The Annual General Meeting started and the General Manager stood up and said: “If there’s one thing I won’t stand for, it’s procrastination!  All that this organisation ever does is procrastinate, procrastinate, procrastinate!”

An eager staff member stood up, and asked, “What do you propose we DO about it Sir?”

“Well, for a start,” said the General Manager, “I suggest that we take a long and serious look at this problem when we meet for our next Annual General Meeting!”

We all may know a quintessential ‘PUT IT OFF’ person. Who seem to live by the mantra ‘After all is said and done, more is said than done’! A colleague I know describes them as “A lot of Talky Talky and not much Doey Doey”.

The desire to reschedule is ubiquitous. It gives people the feeling the task has been attended to. However, the end result is burgeoning inboxes and escalating ‘to do lists’.

Over the years I have coached 100’s of leaders and the following simple rule has helped many crush procrastination and making them far more productive.

Processing time

In the science of personal productivity is the notion of ‘Processing time’. This is the moment when you are taking control of your week and tasks to be done. It is the reviewing emails, monitoring projects, constructing your actions and to do list.

However, there is a very powerful key that needs to be adhered to during your “processing time”. The Maxim is as follows

If Scheduling = Application, then Action straight away.

The rule of thumb in this regards is ‘2 to 3’. That is to say if you can determine an action can be done in two to three minutes. Do it straight away. The reason being it will take you longer to schedule it, then to just do it. Let me illustrate. Imagine you have an email that can be responded to quickly. Two scenarios follow

Scenario ‘A’: Traditional Time Management

1. Read the Email
2. Mental process what needs to be done
3. Determine a time when to schedule the activity
4. Ensure the time slot will not conflict with other tasks
5. Lock it in the schedule
6. Then when the activity needs to be done you must then
7. Repeat step 1: Familiarise yourself with the activity
8. Remind yourself what must be done
9. Action and complete the activity

Scenario ‘B’: 2to3 Productivity Rule

1. Read the Email
2. Mentally process what needs to be done
3. Decide that it is less than 2 to 3 min to action?
4. Action and Complete the activity

In essence, in process Scenario ‘A’ is twice the length as it needs to be. Nine steps as opposed to four. Time wasted getting back up to speed on a task that could have been achieved instantly.

It’s surprising how many things we put off that we could get done in a second. For example,

• Putting a cup in the dishwasher instead of on the bench,
• Making a phone call,
• Agreeing to a meeting,
• Taking the rubbish out,
• Cleaning up clutter,
• Filing a piece of paper
• Emptying the dishwasher,
• Sending that email, and so on.

If a task takes less than 2to3 minutes to complete, then follow the rule and do it right now.

Benefits of the ‘2 to 3 Rule’

1. Save time: The process in Scenario ‘A’ is twice the length as it needs to be. Never mind the knowledge that you have this collection of little tasks to complete weighing on your mind.
2. Sense of achievement: who does not like writing tasks on their ‘to do list’ JUST SO YOU CAN CROSS THEM OUT. The 2 to 3 Rule provides immediate sense of achievement as you knock off some of your ‘to do’s’ which then builds motivation.
3. Goal Initiation: 2to3 can be applied to kick starting Goals. Can all of your goals be accomplished in less than two minutes? Obviously not. But, every goal can be started in 2 minutes or less. It might sound like this strategy is too basic for your grand life goals, but I beg to differ. Many people we coach includes a step in the process called “Identification of first action”. It works for any goal because of one simple reason we like to finish what we start. (More on this in a future article).

Leadership Application

Considering this blog is for leaders, let’s use this insight straight away. What’s something you can do that will take you less than 2to3 minutes? Do it right now. We can all spare the next 120 seconds. Use this time to get one thing done. Go.

Just for Laughs

A shopkeeper was dismayed when a brand new business much like his own opened up next door and erected a huge sign which read “BEST DEALS”

He was horrified when another competitor opened up on his right, and announced its arrival with an even larger sign, reading LOWEST PRICES.

The shopkeeper was panicked and did not know what to do. Then he came up with an idea. He put a big sign right over his own shop door. In big bold letters, his sign read “MAIN ENTRANCE”.

By Aiden Holliday

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