The two-minute start

When something feels too big to begin, drop the goal of finishing and commit to two minutes. That's the whole technique. Set a timer, do the smallest possible version of the first step, and give yourself full permission to stop when it rings.

It works because starting is the expensive part. Your resistance is loudest before you begin and drops off fast once you're moving. Two minutes is small enough to slip under the dread. Nobody's afraid of two minutes.

How to run it

1. Pick the thing you've been avoiding.
2. Name a two-minute version of its first step. Open the document. Put on your shoes. Write one sentence. Read one page.
3. Set a timer for two minutes.
4. Do that, and only that. When the timer goes, you're free to stop with a clear conscience.

Most of the time you won't stop. Once the document is open and a sentence exists, continuing is easier than quitting. But the permission to stop isn't a trick you play on yourself. Mean it. If you stop at two minutes, you still win, because you've broken the streak of avoidance and the next start will be smaller.

When to reach for it

Use it for anything where the hardest part is beginning: the workout, the tax return, the message you keep rereading. It's less useful once you're already moving. This is a tool for the cold start, the moment at the trailhead when the whole climb is in view and you'd rather do anything else.

Do it enough and something shifts. You stop believing the story that you need to feel ready first. You learn that action comes first and motivation follows, and that two honest minutes is usually all it takes to get the engine turning.