I hate the 5 minute rule but not for the reasons you think. As a teacher, it keeps me accountable. If I’m running late for class, I know full well that there’s some bold little punk-ass know-it-all in there who will surely invoke this mythical entitlement to all students and then I’m called out for being late…which I shouldn’t be–because teaching is my job. I’m not sure why I was thinking about this the other day (I swear, I haven’t been late but for 1 or 2 classes this semester) when I realized that if I flipped the logic, this could work for me and my lack of my own accountability.
Thus the 30 Minute Rule was born in my academic life. This is the deal I’ve made with myself: Everyday, I have to work on something school related for at least 30 minutes. There’s no expectation to do more. However, I know myself well enough to know that once I’m engrossed in something (which usually takes only about 10 minutes), it might as well be 4 hours and usually is. So this is my challenge: sit down at the computer. Do not touch Facebook. Do not check e-mail. And for 30 minutes look at Sociology. I did this a couple times last week and actually became bizarrely proactive. Uncomfortably proactive. And productive.
Of course the 30 minutes usually starts at 12:30 am but that’s okay. Baby steps. Baby steps.
My Tent on the Beach 