The two-minute rule
If a task takes less than two minutes, do it now. The single highest-leverage productivity rule for ADHD brains.
Run a 30-day cycle with the two-minute rule.
The Cycle Planner walks you through six steps and gives you a clean plan to start from. We'll prefill the habit, the suggested length, and a starter exit condition.
Plan a cycle with this habit
David Allen’s rule, slightly adapted. If a task takes less than two minutes, you do it now rather than capturing it for later. The reason it works disproportionately well for ADHD brains: the cost of capturing-and-tracking a tiny task is often higher than the cost of doing it.
What it looks like
A new task lands. Reply to a text. File a receipt. Add something to the shopping list. Take the bins out. Hang up a coat. If it takes less than two minutes, do it before doing anything else.
If it takes longer, capture it normally. The rule isn’t about doing everything immediately; it’s about cutting out the middle category of tasks that are too small to capture but too persistent to ignore.
Why it works
ADHD brains accumulate small unfinished tasks at a higher rate than neurotypical brains, and each one costs ambient attention until it’s done. A pile of twenty sub-two-minute tasks is forty minutes of work and an entire afternoon of background drag. Doing each one as it lands clears the drag without ever creating the pile.
The compounding effect is on the inbox-equivalent of life. People who run this rule for thirty days reliably report that the kitchen counter looks different. The hallway looks different. The mind feels less besieged by small things.
Common pitfalls
The first pitfall is letting the threshold creep. Two minutes means two minutes. “Five minutes” makes the rule unworkable because too many real tasks fit. Hold the line.
The second is using it during deep work. The rule applies in the meeting-and-email rhythm, not during a deep-work block. Deep work is exempt.
The third is treating it as the whole productivity system. The two-minute rule is one piece. Bigger tasks still need a capture system and a planning slot.
A 30-day cycle suggestion
Thirty days. Success criteria: a noticeable reduction in the count of “I’ll do that later” thoughts about small tasks.
Exit condition: when the rule runs without decision. Sub-two-minute tasks get done as they land, and the mental backlog of small things has visibly thinned.