The Two-Hour Rule: Making Better Decisions in 2025
I’ve always wanted New Year’s resolutions to work for me. But–sigh–they never really do.
And it turns out that I’m not alone. According to one study, only about 9% of those who make New Year’s resolutions feel they are successful in keeping them. This explains why gyms are packed in January and collecting dust by March.
So, who are the successful weirdos managing to stick with their resolutions? What is their secret?
The same study also reported that those who were successful in keeping their New Year’s resolutions weren’t doing anything revolutionary—these folks had simply achieved what we’re all after: intrinsic motivation.
Yep—lifting weights, running miles, eating well, and reading books can actually become (gasps) enjoyable. Doing it for the joy of doing it.
Good for them. How about for the rest of us?
Sure, part of the goal of these new habits is to eventually achieve intrinsic motivation—I mean, who wouldn’t love to love to lift weights? But most of us let go of the reins and fall off the horse because we don’t hold on long enough to see results or for that delicious intrinsic motivation to kick in.
But what if we didn’t have to wait months, weeks, or even days to experience the spoonful-of-sugar intrinsic motivation we’re seeking?
What if the good feelings of the right decisions were just a matter of doing tiny favors for our future selves?
And not deep into the future—just a version that lives two hours in the future?
Well, we can—with a little backpocket litmus test I like to call–
The Two-Hour Rule.
No, this isn’t ‘the two-hour rule’ about unrefrigerated meat. This two-hour rule is just a simple mental exercise that goes something like this:
Before making a decision—good, bad, or neutral—ask yourself a simple question:
“How will I feel about this decision in two hours?” Then proceed to act in the way that best benefits two-hours-from-now you.
The beauty in this rule is in its simplicity, as most decisions will leave a taste in your mouth—emotionally or even physically.
Smashing the snooze button may feel luxurious in the moment. Two hours from now, however, sleeping through your work-out window may leave you feeling like a lumpy failure the rest of the day.
Indulging in that breakroom donut may be delicious. However, fast-forward two hours and you may end up dragging your way through the subsequent sugar crash.
Blowing up on someone for a perceived injustice may make you feel validated. Two hours later, when you’ve cooled off a bit, you may end up banging your head against the wall for acting like an unhinged jerkwad.
Sharing some juicy office gossip feels like a good way to bring some “hot tea” to the watercooler chatter. Two hours later, however, you may feel like you may have unjustly tarnished someone’s reputation over spreading what was essentially hearsay.
There is a lot of power in two hours–and most of it having to do with how our brains make decisions.
The reason this two-hour consideration buffer works well as a decision-processing tool is rooted in neuroscience—largely switching from your limbic system to your prefrontal cortex.
When you make a more impulsive reactionary decision, such as reaching for that donut, snapping at your kids, or running your mouth, these are usually from your limbic system–a less sophisticated decision-maker in your inner brain. While such limbic reactions can help you leap out of the path of a bus or, you know, yell to someone to get out of the way of a bus, the limbic system isn’t a great long-term planner.
But there’s good news: you can bypass your limbic knee-jerker and engage your optimum planner; your prefrontal cortex–your long-term decision-maker located right behind your forehead.
Though your limbic system may help you navigate your way through a dangerous jungle, your prefrontal cortex is more akin to a guidance counselor discussing potential career choices—less reactionary and more deliberate.
But shifting gears between your limbic system and your prefrontal cortex needs a clutch pedal–the pause for you to consider which decision will serve you best in two hours. This can require a little bit of mental time travel into the future. How can we do this?
Practice triggering your prefrontal cortex.
Our daily allotment of willpower is finite. This has led our brains to autopilot most of our decisions and treat the others like we’re in a bar fight. To disengage the autopilot (or at least update the settings) and calm down the brawler, there are a few things we can do to help us trigger our inner guidance counselor–our prefrontal cortex.
Label Your Emotions
Most of us let our emotions drive far too often because we believe we are our emotions. You may even say so yourself–“I’m sad”,“I’m angry”, or“I’m anxious.” There’s a reason why every dad’s response to hearing their kids say, “I’m bored” is, “Hi, Bored! I’m Dad!”
Label your emotions by entering the word “feeling” in there–“I’m feeling sad”,“I’m feeling angry”,“I’m feeling hungry”,“I’m feeling anxious.” This slight shift will help you to disassociate with your feelings and identify how your emotions can change your mindset, behavior, and help you consider how to respond rather than react to your emotional events.
Extend the Fuse
In tense-yet-not-timely situations that require a decision, delay your response. Take a deep breath and count to 10. Write the heated email, but don’t hit “Send” until you’ve slept on it. You may feel differently about it in the morning or even once you get to 10.
Journal About Anything and Everything
When you journal about something, you’re essentially forcing your thoughts through a mental filter–from your mind to the page. Because of the number of systems involved in handwriting or typing a messaging, this activity forces other parts of your brain to contribute–not just your broken-bottle-swinging limbic system.
You Own Yourself Two Hours
Maybe you have a grand New Year’s resolution. Maybe you simply want to take a little bit more control of your decisions. Either way, you owe yourself the wisdom that comes with an activated guidance counselor in the form of your prefrontal cortex.
And you can wake them any time by simply asking, “How will I feel about this decision in two hours?”