What a rule
The five second rule states that you only need to count from five to one to take action. Then you will be able to do even what you lack the desire or motivation to do.
How it works
Maybe, this method seemed funny and unrealistic to you. Count down five seconds and be able to complete your plan? It would seem that this is an absolutely useless rule. However, practice shows that this is not the case.
The effectiveness of the five second rule can be explained by two reasons:
- You associate counting with performing some action. When you count to one, you subconsciously perceive it as the finish line. And if at the same time you exclaim “Forward!” or “Let’s go!” will help you get started even more.
- You try not to contradict yourself and keep your promises. You make a commitment not to lie to others and to yourself. When you tell someone that you get up early, you are trying to do just that. Otherwise, you will consider yourself, even if that person never knows the truth.
Promising yourself to get started immediately after the countdown will give you the energy boost you need.
How to use it
A classic example is waking up with an alarm clock. Instead of putting it on repeat every five minutes, count to one and immediately get out of bed without thinking.
In fact, the five second rule will come in handy in all areas of your life. For example, try using it if:
- you feel like you might lash out at someone. After this, you will calm down, the tone of the conversation will change to friendly;
- you can't start a project. If you can’t bring yourself to start your thesis, count to one, open the document and start writing;
- afraid to call someone. Just dial the number and start a conversation;
- hesitant to make an appointment with a doctor. Fear stops you, but your mind tells you that this is necessary for your health.
You can use the rule any way you like. It will help both in small things and in serious achievements.
Don't forget that the most difficult part of the journey is the first step. Then you will adapt to what you are doing and stop being afraid of these tasks.
Photo: http://www.regiscollege.eduNo, this is not a rule that says that you can eat food that has fallen on the floor if you manage to pick it up within 5 seconds.
I just read the book “The 5 Second Rule” by Mel Robbins and loved it. He teaches an incredibly simple but strangely effective rule that tells you to count from 5 to 1 when you need to start doing something you don't want to do.
A classic example: when your alarm goes off, instead of snoozing like we're all used to doing, you count 5-4-3-2-1 to yourself and then just get up.
It's funny
My wife laughed at me when I suggested this to her. I have to admit, at first it was funny to me too.
When I talk about this to other people, the question arises: how can there be an entire book dedicated to this?
This book describes hundreds of ways people use the 5 Second Rule to improve their lives, and they are all truly motivating. This simple idea, so simple it seems stupid, but it really works.
Why does this work?
For two reasons. First, when you count from 5 to 1, you need closure. You want to say “Start!” or “Go!” or "Oops!" at the end, and that's a good place to start. You already associate the countdown with action.
The second reason is that you make a commitment not to lie to yourself or others. When you tell someone, “I'm an early riser,” you tend to act on that statement so that you won't be seen as a liar, even if the person you told it to never knows the truth. You generally don't want to act in direct contradiction to what you say.
The same thing happens when you say you will act at the end of the count 5-4-3-2-1. If you tell yourself that you will do it when the countdown ends, you will feel motivated to start. This incentive is often enough to make an effort and start doing something.
Sometimes these efforts can be tied to something financially, for example if you bought a subscription to a weight loss service. You may have known the advice you receive for a long time, but because you paid for it, you are much more likely to succeed because you want to be true to your original intentions.
How else do you use it?
I use it all the time. What bothered me was that I was angry and yelling at my children, so when I feel the urge to yell, I count 5-4-3-2-1, and then react calmly.
I don't want to start writing the article that needs to be written, so 5-4-3-2-1 and I open the document.
I don't want to make it difficult phone call someone who is not easy to talk to - 5-4-3-2-1, and I dial the number.
I also do this to avoid eating out at work. When that urge hits, 5-4-3-2-1, and I decide I'll stick with my original intention of eating what I brought today instead of any of the dozens of options nearby.
It doesn't have to be anything complicated; choose a small step as your goal. Hate flossing? Just 5-4-3-2-1 and brush one tooth. Only one. And stop. It sounds strange, but the hardest part of any task is the beginning. You simply build a mode for completing a task and form the personality of the person who will be able to handle this task.
Surely you know what it is five second rule. If not, we will tell you.
A long time ago, a kind of legend arose that food quickly picked up from the floor is not considered to have fallen.
That is, during the few seconds that the food was on the floor, microbes do not have time to “attack” it. Of course, this statement only applies to solid and dry food items: cookies, bread, fruit, etc.
An interesting fact is that in many nations and in different languages there are jokes on this topic.
Of course, I couldn’t ignore such a pressing question: is it harmful to eat something that was picked up from the floor within 5 seconds or not?
First study of the Five Second Rule
In the early 2000s, research on this topic was carried out by Gillian Clark, while practicing at the University of Illinois, under the supervision of Meredith Agley.
The experiment was carried out extremely simply.
