You just need to follow this one rule…

There is no downside to being the most productive person you could ever be.

At least I don't know anyone who’s ever said something like:

“Oh I’m so tired of doing everything I said I was going to do…

“I’m done making so much progress in my life…

“Why am I so damn effective with my time? I have a lot of free time now… Not cool!

I bet you thought to yourself how ridiculous the statements above are.

Yet you can't do what you said you were going to do, huh?

Procrastination is the enemy and your mind is lazy… for now.

There is one simple rule that will get you started on doing ANYTHING you set your mind to.

Doing your taxes, writing, studying, quite literally any activity you have to do, but don't feel like it can be solved by this one rule.

Alright, enough suspense…

I’m talking about the 5 Minutes Rule

You may have heard it before and if you did, take it as a sign that you need to use it to your advantage.

If you haven't heard of the 5-minute rule before, allow me to explain why it is so simple and effective.

The 5-minute rule is to be used whenever you find yourself procrastinating, so you say to yourself as a way of bargaining with your brain:

“Just 5 minutes, that's all…”

Then you proceed to set a timer of merely 5 minutes and give your absolute, complete, and utter focus to the task at hand.

That is all, you're welcome.

“But Mark, how the hell am I going to get anything done in just 5 minutes?!”

That's the magic part, my friend. Different from your lack of sexual competence (I’m just joking… kinda) it's never only 5 minutes.

The thing about 5 minutes is that it is such a ridiculous little amount of time that even your mind can’t refuse. It thinks they have the upper hand when in reality, you just tricked your brain into doing what you had to.

Now that you were starting to gain momentum from the task because it was only 5 minutes and therefore your focus and attention span could sustain that time, you just did the hardest thing, you slayed the dragon.

You got started. And now that you do ‘feel like’ doing it, it’s time’s up and you finished the 5 minutes you said you were going for.

Then your brain will think something along the lines of:

“Well, since we’re already here and it isn't as bad as I thought, we might as well work/study/whatever for another 5 minutes. Then 5 more, and 5 more, and…

You just procrastinated the procrastination.

You cheated the system.

You broke out of the matrix.

Conclusion

You can try every other method there is out there, you can give in to the temptation of doing nothing and then receive the bill of regret later…

Or…

You simply say:

“Just 5 more minutes…”