Two minute rule(s)

[John_Lewis]

As a relatively novice GTDer (read the book, bought a labeller, attended a seminar, met David Allen, ...), I am learning a lot from the "In Conversation" CD's.

Many interviewees identify the "two minute rule" as one of the most important habits that they learnt early in their application of GTD; as I recall, David Gardner, Steve Leveen, Peter Gallant and, possibly, Arianna Huffington did.

The statement of the rule is simply enough, but what does it mean? Perhaps I am being "too smart to start!", but it seems to me that it is really two rules:

1. If it will take less then two minutes, then do the next action now.

2. It it will take more than two minutes, then add the next action to a list.

Most interviewees seem to be taking the first meaning, so as to reduce the number of actions which need to be organzed later. This seems to assume that their default behaviour is to defer actions.

However, my default behaviour on picking up something actionable or, just readable, is more likely to be to spend too much time on it, to the exclusion of other more important items. So the second meaning is more applcable to me.

In a way, this second meaning, while perhaps not the main point, seems to be closer to the ethos of GTD in that it is about moving things forward in easy steps.

What does anyone else think and do?

Regards,
John

 

[Micah Jackson]

2 minute rule is actually an exception

It seems to me that the general practice of GTD is that when you are doing the first phase of work (define your work) then you do no tasks, no matter what they are. They all go on the list for the time when you get to the second phase of work (do your work). There IS one exception, expressed by the 2-minute rule, which you have correctly described as "If it takes less than 2 minutes, you should do it right then." The reasoning is that if the action takes less than 2 minutes, it would take longer put it on the list and pick it up later.

In other words, I see the 2 minute rule as an exception to regular GTD practice of phased work, rather than a rule in and of itself.

Another important GTD principle is recalling that GTD must be adapted to "local use." Good luck with implementing GTD for yourself.

 

[mcogilvie]

The two minute rule works both ways. Why put off something that will take longer to write down than to do? On the other hand, if we just do work as it shows up without examining list items, we can spend too much time on not-so-important things. DA has an example, I believe on the old GTD Fast CD's, of the long, detailed, immediate reply to an email in the heat of the moment. I'll certainly plead guilty to that one.

 

[apinaud]

The statement of the rule is simply enough, but what does it mean? Perhaps I am being "too smart to start!", but it seems to me that it is really two rules:

1. If it will take less then two minutes, then do the next action now.

2. It it will take more than two minutes, then add the next action to a list.

Most interviewees seem to be taking the first meaning, so as to reduce the number of actions which need to be organzed later. This seems to assume that their default behaviour is to defer actions.

John in my experience really depends, for example, I travel around 70% of the time, so in many night in hotels, I can do 5 minute rule instead, if I have everything available for me, there is nothing else to do, sometimes specially when I am back in the office, sometimes I need to write down one minute actions, since they can happen anywhere and I need to maximize my time at the office.

The main idea of the principle comes from the idea that if something takes less than 2 minutes will take you longer to put it in the list and retrieve later on than do it at another time.

No matter if you do it because it is a less than 2 minutes or you write it down because it is more than 2 minutes, this is about getting things done, the question will be a silent one for your intuition it is better to write this now even that will take 2 1/2 minutes or it is better finish it.

Intuition has the answer, the problem is many times intuition is shouting at us and we are doing our best to ignore it!

 

[kmonroe]

When you consider that 80% of what comes across an executive's/manager's desk is urgent but not important, the two minute rule does call into question whether you should do work as it arrives. For me, the thought of the two minute rule when I decide whether I'm going to deal with that thing that just hit my desk helps me to remember the concept of - is this important enough to be done and if so can I get it done faster than I can put it on my list. If so, then I do it - unless the list is already made for today and time is running short. If not, then it gets put on a list and a negotiation made with the sender regarding when they will receive a response. For instance, my boss called today and asked for a decision on an item. Not only is it urgent, it is also important (and since my boss asked for it, there is really no question that it will get done). It did only take 2 minutes to do it, but at that moment I had four other things that were actions I had already promised would be done today and didn't feel like renegotiating those knowing his could wait until later today for a response - and time was going to be close on whether or not those got done. I simply asked if I could call him back at the end of the day or in the morning with my answer and he said that was fine. I made a quick note (call J re: Budget Requests), put it in my inbox, and finished the four other things I needed to get done.

 

[TesTeq]

Two minute rule statistics.

I think that many people make a false assumption that a 2-minute action always takes 2 minutes or even more to complete. So they say that you can complete no more than 30 such actions per hour.

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

Real 2-minute actions are - by definition - easy to do and often take 1 minute or less to complete. So you can complete 10 such actions in 10 minutes.

It is simply not fair to use the worst-case statistics.

 

[davepelland]

For me, it's a great way to avoid putting off those small, self-evident tasks (like bringing outgoing mail to the mailbox instead of leaving it on the dining room table, sending an e-mail with a quick question, or responding to a sixth-grader's quasi-blackmail school fundraiser) that could otherwise pile up.

Lots of times now when I have the choice of knocking off or defering a simple task, I hear a voice (kinda like David's) saying 'c'mon, two-minute rule' and it gets done.

 

[cris]

Because of the two-minute rule, I no longer have anything in the category "to file" nor do I have any outstanding bills to pay, except for two that need to be contested.

However the file cabinet needs to be next to the desk where you work. If the file cabinet is elsewhere, then filing becomes a deferred activity, which can be a problem.

Cris

 

[jsturtridge]

Like the original poster, cris, I've been pretty good about doing the less-than-2 min actions as they appear - but have found myself dissapearing down rabbit holes with the more-than-2 min actions as they get me back into my old habits of doing what's in front of me rather than what I should be doing.

The impact of this is that I'm not properly applying my subconscious priority system and some things don't get done ... !!

J.

 

[jackiwhitford]

My version of the two minute rule

All -

I am on conference/bridge calls all day and action items come up if I am hosting the meeting where we have to alert people to what is happening or have another call to discuss in more detail.

I use the two minute rule for those emails, and when I am returning phone calls. If I can write an email to resolve an issue or get people together to resolve an issue, I do it while I am talking to the person who initiated the issue.

I even do all my 2 minute action items when I have my 1-on-1 with my boss every week. I make her type emails that need to go out from her level, and I type mine. When we hang up, the only thing we have left to do are project items that take more than two minutes.

I also use the two minute drill for phone calls. I have my work answering machine setup to send all voice messages to my email in box. I take two minutes to listen to all of them and answer them (usually not more than four or six come in at a time).

I also use the two minute drill at home. I can mop a floor clean in two minutes, wipe down counters and the dining room table in two minutes, load the dishwasher in two minutes.

Anything that I can do in two minutes, I do.

If it has one additional task that takes longer than two minutes, it gets scheduled for multi-tasking during a bridge call or if it requires a lot of focus, during my uninterrupted time (about two hours a day.)

I hope this helps.