In the past, I've had an extremely unhealthy relationship with procrastination. Tasks that would take a fraction of my time, seemed practically never-ending.

Whether it was an errand as simple as doing the dishes or preparing for an exam that was a week away. Regardless of what it was, the majority of them would be met with the same excuse - "I'll do it tomorrow".

After multiple hours of research through books, youtube videos, and online blogs, the main principle that helped me tackle tasks head-on was 'The 5 minute Rule'. It is extremely simple and easy to apply. Here's how you can apply it.

“If you don’t want to do something, make a deal with yourself to do at least five minutes of it. After five minutes, you’ll end up doing the whole thing.”

Let's say John is preparing an essay for school, but he's been putting it off for an unhealthy amount of time. With the deadline rapidly approaching, John has nothing on the paper.

The main reason that we put things off is due to a combination of fear and uncertainty. It is well known that starting something is usually the hardest part of the task.

In order to combat this, John would need to set a simple timer of just 5 minutes. The benefit? It's only 5 minutes of his time! The real benefit? He might end up spending 30-minutes or even a few hours on his essay!

"Once you get started, it's usually hard to stop"

The state of flow is what we aim to harness with this principle. The flow state is when you're fully immersed in your task and the process of completing it provides fulfillment and satisfaction.

Apply the 5-minute rule, get into your flow state, and watch your pending tasks finally get checked off your to-do list.