email/projects. If you’re just refreshing Outlook all day long and knocking out all the 2-minute responses, you’ll never get to the big, long-term projects that need your attention.

Depending on the pace of my workplace, I set specific times (anywhere from hourly to a few times a day) to check my incoming workflow. At the designated time I spend up to 15 minutes processing what’s come in, knocking out what could be done in 2 minutes and turning what was left into tasks with due dates. Then I minimize the Outlook window, turn away from my inbox, and move on with my actual work.

I find Do It Now more difficult to implement at home, because I’m the type who sees dozens of projects/tasks that need doing every time I walk through the house. It’s like the physical equivalent of constantly refreshing Outlook. I’m still working on a way to both Do It Now and designate a time/situation when chores can stop. Lately I’ve been focusing on a different room each week, and that seems to work well.

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:28:04 +0000

A couple of thoughts:

1. For a 2 min/5 min rule to work best, you have to take some time up front to set it up.

I used to sew and followed “Sewing with Nancy”‘s advice: Set the project up first, break it up into small pieces, and then do a little at a time. So, even when my kids were small, I would spend a few minutes here and a few minutes there and in a few weeks, I could finish a project.

2. Now at work, a 2 minute rule is not a good idea for me. I end up doing something simple like filing or cleaning, that anyone else could do, and I put off starting projects that only a few of us at work can tackle. I found that if I start a project when my time is limited, even if I can’t finish it, I get it done a lot faster when I have an open block of time.

By: Deb

Deb — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:52:41 +0000

The 2 minute rule was one of the key items i took away from GTD. I am a SAHM o don’t have co-wrkers, just children who constantly interrupt most thougts and actions i am trying to make. Those times I stick with the 2 minute/just get this done before moving on, are the days I get more done, feel less stressed, have cleaner house and can find things easier.

By: *Pol

*Pol — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:39:30 +0000

I use the 2 minute rule to a fault (and it tends to be a 15 minute rule)…. I find I can completely fill my day with quick tasks and none of the “BIG” projects get any of my time!

Sure I get lots of billable hours, and the quick-n-dirty clients are always thrilled at my fast turnaround, but the big clients with the involved stuff always seem to get bumped…. probably not the best way to go… I need to find balance!

(And I have kids at home — my office — too, so there are plenty of “triage” moments that interrupt even the fastest jobs!!)