I have to be careful with the two minute rule...particularly with housework, where many chores take less than two minutes, I've spent a couple of hours on "two minute" items!!
But I find it works well to keep things at bay.
@ work:
- respond to emailed questions (most common)
- schedule meetings electronically
- put away files and open projects
- read a longer email and compile next actions based on the email
- return short phone calls
@ home:
- close cabinet doors (I am really bad about leaving them open)
- make the bed - with a simple setup, easy to do in under 2 minutes
- put a few dishes in the dishwasher
- move clutter from the wrong room to the right room
- bring items in from the car
- answer personal emails (for the sake of the two minute rule, this is usually paying bills electronically)
- put clothes in the washing machine or dryer
But I find it works well to keep things at bay.
@ work:
- respond to emailed questions (most common)
- schedule meetings electronically
- put away files and open projects
- read a longer email and compile next actions based on the email
- return short phone calls
@ home:
- close cabinet doors (I am really bad about leaving them open)
- make the bed - with a simple setup, easy to do in under 2 minutes
- put a few dishes in the dishwasher
- move clutter from the wrong room to the right room
- bring items in from the car
- answer personal emails (for the sake of the two minute rule, this is usually paying bills electronically)
- put clothes in the washing machine or dryer
but I don't use a 2 minute rule during my processing time. I have only 30-45 minutes a day to process my stuff. Why should I go into Doing mode during that golden time? I prefer to do everything after that as during those 2 minutes I might process 2 weeks of calendar plus 10 emails