📉 Introducing the five-second rule for making tough decisions

Getting back to work after Memorial Day, especially during a global pandemic, is not easy. But next time you’re struggling to complete a task, think about The 5-Second Rule from the lawyer and legal analyst Mel Robbins. 

It’s a simple countdown

Robbins recommends that every time you have an instinct that you need to do something to reach a goal -- whether it’s making a tough phone call or starting to write a difficult memo -- you should start counting backwards. 5-4-3-2-1. Once you reach 1, it’s time to act. 

The same advice applies for decision-making and choosing not to act in order to reach a goal.

“In those small 5 second moments,” Robbins writes, “this wisdom bubbles up inside of you.” 

It creates a moment

Rather than feeling like a mundane task, The 5-Second Rule turns the thing you’re dreading into an opportunity to seize the moment. And you should take the first initial action needed to complete the task when the countdown ends. Waiting longer disrupts the momentum.    

Why this advice is particularly good for lawyers

As Matthew Schmidt writes at Above The Law, five seconds is an ideal time to make a decision without weighing down your brain with too much information. And lawyers need to be quick when making decisions.