Reporter Ravi Meah tests the 'five-second rule' by Mel Robbins, a technique for overcoming procrastination by counting down from five before taking action.
Ever wondered if just five seconds could change your entire life? What would you do? Would you wave goodbye to the monotonous 9-to-5 and embrace an exciting new career path? Perhaps take that dream holiday without stressing over the bank balance? Or simply become that early bird who catches the worm with gusto each morning? Reporter Ravi Meah decided to put such a tantalising thought to the test by embracing the ' five second rule ' for the past fortnight.
This clever trick, courtesy of motivational speaker Mel Robbins, advocates counting down from five when the impulse to act strikes. The trick helps bypass the brain's instinct to hesitate, avoiding procrastination and overthinking about taking on tasks. For example, struggling to tidy up a disastrously untidy room? Just countdown 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and get stuck in. Got a fast-approaching deadline and finding it hard to start? Same procedure, hit the numbers and throw yourself into it. And for those who can't resist hitting the snooze button, try counting from five at the sound of the alarm and jump out of bed immediately. With this approach, Ravi dived headfirst into the challenge. Let’s uncover how his two-week trial went during Week 1. On Thursday night, January 23, he took on a new challenge. Sharing his experience, he said: 'I set my alarm for a bright and early 7am wake-up call the next day. My morning ritual was pretty standard: wake up, spend a few minutes scrolling through my phone, get out of bed to brush my teeth, engage in a brief morning prayer (spoiler alert: I'm Muslim), enjoy breakfast, feed my beloved cat, and then dive into work.' 'The first morning was quite the eye-opener. The moment my alarm buzzed, I did a mental countdown - 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - and leapt out of bed.' 'A quick one-minute scroll on my phone and I was ready to tackle the day. It felt surprisingly good; those extra minutes I'd usually laze away were now put to better use.' As the challenge progressed to day two, things ramped up. Interestingly, the second day was a Saturday - when Ravi would normally indulge in a lie-in until at least 10am. He stuck with his new routine, although this time it was his cat Timmy's purring and meowing that woke him, keen for breakfast. Ravi mentioned: 'The temptation to snuggle back under the covers crept up on me, but once again I counted down - 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - and got up, fed Timmy, and to my surprise, completed my morning routine. And all this at 7am on a non-workday Saturday.' Finding himself with ample time, he decided to take a morning walk. 'Despite the chilly weather, the adrenaline from my countdown from five to one kept me going. I felt rejuvenated. This five-to-one business wasn't as dreadful as I'd anticipated.' Sunday was more of the same, according to Ravi, except after feeding his pet Timmy he enjoyed a few additional hours of slumber. Sharing his experience, he said: 'The weekdays followed a similar pattern. Each morning, my alarm would ring at 7am (except for Thursday, January 30, when I woke up at 6am to be in the office by 9am); I counted down from five to one; I got out of bed and went about my routines.' 'I must admit, I became more efficient at completing my tasks instead of dawdling. Commuting to work became easier as I consistently caught my train on time. I managed to squeeze more work into my day. Things were looking up. Or so it seemed.' Week two saw Ravi experience a hiccup. Delving into the details, he revealed: 'Upon returning home on the evening of January 30, I slumped in my chair in my room. It was 7pm. I was knocked out for a few minutes. Apparently, my body needed a break, and the early wake-up call after the five-to-one countdown had taken its toll.' 'I was exhausted. But I still managed to wake up, have dinner, watch a game, write a story, and hit the sack early at 10pm.' 'After having the best night's sleep in a long time, I woke up feeling refreshed the next morning.' To challenge himself further, he even cut down the sugar in his coffee from two spoons to just one spoon, noticing a substantial difference. He explained: 'I found myself applying this countdown method to various aspects of my life, from completing numerous tasks at work to carrying out household chores. For example, on Sunday, February 2, I used the countdown technique to motivate myself to do the family shopping, preventing my brain from talking me out of it.' 'The result was a sense of achievement for not postponing the task to another day, proving to be an effective way to combat procrastination.' 'The concluding days of my experiment were more seamless than the preceding week. I noticed that I stopped mindlessly scrolling through my phone first thing in the morning and instead jumped straight into my daily routine.' 'My focus at work improved, my time management skills enhanced, and I was able to feed Timmy punctually without feeling sleep
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