Listen to this story read by Emma Gilman, here.
Procrastination. It's something I'm personally very familiar with.
Take this article as an example. It's taken me at least 15 minutes to write these two opening sentences - and for the sake of transparency, I'm already tempted to move away from my laptop and straight to my bed for a quick (read: long) nap.
In the past, I may have succumbed to that temptation filled with guilt and anxiety. But this week, I stumbled across a rule that promises to get you focused on a task in less than five seconds.
Watch: The habits of highly successful women. Post continues below.
It all came from a TED Talk by motivational speaker, Mel Robbins, titled: "How to stop screwing yourself over".
(You can check it out here, by the way.)
Among a few interesting ideas about setting and reaching goals, Robbins shared a concept about human impulses and the need to act quickly to achieve success.
"Your mind can process a facial expression in 33 milliseconds," she explained.
"The other thing that it does very quickly is if you have one of those little impulses that are pulling you, if you don't marry it with an action within five seconds, you pull the emergency brake and kill the idea.
"If you have the impulse to get up and go dance while the band is playing, if you don't stand up in five seconds, you're going to pull the emergency brake. If you were inspired by somebody's speech today, and you don't do something within five seconds - write a note, send yourself a text - anything physical to marry it with the idea, you will pull the emergency brake and kill the idea.
