The 2-Minute Rule: If It Takes Less Than 2 Minutes, Do It Now

The Problem

Your to-do list has 30 items. Many are tiny: reply to an email, put dishes away, file a paper.

The Hack

Before adding anything to your to-do list, ask: can I do this in under 2 minutes? If yes, do it immediately. The time spent adding it and remembering later exceeds the time to just do it.

Why It Works

Small undone tasks create 'open loops' that consume cognitive resources. Each 2-minute task completed closes a loop and reduces background mental noise.

Pro Tips

• This eliminates 30-40% of most to-do lists immediately
• Reply to that email. Put away that dish. File that paper. Now.
• The cognitive cost of tracking a 2-minute task exceeds doing it
• From David Allen's Getting Things Done methodology