In the laboratory, E. coli cultures were applied to smooth and rough floor tiles. After this, cookies and sweets were dropped on the floor, which were then examined using a microscope.
All samples were found in significant quantities less than a few seconds later. Thus, the “five second rule” has been scientifically refuted.
An interesting fact is that Clarke's work was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in healthcare in 2004.
Repeated studies
In 2016, experts from the State University of New Jersey conducted new research on the five-second rule. The results were published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
Overall, the work refutes the existence of the “five-second rule”, but emphasizes that the rate of transfer of bacteria from floor coverings to fallen food varies for various types food and types of covering, and in a number of combinations the consumption of fallen food can be considered relatively safe.
The five second rule still works
He declared:
“Obviously, if dirt is visible on food, then it should not be eaten. But science shows that if there are no visible signs of contamination, then the chance of harmful bacteria getting on the food in the few seconds that it was lying on the floor is very small.”
In Western culture there is the so-called “five-second rule”. Its essence is as follows: if food that has fallen on the floor lies there for no more than five seconds, then it can be safely eaten. The five-second rule is based on the belief that in such short term bacteria that could harm us simply do not have time to “crawl” onto fallen food. Imagine, this “postulate” has become the subject of real scientific research.
NON-CHILDREN'S EXPERIMENT
One day, high school student Jillian Clarke decided to understand this (not alien to the Russian public) issue from a “scientific” point of view. At that time, the inquisitive American was just undergoing an internship at the Department of Food Hygiene at the University of Illinois. First of all, she conducted a survey of several hundred people and found out that 70% of women and 56% of men were well aware of the rule and had used it in practice more than once. According to the logic of the respondents, in such a short time, microbes and bacteria do not have time to “attack” the fallen object and it is quite suitable for consumption. Especially if we are talking about something tasty.
To verify or refute the opinions of those surveyed, Clark and her supervisor, Meredith Agle, took samples from the floor in the laboratory, recreation areas, and the university cafeteria and examined them under a microscope. To their surprise, there were practically no bacteria there. Then scientists decided to check what would happen to food that fell on a floor populated with bacteria. Chewable gummy candies were placed on a surface specifically “contaminated” with Escherichia coli (E. coli). Less than three seconds had passed before the “test subjects” were completely covered in pathogenic microorganisms.
This study concluded: on a surface that regularly undergoes hygienic treatment, only a minimal amount of pathogenic microbes remains. If they enter the body with fallen food, they are easily destroyed by stomach acid without any health consequences. But picking up even the most tasty morsel from non-neutralized surfaces (the floor in a supermarket, a clinic, asphalt) is categorically not recommended.
Ruth Frechman, a specialist at the American Dietetic Association, insists on this. She is extremely skeptical of the “five second rule”, believing that bacteria are all around us. An increase in their number in our body can lead to diarrhea, increased body temperature and fever. Due to the fact that food infections are caused by various microorganisms, they can occur in different ways.
The incubation period ranges from 24 hours to a week. Thus, it is possible that the food that you dropped on the floor, quickly picked up and ate last Wednesday, may only remind you of an upset stomach on the weekend. And you are unlikely to connect these two events.
IT'S A QUESTION OF TIME
As for time, it turned out that it does not play a special role. This was proven by a microbiologist from Queen Mary University of London, Ronald Cutler. Having marked pizza and apples on the floor “treated” with salmonella for 5, 30 and 60 seconds (later extending the experiment to 24 hours), the specialist discovered that the amount of time food spent on the contaminated surface did not affect the degree of contamination. The studied samples contained approximately the same number of bacteria, both after a couple of seconds and after several hours.
But something else turned out. It turned out that the nature of the surface where a tidbit could fall is much more important. Food picked up from carpet contained 1% bacteria, while food picked up from tiles and hardwood floors contained 48 to 70%. However, the microbiologist emphasizes that if there are millions of bacteria on the floor, then even 0.1% of them can lead to illness. This is especially true for people with weakened immune systems and young children who have not yet fully formed the barrier function of the digestive system.
LIVING WATER
Keep in mind that The most ideal environment for bacterial growth is moist. Most pathogenic microorganisms (salmonella, listeriosis, E. coli) cannot live without water. This is in Once again confirmed by research conducted at the University of Manchester. Scientists have proven that due to the moisture content, boiled pasta and dried fruits (prunes, dried apricots) that fall on the floor are real breeding grounds for bacteria. Within a couple of seconds, Klebsiella begins to multiply on them so rapidly (often causing pneumonia and urinary tract infections) that it is almost impossible to “count them head by head.”
But the bacteria were not attracted to croutons and crackers, precisely because they lacked a sufficient amount of liquid. History repeated itself with foods containing a lot of sugar (toast with jam) and salt (bacon, ham). Even after 10 seconds on the floor, these dishes remained completely unattractive to microbes.
