Are you having a hard time building a new habit? Worry no more, a simple 2-Minute Rule strategy will help you make things easier and will stop you from procrastinating over and over again.
The rule mainly overcomes one’s procrastination and laziness.
This 2-minute rule was introduced by James Clear, an author of Atomic Habits. According to him, the rule stated that it should take less than two minutes to begin a new habit.
What does that mean? When you want to finish a task or do something new, do it for less than two minutes. Does this mean that goals can be accomplished after two minutes? Definitely not, but with this rule, doing your goals can be started.
The logic behind this rule was inspired by Isaac Newton’s physics of real life. The first law of motion, the law of inertia, states that “objects at rest tend to stay at rest and objects in motion tend to stay in motion”.
Similar in doing a new habit for less than two minutes, once it is being started, it is easier to continue doing it.
But how to make sure that you will start doing your goals? Make it as easy as possible.
Here are some easy-to-start habits by doing the 2-Minute Rule:
- Reading a book- Just read one page of a book until you’ll find yourself reading more than a chapter.
- Becoming a writer- Start writing a paragraph until your thoughts are flowing as you will be surprised that you are writing for almost an hour.
- Eating healthier food- Eat at least one piece of fruit until you love to eat some salad for your meal.
- Exercise daily- Tie your running shoes and you will find yourself running for more than a mile.
Building a new habit is easy to map out but difficult to start and to be consistent in doing it. With this rule, you will be able to do the right thing and urges you to do more once you’ve started it.
Little do you know that this strategy is very powerful. Keep in mind that new habits will never be adopted when they are not well-established. The 2-Minute Rule allows you to master the habit of showing up. Once you are used to it, you will be able to master the skill of doing your habits.
James Clear highlighted that it is important to standardize in order to optimize. He explained that it is more essential to do easy things on a more consistent basis than focusing on how to make a perfect habit from the start. You can never improve your habit when you are having a hard time making it possible.
“Strategies like this work for another reason too: they reinforce the identity you want to build. If you show up at the gym five days in a row—even if it’s just for two minutes—you are casting votes for your new identity. You’re not worried about getting in shape. You’re focused on becoming the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts. You’re taking the smallest action that confirms the type of person you want to be,” James Clear stated.
