⏱ The 5-Minute Method
Sunday Scoop #26 -To escape the unproductive rut I found myself in at the start of last week, I experimented with the 5-minute method, which did a 180 for my week.
Hey friends,
After submitting my US apps last week, I gave myself a few 'Reitoff Days' - days that I actively decide is going to be a write-off and enjoy myself free of guilt - just to celebrate.
Little did I know, I soon found myself in an endless loop of Netflix ➡ Instagram ➡ YouTube ➡ Twitter ➡ Netflix.
👇 It ended up looking a little like this.
I was averaging 8.5 hours of daily screen time - and that wasn’t including my iPad’s screen time.
At the end of everyday, I promised myself tomorrow was a fresh start and I would overcome the inertia to get some form of work done. Even with the start of classes and test dates being set, I simply couldn’t escape the slump I fell into.
As I whined about my waste-mannery, I referred back to my 2-Minute Method newsletter issue I sent out a couple months back. As I was reading, I was reminded of the 5-Minute Method.
The 5-Minute Method
Here is how the 5-Minute Method works:
If I'm procrastinating from something I should be doing, I tell myself that I'm just going to do it for 5 minutes. No more, no less. Just 5 minutes.
At least for me, this method works well for almost any task that comes my way.
However, it works absolute wonders for tasks that take more than 5 minutes.
For instance, the e-commerce website I helped my friend launch this week.
The mainframe and general design of the website was done months ago during the initial pandemic lockdown. However, as my friend held off on the website launch for a period of time, many of the products in the website database was outdated.
I promised to help him update the products and get the website ready for the launch. However, I hadn't logged into the website editor for almost half a year by that point and was dreading the work awaiting me.
That was when I actively decided to experiment with this 5-Minute Method and 'forced' myself to do the work for just 5 minutes. I told myself that if I wasn't feeling up to it by the 6th minute, I could stop doing the work and continue my doom-scrolling.
Of course, the brain-hack worked!
Once I've got going for 5 minutes, I didn't want to stop, especially since I started to re-familiarize myself with the website elements and warmed up to the design. I was making progress - and that's always a great dopamine releaser!
This works with just about anything. Be flexible about it.
Not feeling up for the gym? Lace up your shoes anyway. Put on your headphones anyway. Tell yourself to get 2 sets in. If you’re still not feeling it by the 3rd, promise yourself you can go home.
Don't feel like getting to that assigned Economics Essay? Create the document anyway. Open the reference material anyway. Tell yourself to write the Introduction paragraph. If you’re still not feeling like you’ll write the Body paragraph, promise yourself you can get to it some other day.
Chances are, you’ll get the job done.
With that said, I hope that this fun little productivity hack that I find very amusing and am hence sharing with you today adds value to your life in some shape, way, or form. Especially since classes are starting after a month-long break.
Have a great week ahead and see you in the next issue of Sunday Scoop!
Jia Shing.
Links
Due to the sheer amount of time I spent on Instagram this week, all the links this week will be in one way or another related to content I came across on Instagram.
✍ Poem - This short piece by Morgan (MHN) on unity. (Shared to me by my sister)
For unity to happen,
we have to acknowledge the ingredients
that have worked
and the ones that have been missing.
In the kitchen,
there are no "two sides of the aisle”
There is a pot in front of us.
And it's time to cook.
Some of what we will try will work.
Some of what we will try will not.
But the water is already boiling on the stove,
and we need to eat
Let's get to work.✍ Poem - This is longer piece by Morgan (MHN) on the same topic. (Shared to me by my sister)
💬 Quote - This came up in a conversation with one of my friends. I told him that I heard BTC was crashing soon. He asked me how did I came across that information, to which I replied 'everyone in the market is saying the same thing'. This was his response.
When everyone is thinking the same way, someone is not thinking.
Sounds simple enough, but it was quite an 'aha' moment for me and I thought someone out there could use this reminder, as I did.
💬 Quote - From one of my all-time-favorite Instagram Stoic Page - @dailystoic. They’re closing in 1M followers, join the stoics!
Challenge
Mindfully hack your brain this coming week, as I have.
If you have another method that works differently from anything I’ve put out so far, feel free to fire an email my way! I would love to learn from you.
Tweet of The Week
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