PRACTICAL CONCLUSION
To minimize the population of bacteria in your home, try to wipe the floor with a dry cloth every time after washing and change dish towels and dish sponge as often as possible.
Rule about food
The rule applies to food, particularly hard food like biscuits, that has fallen to the ground or floor; it states that any microbes that can transfer to dropped food in less than five seconds will be in such small numbers that they will be easily destroyed by stomach acid and will not cause harm to the body.
This rule is used as a suitable justification for eating food picked up from the floor and is usually only used in the presence of several people. So, for example, a person can drop candy on the floor, but then quickly pick it up, telling his friends: “The five-second rule!”, and eat it.
The five-second rule is rarely used when sticky foods such as ice cream, cold cuts, and moistened jelly beans are dropped, especially if the contamination is clearly visible. Also, the rule is rarely used in the case of a sandwich falling butter side down. Rarely does the rule apply to other people's fallen food, but there are numerous exceptions. The origins of the five second rule remain unknown.
There are no official data on the practice of applying the five-second rule in restaurant kitchens. However, taking into account the well-known great rush of cooks, it can be assumed that it is used there quite often. Although the idea of introducing the five-second rule as an official norm in institutions Catering high-end is absurd, its application is apparently not limited to restaurants of low standards only.
Variations
Sometimes the five second rule is found in variations like three second rule, seven second rule, rule 10 or 15 seconds, usually depending on the area or the value of the dropped food. For example, in American college dorms, the ten-second rule is often referred to as the "drunken version" of the five-second rule. In public camps among boys there is a variation of the rule: “pick it up before the bugs drag it away” (eng. get it before the bugs do - we are probably talking about bacteria here too, see "Bugs". ).
In some cases, if the first 5 seconds expire, the next ones are added, and so on, until the fallen piece of food is finally picked up and eaten.
Idioms
There are many idiomatic expressions around the world that relate to the risk of eating contaminated food. Here are some examples:
- The infection will not stick to the infection.
- If something is raised quickly it is not considered to have fallen.
- In the forest, every speck is a vitamin.
- There is no dirt in the forest - there are only vitamins in the forest.
- Everything is sterile when traveling.
- What fell on the student fell on the newspaper.
- One, two, three - the germs didn’t come in.
- More dirt - wider muzzle.
- If you don't lie around, you don't eat.
- What he quickly picked up, it was as if he didn’t drop it.
- Hygiene is the enemy of tourism.
- O que não mata, engorda(in Portuguese: What does not kill, fertilizes.)
- Poco veneno, no mata.(in Spanish: Little poison cannot kill.)
- Min ma joqtolx, isemmen(Malta: What doesn’t finish you off will go to fattening.)
- Quel che non strozza, ingrassa(in Italian: That which does not suffocate will contribute to fattening.)
- Chancho limpio nunca engorda(in Spanish: A clean pig does not get fat.)
- Dreck mast Speck(in German: Dirt makes lard.)
- Dreck reinigt den Magen(in German: Dirt cleanses the stomach.)
- Zand schuurt de maag(in Dutch: Sand cleanses the stomach.)
Research
A study of the five second rule was completed in 2003 by a graduate high school Gillian Clarke ( Jillian Clarke) during a seven-week internship at the University of Illinois ( University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). Clark and Meredith Ugli ( Meredith Agle), who supervised the study, samples were taken by swabbing from floors on campus: in the laboratory, dormitory, and also in the cafeteria. As a result of studying the obtained samples under a microscope, it turned out that they did not contain significant amounts of bacteria. When the experiment was repeated, the same results were obtained; This led to the conclusion that in most cases, dry floors can be safe enough to eat food collected from them.
However, Clarke also planned to test the five-second hypothesis in the case of a previously known bacterial contamination of the floor. In the laboratory, a certain amount of culture was applied to smooth and rough floor tiles E. coli. Food samples were placed on these tiles for various periods of time: pieces of cookies and gelatin bears, which were then subjected to microscopic examination. In all samples, bacteria were detected in significant quantities after less than five seconds. Thus, the five-second rule has been scientifically disproven.
Clarke's work was awarded the 2004 Ig Nobel Prize for Public Health.
Also, the five-second rule appears in one of the episodes of the TV series “MythBusters” (eng. MythBusters), Discovery Channel ( Discovery Channel). The results of their experiments confirmed Clarke's research: exposure time is not a determining factor for bacterial contamination of food; even two seconds is more than enough time for it to become infected.
Rule about seating
This etiquette rule is used at parties or other events where there is not enough seating for everyone. If someone leaves their seat to go to the restroom or get a drink, the five-second rule provides a five-second grace period before someone else claims that seat.
Links
- 2004 Winners of the Ig Nobel Prize (English)
- (English)
Wikimedia Foundation.
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