How To Increase Productivity And Stop Procrastination | The 5 Minute Rule
Channel: Practical Inspiration - Personal Growth & Success
Date: 2022-03-22

How To Increase Productivity And Stop Procrastination | The 5 Minute Rule
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In this video we look at how to be more productive using the method called The 5 Minute Rule and beat procrastination. This is fundamenal in your  Personal Growth and Personal Development, which with these tips you can use self help to improve various facets of your life with improvements in creativity, health, wellness and lifestyle design. So learn how to stop procrastinating and perhaps even how to cure procrastination!

Procrastination is often the biggest factor holding back the average person from achieving their goal and it is extremely easy to fall into the trap of procrastination and fail to do the things that could change your life for the better!

Why Do We Procrastinate?
For most people procrastination stems from the fact that our natural response in life is to do what is safe or easy and this idea is explored in the best selling book, Switch: How To Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath, where it is explained that our brain operates with two systems, the emotional side and the rational side.

Whereas the rational side often recognises what is best for us, the emotional side can be powerful and therefore override the rational side when you make decisions.

The problem is our rational side recognises that not dealing with the task at hand now can lead us to further problems later down the line, for example I know if I don't do the tasks I've set out for myself, work will pile up or I'll feel depressed at my lack of productivity, sometimes even both!

However, the emotional side can often be overpowering in making the choice to take action, meaning I choose not to take action even though I know full well it is best thing to do.

5 Minute Rule
The rule is a simple idea, based on principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, as we program ourselves to take small action to help us overcome the biggest hurdle...getting started!

You see, the rule is to simply schedule yourself a 5 minute time limit to take action on a particular task. For the average person, that is easily manageable. You see getting started is the biggest challenge, and often once you're started, you keep going! This comes from the principle that just as our brain is a pain when it comes to creating barriers to productivity, it is equally powerful in keeping it going once we start.

That is because through progress we tend to see the release of dopamine, giving us positive sensations that help us keep going to get the same feeling again. This means in most instances, we might put in 5 minutes to do a task, but we're happy to keep going even after the timer stops!

How To Apply It
The first thing you must absolutely do is have a clear and specific task to do during the 5 minutes. However, it's not just setting yourself a specific task, but have a measurable outcome you are working to achieve in that time. Here is where the magic occurs, because now when you complete your target in the 5 minutes and can see tangible results and progress in your work, the dopaminergic effect discussed earlier kicks in and you will feel a renewed motivation to move onto the next 5 minutes and the next target. 

Here is where you get onto step 3 of the process, which is to build on this momentum. You have done the hard part at this point by getting started and you are starting to see wins, so now you want to maintain the momentum and keep going. 

The truth is the 5 minute rule is simple, but valuable in helping you tackle something challenging that you may not otherwise have the motivation to do.

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