yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

How to Stop Procrastination Right Now | The 3-2-1 Rule


2m read
·Nov 8, 2024

Hey, it's Joey and welcome to Better Ideas. I was just sitting in my apartment and realized that I really needed to do my laundry. I've been putting it off for like the past two days or so. You know, I'm a busy guy, and every time I thought about doing my laundry, I was like...

Anyways, thankfully, I remember this awesome trick that always helps me snap into the procrastination funk and just gets me to do the thing that I'm avoiding. It's actually one of the simplest tricks in the book, and it's called the three to one rule.

All you do is this: "Damn, I should really do the laundry. Three, two, one, do it!" You just count from 3 to 1 and then you do the thing that you're avoiding. It sounds stupidly simple, and before you go and dislike the video or write it off as BS, give it a try.

It's a lot more powerful than you think it is, and there's a reason for that. It's because counting out loud doesn't seem so hard, but it acts as a bridge between the thought of doing something and actually doing it. Counting is a lot easier than doing, so you're way less likely to procrastinate counting.

But once you start counting, you're already taking a step in the right direction of doing the thing. So you've gained momentum, and that momentum will carry you towards doing the thing. It really doesn't sound that hard or that profound, but it's super powerful.

The next time you're procrastinating doing something, just think in your head: "3, 2, 1." I guarantee you'll do it! This trick can work for anything, even subscribing to this channel. I still haven't subscribed... three, two, one!

More Articles

View All
Be Like Sal: 3 Ways a Tablet Can Energize Your Digital Teaching!
Thank you so much for joining today or this evening, depending on where you’re calling from. This is Jeremy Schieffen at Khan Academy, and I’m so excited they’re joining with us because if anything at Khan Academy, 2020 has been the year of the tablet. We…
Khan Academy Ed Talks with Chase Nordengren, PhD
Hello and welcome to Ed Talks with Khan Academy, where we talk to interesting and important people in the education space. I’m Kristen Deservo, the Chief Learning Officer here at Khan Academy, and looking forward to a conversation today with Dr. Chase Nor…
Our Drive to Boldly Go | Origins: The Journey of Humankind
Our thirst for exploration has transformed our species from nomads into astronauts, spurring new innovations, opening up the globe, and clearing the path to new and distant worlds. We explore, not just to reach new lands but for the journey itself. It is …
Taoism: The Philosophy of Flow
Your alarm rings, waking you up from an unrestful sleep. You stretch across the bed and tap your phone to silence the disturbing noise. You’re tempted to pick it up and see what’s going on in the world, but you try really hard to stay away from it. Remind…
Charlie Munger on Why Most Investors Can’t Outperform the Market
And by the way, my definition of being properly educated is being right when the professor is wrong. Anybody can spit back what the professor tells you. The trick is to know when he’s right and when he’s wrong. That’s the properly educated person. In the…
Misconceptions About Heat
Today I’m going to bake this chocolate cake. Now those of you who know me know that the only reason I would do this is to prove a point. Earlier I was asking people to compare the temperatures of these two objects: a science book written by Isaac Asimov a…