Questions like:
These are “selfish” questions and are great if you feel stuck. As much as they focus on you, they allow one clarity to start working on the right things.
High expectations are a killer. The worst part about them is that they are in our heads. When my mind decides on recklessness, there is nothing I love to do more than catastrophizing and making mountains out of molehills.
If I told you two minutes is long enough to get that thing you have waited to get off the ground off the ground, would you believe me?
How long are two minutes? They are long enough to get the habit you want to do out of your head and into life.
If you want to start cooking in the morning as a habit, don’t think of it as a chore. No three-course meal with eggs sausage and fresh chopped fruit. Making a bowl of cereal counts. It takes less than two minutes, and you have accomplished the mission.
Accept that perfection is a gateway to procrastination.
The only way to get things done is to do them. Two minutes are a gateway into getting something done without the pressure. It’s perfect because it is long enough to take a look, do a small amount of research, send an email, or do a very simple model of what you want to do.
This tool isn’t for a single purpose.
Forcing boundaries also help us want to improve. When I set up the two-minute rule, I force it on myself for a time. Taking the above example, I will make cereal for a week. Mentally, I know I can’t stand the boredom of sticking to two minutes, and find myself doing more as time goes on once I open it up for another week.
The hardest gap isn’t between good to great, but between starting and not starting. I would bet that you could make a significant dent in the universe by simply getting over the fear of high expectations and just starting.
So what is something you aren’t starting now? Got two minutes?
(Pair with Task O’clock)
The other side of this is to make sure you don’t stick in the two minutes, so make a way to make yourself jump in more. But again, the enemy of good is perfection, and just getting started on something is good enough.
From the desk of Adam Thomas 