The two day rule – Slumber friendly version.

Two day rule for lazy people

Here is the thing about routines. They rarely leave the confines of paper, mobile app or our imagination. We get our hopes fired up, resolutions jotted down but seldom did I find myself sticking to one more than the other. Eventually sliding down to my basic self.

But recently, rather surprisingly, I managed to make some habits stick long enough to tell the tale.

Let me break them down for you :

The two day rule – doze friendly version.

I learnt the original two day rule from one of my favourite you-tubers called Matt D’Avella. He is a filmmaker, and a thought leader on productivity and lifestyle design. So what the original rule says is that :

” Thou shall never miss any activity more than two days in row “

Which means that of the six days in a week you aren’t allowed to skip an activity for more than two days back to back. Now tie this up with some notoriously resistant habit, like working out. So according to this rule, you have to workout five days a week at least, and cannot skip workout two days in a row.

For eg. Moday, Tuesday and Wednesday you are all fired up and show up for your workout. By Thursday you already start to whine, party or decide not to be “too hard” on yourself. And voila, it is weekend soon enough and the week is over.

If this rule is to be followed, then you would be back in the gym on Saturday and Sunday and call it a week. It suffices even if you just show up. Need not be on your A game everyday, however, breaking the rule isn’t allowed for you health’s sake.

Imagine tying this to any other habit, like quitting smoking, dieting, writing, music rehearsal, dance practice.. literally anything.

But here is the catch.

1. You have to show up five days in a row.
2. Being “name sake” is allowed.

The first one is too much for a snoozer like me. And he second one is a bummer.

So here is what I figured :

” Thou shall workout three days in a row, take a break for a day, workout again for two days, then a day of break “

So I am not breaking the two day rule, because I did not take leave for more than two continuous days.  Also there are two clear advantages :

1. Three days of doing any activity is easier than five days.
2. A break in between charges you up for the next two days, so you are on your A game everyday.

And for the first time, I could see the needle move. Not only of the weighing scale, but also on the consistency scale. I was working out regularly, being proud of myself and (at times) rubbing it against my friend Kshitij. What fun.

Anyways, so that was a little hack that I figured out.

On a broader scale, I believe this also proves the age old saying ” Where there’s a will there’s a way ”

More importantly, it is not as difficult to upgrade our lifestyle and habits as we believe them to be. Even with the cacophony in our minds rising exponentially, it is still possible to find a little back alley and escape the muck.

Promise me you will try it and let me know how did it go.

Fair enough ? let me know over Instagram or drop a comment here. 

That’s it from me today.

I’ll see you in the next one.