The Two-minute Rule- The Ultimate Procrastination Trick

The 2-minute rule is one of the most powerful habits for staying efficient throughout your day. In fact, it might be the single most effective way to stop procrastinating — immediately.

Popularized by David Allen, the world-renowned productivity expert, in his best-selling book Getting Things Done (GTD), the rule is incredibly simple:

If something takes less than 2 minutes, 

DO IT NOW.

As soon as you realize that processing a document, replying to an email, or handling any small task will take less than 2 minutes — don’t postpone it. Just get it done immediately.

Why it works:

• You’ll be amazed at what can be accomplished in just 2 minutes, whether it’s work-related or personal.

• We often overestimate how long things take, and keep pushing off micro-tasks that actually take less than 2 minutes to complete.

• This rule saves massive amounts of time:

  • Imagine picking up a document, reading it, deciding to do it later, and adding it to your to-do list. That’s already 30–60 seconds.

  • When you come back to it, you’ll need another 30–60 seconds to remember what it was about and get back into context.

  • Result: You’ve just spent 2 minutes delaying a task that could’ve been done in 1.

Mental Clarity & Relief

• Each time you act right away, you lighten your mental load — no more thinking “I still have to do this” each time you see that unlit lightbulb or empty stapler.

• You avoid bloating your task list with unnecessary items, keeping it realistic and attackable.

• You break the habit of delaying — no more putting things off out of laziness or inertia. You become a doer.

Examples of 2-minute tasks:

• Most emails (yes, over 50% of them!) can be handled in under 2 minutes. Reply, archive, done. No need to re-read them 3 times.

• That burnt-out lightbulb? Replace it now instead of sighing each time you walk past it.

• A seminar form to fill out? Do it immediately and move on.

• A quick question for a colleague? Handle it in the hallway — done in 2 minutes.

“2 minutes” is flexible:

• If you have more time ahead, you can stretch it to 5–10 minutes. But be careful — anything longer should go on your task list.

• If you’re short on time, shrink the rule to 1 minute or even 30 seconds. Whatever you do now is done — and off your mind.

Applies to everything:

Emails, mail, phone calls, quick conversations, small errands… Apply the 2-minute rule to everything starting today, and you’ll see a huge shift in your productivity and mental space.

Congratulations!