Your 2 Minutes Begins Now

I just deleted 259 words of the column I was writing for this week.

I wanted to tell that story but not enough to give satisfaction to the person who emailed me and said I bored him.

In preparation for this, I timed myself reading one of my recent columns aloud to see how long it took. My plan was to suggest other ways one could spend this 120 seconds each week.

It took me a little more than 2 minutes.

Here are a few ideas I ran across from the multiple websites that address things we can do in 2 minutes.

• Walk about 550 feet. The average person walks about 3 mph. I’m trusting the math.

• Do 10 jumping jacks. I was going to confirm this but decided against it. However, I believe someone could do a lot more than 10 in 2 minutes.

• Save a contact in your phone. That’s a good one. I forget to do that all the time.

• Write in a journal. Apparently, journaling has all kind of mental health benefits. I’ve never tried it. I don’t think I would stick to it. I guess the guy I bored thinks this is my journal.

• Delete junk emails. My spin on this is to spend 2 minutes unsubscribing from the lists you have yet to open the first email from.

• Listen to the intro, first verse, chorus and second verse of “Living on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi. I made that one up myself.

In the course of doing this groundbreaking research, I stumbled on a flurry of websites that talked about using the 2-minute rule to stop procrastinating.

Apparently, this idea is a whole thing.

The concept is simple. It’s easier to do projects that have been put off if we do them in little chunks.

For instance, instead of doing 30 minutes of yoga, just make your first goal getting out your yoga mat.

Or, make your goal merely tying your running shoes instead of going for a run. I would spend my 2 minutes wondering where my running shoes were.

One website said instead of folding the entire load of laundry, just fold one pair of socks.

Just write one sentence.

Just eat one piece of fruit.

Just read one page.

I don’t know about this whole concept. Why would I go to the trouble of putting on my running shoes if I’m not planning to run? Maybe the logic is saying, well, I’ve got my shoes on, I might as well run.

Or, I’m standing here by the dryer, I might as well finish the load.

It’s like we’re trying to trick ourselves. 

While I’m doing it, I could tell myself a joke I’ve never heard.

One site said to use 2 minutes and plant a tree.

I don’t know about you all, but I don’t normally have a tree just sitting around waiting to be planted.

It would take me 2 minutes to go to the garage, get out the shovel, turn on the hose and go to the place where I am planting it (which would’ve taken 2 weeks to decide on).

We haven’t even started digging yet, and my 2 minutes are already over.

And so are yours.