Shoutout to the old coworker who taught me the 5 minute rule

Back in 2018 I was drowning in emails and small tasks at a marketing agency in Austin. A guy named Dave told me if something takes less than 5 minutes do it right when you see it. Sounds simple but it cut my backlog by like 40% in two weeks. Has anyone else tried a dumb simple trick that actually stuck?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliver_ward1410h ago

And Dave probably had a tidy inbox while the rest of us were drowning in spreadsheets, right? I tried that rule once and it just made me realize how many tiny tasks I actually hate doing immediately. Now I just let the emails pile up and call it "strategic prioritization" so I feel better about it.

sam_anderson1h ago

A buddy of mine swore by the two minute rule for years. He was always so smug about his empty inbox and perfectly organized todo list. Then one day he told me he spent an entire afternoon responding to some vendor about a minor billing error that could have waited a week. He realized he was just doing stuff to feel productive instead of actually being productive. Now he lets things sit for a day before touching them unless they're actually on fire. It's funny how much peace of mind you get from just ignoring the small stuff until it actually becomes important.