@zeldabee: Agreed, two minutes is pretty short. David Allen may not agree but perhaps the value of the two minute rule is symbolic. As in, don't let other things distract you from what's important. We called this "busyness" in one of our articles, which might be relevant here. As Drucker once said: "There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all."

[www.the-happy-manager.com]

the-happy-manager

@monster79: Yes, and I get stuck on just estimating how long something is going to take. I don't think I take two minutes to do *anything*.

zeldabee

OK, about the two minute rule...What happens when you're two minutes in on a task and then realize it's going to take longer than two minutes? Quit and move on? Or finish the task? I realize there is no single solution to this issue - the problem is that two minutes turns into ten minutes rapidly.

But, quitting in the middle of a task seems overall more destructive to productivity.

monster79

@Lifehacker: Perhaps Adam, Gina or some other rock star in the house could cobble together a Better2MinuteTimer FF extension?

Andre Kibbe

I use the Two Minutes x 2 rule; that is it always takes me about twice as long as I think to complete a task. It is much better to overshoot the estimate and have time left over on your schedule than to under estimate it and be pressed for time.

I've found SlimTimer.com to be a simple way to track your tasking time.

You can also assign time estimates with some task managers like Remember The Milk. I created a list of them below or you can see my review here:

ToMuse.com

RememberTheMilk
IWantSandy
Toodledo
Nozbe
Vitalist
SmartSheet
Todoist
Voo2do
Tudu Lists
Bla-bla List
RoughUnderbelly
OrchestrateHQ
Ta-da List
Tasktoy

VizionQuest

@monster79: You're inevitably going to make mistakes applying the two minute rule initially. But unless you're reasonably confident that it's a two-minute action, you should log it as a next action.

A more practical way of framing the question might me, "Will this take me longer to write down and review later than to do now?" If the answer is yes -- things filling out of form or downloading an FF extension -- do it now, even if it's a low-priority task (if it's worth doing), to avoid cluttering your next actions list with minutae; otherwise write it down.

The two minute rule forces you to actually think about whether something will take longer than two minutes, so that you discipline yourself to capture longer actions as future tasks. Just because something needs to be done doesn't mean that doing it this moment is the most strategic option.

Andre Kibbe

David Allen may not agree but perhaps the real value in the two minute rule is symbolic. It's probably a pretty good way to ensure we focus on what's important rather than simply what we might prefer to do. We called this "busyness" in one of our articles, which may be relevant here.

As Drucker once said: "There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all." Though we also quoted Lucy from Charlie Brown: "Accomplish something? All I thought we were supposed to do was keep busy."

We'll let you decide which is the better statement!

[www.the-happy-manager.com]

the-happy-manager

Another useful countdown timer for the mac is 'Alarm Clock 2':-
[www.robbiehanson.com]

Originally posted here:-
[lifehacker.com]

FizzyPopMan

Mac users mighty be interested in this desktop widget. It has a flexible count down timer, and can be configured to count down seconds, minutes, or hours. Available via:-
[www.apple.com]
or
[www.metabang.com]

[images.apple.com]

FizzyPopMan

For me it can be a 5 minute rule, or a 10 minute rule or even a 15 minute rule, depending on how heavy my workload is that day. On days when I don't have a lot going on I will use the 10 or 15 minute rule. If I am feeling really hammered I will use the 2 minute rule.

The other good think about this rule is that it will help you avoid a reputation for always taking a long time to respond to requests.

AndyFromTucson

Personally, I don't think two minutes would be enough though considering it takes me two minutes to realise what I'm supposed to do.

18PercentCarbon

Heh, I have enough trouble just doing what is on the list. Like for example right now I should be working on my 3000 word film study.

But I'm not.

:D

Myles

If it's a small and/or easy task, I'll just do it. I hate having that piddly stuff hanging over me.

elsifer

@elsifer: You just said in two lines what he said in two pages. Kudos. Bet ya didn't even need a handy little desktop timer Twitter Jott widget either.

Amazing that some of these articles are treated like revelations. What's that old saying about common sense?

rscotta

I knock off most of my 2 minute tasks by simply cleaning out my inbox...two or three times a day, and this kills two birds with one stone.

And yeah, not much else I do can fit into even 5 minutes.

Keter

Hmmmmm, this program/article was posted on Lifehacker nearly 2 years ago....the article is even linked in the post.....

[lifehacker.com]

Maccleduff

@Maccleduff: Um, yeah, the program was posted before on Lifehacker. I linked to the original post. The article, however, hasn't... unless I'm missing something. Can you show me where you think we've posted this article before?

Adam Pash

I find that repeatedly clicking a 2-min. timer is too much micromanagement, and wasteful in itself.

So instead, I like setting up a reasonable block of time, e.g., half an hour or even a full hour, then looking at a scattershot list of things that likely could be done agilely in a couple min. Some may take more, some may take less, but without overthinking it and incurring additional mental tax, I start gunning them down one by another - not so concerned with order as execution - and casually see how much I've gotten done by the end of the 1/2 hr. or 1 hr. It's worked repeatedly well for me. :)

Torley

AndyfromTucson's got it right - there's no need to take these guidelines literally and then start to panic over minuscule slippages. Follow the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law.

2-minute rule => Can I deal with this quick and get it off my plate for good? Yes? Well get it done and turn your stupid stopwatch off.

Chutney

@rscotta: Yup, the more I read lifehacker, the more I realize that I must be one of the lucky few naturally-organized.

I can't tell you how many articles I've read and said to myself "Hey, I already do that."

elsifer

If your busy writing down all these 2 minute next actions, and then checking it off... doesn't that take more time then just doing the two minute action?

If I think it can be done in 10 minutes or less, I do it there and then.

KenGirard

Hello,

For implementing GTD you might try my new application for time management and productivity,

[www.gtdagenda.com]

You can use it to manage your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, schedules and a calendar.

Hope you like it.

dannielo