The “Two Minute Rule” goes something like this:

If it can be done in less than two minutes, do it now.

declutter

It’s found in many books on organization, including my favorite Getting Things Done. For some people, if that’s the only item they take away from these books, it’s well worth it.

The theory is that the time and mental energy you spend ‘managing’ the action item is wasteful. It costs so little to accomplish the task, just do it now.

I haven’t seen this directly applied to decluttering, but I think it’s directly applicable. If you’re holding something in your hand that truly belongs filed in another room, hung up, garbaged, recycled, put back in the toolbox, or put in the donation box, don’t just toss it in the room you are in. Take a few extra moments and walk it to where it belongs.

The best bonus is if you’re holding something you have a tendency to lose or misplace - keys, glasses, cell phone (on vibrate of course). By taking a few moments to move it to the ‘right’ place you not only minimize clutter in the wrong place, but you make it easier to find the item where you expect it to be.

If someone can provide an ‘original’ citation for this old concept, I’d be happy to update this entry.