Beat inertia with just one five-minute commitment

You slump at your desk, teeth clenched, staring at a blank page titled “Q4 Marketing Plan.” Your brain screams, “Too overwhelming!” so you do nothing—again. That’s inertia: an invisible anchor that drags you toward busy-doing-nothing. Then you recall the five-minute rule. It sounds disarmingly simple: work for five minutes, then stop if you wish. You set a timer and force yourself to write a single heading.

At first, every second feels like an eternity, your mind wandering to lunch plans or email checks. But something curious happens at minute three: you’re still writing. By minute five, you’ve sketched three bullet points and you realise you might actually finish this plan today. The anchor is lifted, momentum is your new companion.

Psychologists describe this as reducing the psychological barrier to action—by capping the commitment so low it’s almost painless. That initial spark often ignites sustained work, because you’ve beaten the biggest hurdle: starting.

Give yourself permission to begin small. In those five minutes, you’re not committing to hours of drudgery—you’re simply declaring, “I’ll try.” And you’ll be amazed how often that makes all the difference.

Choose your hardest task, set a five-minute timer, and dive in immediately—no planning, no fuss. When your timer rings, you can stop or keep going if the momentum feels good. Either way, you’ve broken inertia’s grip and logged a win. It’s that simple—start small, and watch your motivation grow.