By Audrey Thomas
In our last blog post, we challenged you to avoid social media for ten minutes each day and spend it doing something else. Now, think about just two minutes. 120 seconds. It’s not much, but you’d be amazed what a difference two minutes can make in your day.
At a recent training, I shared the importance of following up on an email if that action takes under two minutes. The most popular responses to email are: delete, forward, file, and respond. If the action required will take fewer than two minutes, do it right then and there. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not go on to the next email! Just take care of it–and keep emails from piling up in your inbox.
Likewise, use the two-minute rule for tasks you want to defer because you think they’ll take too long; you might be surprised how many take only two minutes! Remember, deferring tasks automatically leads to procrastination.
We often put off these everyday tasks, but they actually only take a few minutes:
- Return a voicemail
- Respond to an email
- Schedule a meeting
- Write out an agenda for an upcoming meeting
- Pay a bill
- Register for a conference
- Call a prospect
- Write/email a thank you note to a customer, supplier, or coworker
Okay, time to be honest! Ask yourself: What’s sitting on your desk (or to-do list) that will take only a few minutes but you’re avoiding it?
