Finally tried the 2-minute rule for my inbox and it actually worked

I used to let emails pile up until I had 200+ unread, and then I'd spend an hour sorting them. A guy on here mentioned the 2-minute rule (if it takes under 2 minutes, do it right then) and I gave it a shot last Monday. Has anyone else found a simple trick that broke a bad habit?

3 comments

3 Comments

seth_harris364d ago

Honestly I heard some productivity expert say the key is setting a timer for just 5 minutes a day on the pile first, then the rule kicks in naturally. Tbh it sounds like your inbox is finally winning instead of stressing you out. Ngl that little tweak can make a huge difference when you stick with it.

miles2794d ago

Yeah I tried that 5 minute timer thing and ended up just staring at the screen watching the seconds tick down while my brain went completely blank. Then I realized I spent those 5 minutes mentally organizing my junk drawer instead of actually doing anything useful. So now my productivity trick is to just close the inbox entirely and pretend it doesn't exist until the guilt builds up enough that I binge-delete everything at 2am. Works about 40% of the time which is basically a success rate in my book.

jessica_robinson233d ago

Oh man, the junk drawer thing is SO relatable. I once spent a whole 10 minute timer mentally cataloging every single thing in my pantry by expiration date. Didn't touch a single email. The 2am binge delete is genius though, I might have to steal that. I've been doing this thing where I just mark everything as read and tell myself I'll get to it tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes and then I have 3,000 unread messages and my soul leaves my body for a bit.