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A.J. Jacobs beat a weeks-long writing block with a two-minute timer [1]

['Ellsworth Toohey']

Date: 2026-04-10  

A.J. Jacobs has a revision of the old thousand-mile proverb. The journey doesn't start with a step — it starts, he writes, with "putting on your left sock."

When it comes to outwitting procrastination, I try to make that first action as easy as possible. I try to make that barrier to entry the smallest, smoothest, hint of a bump. Once you go over that bump, your perspective shifts. You've got some momentum. It's much easier to continue. In fact, I use the literal 'putting on the sock' microgoal when I'm trying to get myself to go on the treadmill every day. Once I've put on my socks and sneakers, I move onto the next microgoal: I'm going to step onto the treadmill. I don't promise myself that I'll start walking, much less running. I just need to step onto the rubber mat. Once I'm on the treadmill, I say to myself, "Fine, I'll just go for two minutes." And after two minutes, the momentum often carries me to stay on the treadmill.

The sock is Jacobs' way of explaining a technique from Eric Zimmer's new book, How a Little Becomes a Lot: The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life. Zimmer hosts "The One You Feed," a well-known podcast, and believes that procrastination dissolves when you shrink the commitment to something laughably small: two minutes, one micro-goal — not the project, just the smallest possible first move. When the two minutes are up, you're officially allowed to quit. (Momentum usually carries you forward anyway.)

Jacobs, the self-experimenting author who once read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica and spent a year following every rule in the Bible, tested the technique in his Substack in the most recursive way possible: he used it to write the essay about procrastination he'd been procrastinating on.

Zimmer's argument is backed by behavioral economists like Cass Sunstein (Nudge), who say that willpower is a losing bet — it's better to redesign your environment. Move tempting snacks to the top shelf. The two-minute timer is the same principle applied to time: make the first increment so small it's hard to argue with.

Previously:

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2026/04/10/a-j-jacobs-beat-a-weeks-long-writing-block-with-a-two-minute-timer.html

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