There is an unusual rule in the UK Parliament Ten Minute Rule Bills / UK Parliament to introduce a draft law, which is also called a bill, there is a 10—minute rule. That's how much time a deputy has to propose his idea. After that, the House of Commons decides whether to adopt the bill for discussion or not, and it either passes the first reading or is eliminated.
Such a short period of time as 10 minutes can also be used to improve your own productivity. But first we need to figure out why we generally tend to postpone things for later.
From a scientific point of view, procrastination is a kind of battle The Science Behind Procrastination / UPMC Health Beat between our limbic system and the prefrontal cortex.
The limbic system is responsible for the instinctive "hit or run" reaction characteristic of our ancestors. From the point of view of productivity, it is expressed in the desire to succumb to emotions and temptations. This is the voice that says: "Come on, you'll do everything tomorrow, let's watch the show instead." The prefrontal cortex, on the contrary, helps us set goals and plan behavior.
However, it is often the limbic system that turns out to be the winner, which encourages us to procrastinate and choose momentary pleasure. The 10-minute rule will help fix this.
His main goal is to deceive the limbic system by persuading himself to start working on the task. To do this, you need to focus not on the result, but on dedication, avoid excessive planning and thinking.
No need to tell yourself that you will read an entire chapter of the book — say that you will read for exactly 10 minutes. Don't convince yourself to run a kilometer, decide to just run for 10 minutes.
This method works like a clock for one simple reason — as soon as you start doing something, you will most likely forget about the time. When we don't want to do something, we imagine that the task is much more difficult than it actually is. But as soon as we take it up, we realize that it will take much less time and effort. This reduces the level of anxiety and anxiety.
It's easy to persuade yourself: "I will do this task for exactly 10 minutes, and then I will decide whether I want to continue or not." You'll see: as soon as you start, you will hardly want to stop.
The value of the 10-minute rule is to hone the habit of starting to act. This method does not promise quick victories, but starts a chain reaction of success, which begins with the fact that we just get down to business.
There are three main reasons why this approach is so effective:
If 10 minutes seems like too much time, experiment and start with two or five minutes of action. After all, even if you want to quit a task, a few minutes of work is always better than nothing.
