{"id":745,"date":"2008-12-04T22:42:10","date_gmt":"2008-12-05T06:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gtdtimes.com\/?p=745"},"modified":"2014-02-03T14:32:58","modified_gmt":"2014-02-03T22:32:58","slug":"being-neighborly-thanks-to-the-two-minute-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/12\/being-neighborly-thanks-to-the-two-minute-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"Being Neighborly, Thanks to The Two Minute Rule"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Community Contribution by Eric Hanberg<\/em><\/p>\n

When I started implementing GTD this summer, I thought the main benefit was going to be felt in my work life first and foremost, as GTD would help me juggle my pieced-together living as a freelance writer and web developer.<\/p>\n

GTD has certainly helped me professionally, but it has been my personal life\u2014the non-work, non-paying responsibilities I have\u2014where I\u2019ve seen the most dramatic changes thanks to GTD.<\/p>\n

Let me give you an example.<\/p>\n

I have lived in a condo in a small four-plex building in downtown Tacoma for the past five years. I\u2019ve served as the president of the condo association since moving in.\u00a0 This was an accident. At the very first meeting of the four owners I made the mistake of asking; \u201cWho\u2019s going to sign checks?\u201d Apparently everyone decided that the person who thinks of the question should be the one to do it, since I was immediately elected.<\/p>\n

But with such a small association, a better title for my high office might be Master Light-bulb Replacer – Or Chief Leak Investigator – Or even Director of Spider Removal. The sum total of the work required of the president probably totals no more than two hours of work a month. And yet I never did it. It was as if the less time it took, the more likely I was to put it off.<\/p>\n

Neighbors complained about dark staircases, or poor lawn care service, or the build-up of recycling in the garage. And I felt ashamed I hadn\u2019t been more proactive. I didn\u2019t deal with problems until the last minute, sometimes much later. I got in to the habit of ducking my neighbors and hated bumping in to them on the stairs.<\/p>\n

Managing Two Minutes at a Time<\/p>\n

The GTD system has turned this around, thanks almost exclusively to David Allen\u2019s Two Minute Rule. (For the uninitiated, the Two Minute Rule states that if a task can be done in less than two minutes, it\u2019s best just to get it done there on the spot.)<\/p>\n

It was amazing how many of my duties were only two minutes long. A neighbor says the gardeners are missing a patch of grass? Fire off a two-minute e-mail to the management company. I notice some windows have lost their seal in my unit? Fire off e-mails to the other owners to see if they are having the same problem. Standing water got me worried? Call the handyman and schedule a time for him to come out.<\/p>\n

Because of my shame at the lousy job I was doing, I used to mull over these tasks and endlessly put them off. Which, not surprisingly, made me feel worse about the lousy job I was doing.<\/p>\n

And now it\u2019s hard to even remember why I dreaded them so much. Most of them take just two minutes!<\/p>\n

Certainly, I can\u2019t credit the Two Minute Rule for everything here. The whole GTD suite of solutions has been helpful. But I\u2019ve come to realize that so many tasks I used to dread at work or at home are really just two minutes of my time once I commit to doing them.<\/p>\n

When I think of the worry and heartache I used to put myself through \u2026 I\u2019m relieved that it\u2019s all behind me.<\/p>\n

These days, I doubt I spend anywhere close to two hours a month on the condo association. So I\u2019ve cut the time I spend on the job, stuff is actually getting done, and I don\u2019t feel guilt or shame when I see a neighbor. In fact, I enjoy running in to them in the hallways and catching up.<\/p>\n

So, yes, good fences make good neighbors. But I\u2019ve learned good task management systems make for pretty good neighbors, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Community Contribution by Eric Hanberg When I started implementing GTD this summer, I thought the main benefit was going to be felt in my work life first and foremost, as GTD would help me juggle my pieced-together living as a freelance writer and web developer. GTD has certainly helped me professionally, but it has … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Being Neighborly, Thanks to The Two Minute Rule”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[22,26,29,246,403,423],"class_list":["post-745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-productivity-tips","tag-getting-things-done","tag-gtdtimescom","tag-gtd","tag-two-minute-rule","tag-erik-hanberg","tag-personal-life","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBeing Neighborly, Thanks to The Two Minute Rule<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Being Neighborly, Thanks to The Two Minute Rule\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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