The benefits of doing quick tasks immediately: The two minute rule

seedling

planted Aug 23, 2021

If a task takes less than two minutes, just do it immediately.

When you want to decide about the next action for a project, take a moment and evaluate if it will take more or less than two minutes.

If it takes less, just do it immediately. Queuing every minor task bloats your list with minor tasks. By doing this little action while you work through your inbox when you are clarifying your tasks, you can already get a lot done and feel productive.

However, two minutes is not a lot. Try to get a feeling for how much you can do in two minutes. Some phone calls can be done in that time, but a lot of calls take longer. Learning this estimate takes time and experience.