Hit the snooze bar just one more time. That email reply can wait. Don’t answer that phone. You can apply for that dream job or start researching your dream business… later.
Why put off today what you can put off tomorrow, amiright?
Or, decide to just start that thing you’re putting off in the next five seconds.
Just, before you reach zero, do the thing, see what happens.
Go ahead.
Five, four, three, two…
That’s the basic concept behind Mel Robbin’s 5 Seconds Rule.
Here’s the premise, in over 5 seconds
The 5-Second Rule is based on the straightforward idea that the moment you have an instinct to act on a goal, you must actively move towards it within 5 seconds, or your brain will kill the idea.
That’s it. That’s the entire premise.
It’s about harnessing the power of your instincts and forcing yourself to act before your mind concocts a thousand reasons not to.
Think of it as a mental push-up. Quick, effective, and sometimes a bit uncomfortable.
Mel Robbins, a lawyer turned speaker, as her story goes, was supposedly in a rut. Like all too many gurus, she insists she was hitting rock bottom.
Jobless, in debt, and with a marriage on the rocks, conveniently, she saw a NASA rocket launch on TV, and, supposedly, a light bulb went off.
The next morning, she allegedly started counting down in her head and forced herself to get out of bed, taking notice of something connecting willpower and getting up.
I’m using “supposedly” a lot because, like all too many who pass themselves off as gurus with rags-to-riches stories, they don’t pass the sniff test, Mel’s is no different.
While the hook is, as all gurus’ carefully crafted stories are, a bit too precocious, too pat to believe, but there is some merit that for some people just doing it, overriding inertia, just might work.
However, depending on the type of neurodivergence a person might have, it doesn’t apply to people who need to address their why of doing things.
The Theory Behind the 5 Second Rule
The reason we procrastinate is often self-preservation. As in, the reason we don’t want to do ‘the thing’ is because that thing is probably giving you discomfort, if it wasn’t, you’d hop up to do ‘the thing.’
Whatever ‘the thing’ is for which we’re applying the 5 Second Rule it’s obvious you don’t want to do it. It has more negative than positive emotions linked to it. Hey, we’ve all been there.
Our brains are wired to protect us from harm, including perceived pain from discomfort or risk. Go brains!
But this can hinder our productivity, and procrastination isn’t going to get us closer to our goals.
Also, let’s be frank, doesn’t it feel better to put off of things? To sometimes not do the things we don’t want to do?
Honestly, it feels awesome. Problem, it doesn’t make them get done.
Worse is doing all the things we enjoy doing while putting off the ones we don’t, just compounding the latter.
In some cases, those things get in the way of us achieving our dreams, goals, and things that, if we pursue a little discomfort now, may mean more enjoyment or doing the things we’d NOT have to count down to do in the future.
Another theory behind counting backward is that it might distract some people’s minds just briefly enough to interrupt the habit of overthinking, giving you a tiny window to take action before self-doubt kicks in.
Of course, if you’re overthinking, you may not even have time to count, but that’s another issue.
For those whom this might work, it’s a trick that brings awareness you should be doing the thing, and you’re not, causing enough pain to make for motivation more than the pleasure of not taking action.
The 5 Second Rule is NOT a New Idea
In all likelihood, to whatever degree Mel Robbin’s telling the truth about her backstory, this whole thing is based on much older, well-known concepts.
Eat That Frog
I’ve written an entire piece on Eat That Frog. The short version is that it’s a productivity method all about tackling your most important or challenging task first thing.
The idea is that getting this tough one out of the way makes the rest of your day easier, and you’re more likely to be productive.
The Two-Minute Rule
Based on David Allen and his Getting Things Done (GTD) framework, do it immediately if a task takes less than two minutes. Don’t hesitate to clear the smaller things you can do immediately, checking them off your to-do list.
Procrastination Awareness
It is a system where you train yourself to be aware when you’re procrastinating, naming why you’re procrastinating, and, upon addressing the underlying cause, you get clarity to help make decisions more urgently.
If you want a potential way to quickly tackle procrastination, read How to Fix Your Procrastination in 5 Minutes or Less.
Regardless of her back story, there is precedent, and it’s worth knowing these concepts to help overcome procrastination.
This said, depending if you’re neurodivergent or neurotypical, your mileage may vary.
How the 5-Second Rule Might Play Out
Exercise Motivation
Your alarm goes off at 6 AM. Instead of hitting snooze, you count down from five and throw off the covers.
Before reaching one, you’re already on your feet, reducing the likelihood of crawling back under the sheets.
Overcoming Social Anxiety
You’re at a networking event, clutching your drink, and see someone you’d like to talk to, but you feel your anxiety rising.
Start counting down and introduce yourself before you get to one.
Daunting To-Do Lists
Your to-do list stares you down, and you’re tempted to check social media instead.
Before lifting your phone, count down and, before one, start your first task on the list.
Change in 5 Seconds or Less
The truth is that the most important thing you can do for any task is to start.
Whether you want to count down from 5 seconds, 10 seconds, or even count one-one-thousand seconds, just get going.
A body in motion stays in motion. Likewise, a mind in motion stays in motion—core to all of this is the simple fact of overcoming inertia and getting in motion, doing the thing!
Your brain can be both your best friend and your worst enemy. It can create amazing things and derail your dreams.
Don’t let it. Find a system that gets you over that hump and into action.
If you try The 5 Second Rule and it doesn’t work or know, in your heart of hearts, that you have a LOT more going on underneath the surface to jump into tasks you’re resisting, I can help with that.
There are other productivity systems, but almost all of them are not one-size fits all. Potentially a customized system would work best for you.
I’m here to help. If you need clarity, to talk about productivity strategy, accountability, or a place to start, get on my calendar. Let’s talk.
5 Second Rule Worksheet
Want to download a handy dandy worksheet you can use as a prompt?
One where you can write out not only the task that you may be procrastinating about in advance, but get the underlying sense of what it may be about that task that’s holding you back.
Using this worksheet might not only help you do the thing you’re procrastinating about, but discover what may lay underneith.
By exposing why you hesitate from doing tasks can help inform you, helping you push past procrastination in the future.
Fill out the form below and I’ll send you the 5 Second Rule Worksheet for free.
If you run into any problems or want to discuss more robust productivity systems, get on my calendar.
Watch Mel Robbin’s 5 Second TED Talk
If you want to watch the Mel Robbin’s TED Talk that helped launch her book and her speaking career, I’ll post it below.
Note, she doesn’t really get to the whole 5 Second Rule until near the end, at 18:55. So if you want to skip ahead of her buildup and get to the meat of her talk, just go here.
Otherwise, you can watch the entire video below.
