The rule:
- I tell myself “Do this work for only two minutes and then if you don’t feel like it, it’s too stressful, just give up!”.
Why the JUST TWO MINUTES rule works for me SOMETIMES:
- Helps start the work:
- It’s easier to convince myself to start on something, if it’s for just two minutes.
- Gets SOME work done:
- Even if all you did in those two minutes was read the problem statement, you have made far more progress than doing NOTHING - which plays into NON-ZERO DAYS.
- Kickstarts more work:
- Sometimes those two minutes can help you kickstart a whole session of executive functioning. It might make me look at a problem which I was too stressed to even look at, but which later turns out to be actually quite simple.
- Guiltless reprieve:
- If nothing else it at least gives me the guiltless reprieve after I am done working for those two minutes. I will pickup social media again to get the dopamine hit, but I did something! I can take a break and try again.
Notes: This is a very janky method, but it surprisingly works sometimes. It doesn’t work always - especially if my stress levels are very high or I am out of will power or physical energy.
What do you guys think?
Sounds like a really good plan. I often find that It’s much easier to finish something I’ve started than start something I haven’t.
Let us know how it works for you!
Yeah, exactly!
It works for me only when I don’t have a close deadline. The stress of a close deadline is just very hard to deal with. I can’t think straight enough to “just do it for two minutes”. My brain won’t allow me to work only for two minutes at that stage, it’s either do it or don’t.
I’ve always been the opposite.
I got two weeks to do it? There’s no way I can focus.
It’s due in three hours? IT’S GO TIME!!!