I am a procrastinator. It’s the truth, no way around it. In fact, I’m writing this post as a way to procrastinate on another post I should be writing! I know that all the books, self-help coaches and what not tell you that procrastination is the devil (or something equally dramatic). I have a different theory, though. I think rather than trying to change deeply ingrained habits, we can learn to use them to our benefit.
Benefits of Procrastination (Yes, they do exist!)
Let me tell you a story. When I was a journalism student, I wrote many articles and always got fantastic grades. I spent hours on those articles, writing them days or weeks before the deadline. Then one week I got busy and put something off. I wrote the article late at night, pounding out what I thought was a half-arsed piece that would probably kill my beautiful GPA.
My instructor said it was my best piece ever.  WHAT? How could it be better than the I poured my soul and time into writing?
Fast-forward a few years to my content mill writing career. I wrote hundreds of articles for a particular mill. Guess which ones got the highest praise? Not the pieces that I spent hours on. Nope. The articles that I churned out at the last minute did better than my painstakingly thought-out pieces.
Why are my quick and dirty pieces better than the articles that I spend hours on? Pressure. I write well under the wire. In my opinion, procrastination is an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to perform well under intense pressure.
It boils down to this: when you procrastinate, you don’t have time to overthink. The best way to ruin anything, whether it’s an article or a recipe, is by overthinking it. When you overthink, you second guess yourself. You complicate the process. You waste time.
Procrastinating actually SAVES time…if you do it right.
How do you procrastinate the right way? Simple. Use the time you’re spending avoiding one thing to work on other things that benefit your life. When I’m procrastinating writing a particular blog post I do any of the following:
- Write an entirely different post (like this one!)
- Make a list of all the things I’m avoiding and organize it, sometimes even with color-coded labels, so that I can feel like I’ve accomplished something. I actually have accomplished something because now I have a handy to-do list.
- Spend time working on my Pinterest boards. This benefits me in numerous ways because it builds my following, gives me inspiration and helps me relax.
- Read up on blogging, social media and photography tips so I can learn something new.
- Play Skylanders with my son. Bonding is never a waste of time!
While I’m doing all of those things, some part of my brain is working on the very thing I’m avoiding. It’s not obvious at the time, but when I sit down to finally do the task, it’s like my mind has already finished it. I just need to bring it into the world. Our brains are amazing. They can do more than one thing at a time. You just need to tell it what you want to work on!
Try it! Next time you have something on your to-do list that you just don’t feel like doing right now, decide to procrastinate with purpose. Spend your time doing something else that benefits your career, family or even just your sanity. But before you start procrastinating, think about the thing you want to get done for a few minutes. Tell your brain to get started on that. Then go about your procrastinating.
Obviously, you don’t want to procrastinate until the very last minute, but go ahead and get close to that deadline. When it’s approaching, just write (or sing, dance, craft, cook, whatever it is you need to get done). Don’t think about it too much, just let it flow. You may be surprised to find out just how much time you save by procrastinating.
Maybe this won’t work for everyone, but if you’re already procrastinating, it’s worth a try, don’t you think?
Are you a procrastinator? How have you used it to your benefit? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
I love the idea that procrastinating saves time!!! Some times doing nothing can motivate you to do more then you would have started out doing. Pinterest is my favorite way to procrastinate and its still productive for work.
Pinterest is my favorite way to procrastinate too! It’s my largest social media account by far, so my procrastination pays off there!
I do all the time. I find it helpful as well, because I get a lot of things done when I put things off. I come up with awesome dinner ideas, a better organized children’s room and just find time to get some exercise into my day as well. I’m so happy, that someone thinks like me.
Now that’s really using your procrastination to your benefit! I wish I was motivated enough to use it to clean and organize!
Wow what an interesting post. I have the problem of procrastination sometimes, especially when I’m super busy and stressed out. When I procrastinate I tend to watch YouTube, there are just too many things on there! Thanks for sharing this post, really gives me a new perspective.
YouTube can definitely suck you in! Tell yourself that you’re researching! I watched an hour of talking dog videos yesterday, but it was actually for a post for another site. So technically it counts as work. Could I have gotten away with 20 minutes of funny dog videos? Sure! LOL.
I am always procrastinating. However, I like to think that I am productively procrastinating. For example, I maybe should be writing for clients but instead I will do some marketing, schedule in some blog posts, or pitch to some businesses. I am not doing what I am supposed to be doing yet I am still doing things that need to be done.
Yep, exactly! As long as you’re accomplishing SOMETHING, you’re doing it right. 🙂
I am definitely a procrastinator. You are a genius to re-purpose procrastination for your own good! I’ll have to try this, for sure! I have trouble coming up with blog posts, even though I have a list a mile long of idea post topics.
Thank you, I don’t think I’ve been called a genius before! 🙂 Isn’t it funny how that works with blog posts? I have a list too. In fact, I have topics written down through March. Guess how many I’ve actually written? 2. This one wasn’t even on the list, lol. It was born out of an effort to avoid something on that list!
This is such a beautiful article, I tell you I am a procastinator too and though I never really thought about it until now I have found that some of my last minute work at school came out better than my 2-3 spent working on it. But then again I was one person who if given a 2-3 week assignment I did my research few days then just wrote one day and handed it in didnt want to ‘overthink’ it.
That’s what I would do in school. I’d research here and there throughout the assignment, then churn out the full paper the day before it was due. I wrote a 10-page paper on Alice in Wonderland the night before the deadline. I got an A!
You made me feel so much better about my day! ;] I am totally a procrastinator and I can’t move on to the next task without the prior one finished…and I put off finishing it…so you can see I never get anything done! Sometimes I get into the zone and am able to finish things at night or early mornings. Those are my most energetic times of day!
I’m glad I made you feel better! 🙂 I have those energetic times too. Everyone says things like “early birds get worms” or that we think best in the morning. Not me. I think best at midnight! So I get a lot done during those late hours.
I am a longtime habitual procrastinator, so hearing all of this is really different. I totally agree on the work best under pressure theory and find myself in many situations where this applies. My only regret sometimes is when things occur that are completely out of my control that mess up my “procrastination luck,” which includes storms knocking out my Internet and unforeseen family issues that prevent me from getting what I have to do done…which is usually a writing assignment.
Ah yes, the dreaded power outage. I have to admit that I do live in fear of that, especially in my area. I lost power for 8 days with hurricane Sandy. For the most part, procrastination works well for me though.
very interesting post….if i start something i always feel that i have to finsh it….if possiable…i dont know if i am a procrastinator because i never stopped to thing about it…
i made me a list like your advice…noe i got to carry it out for the rest of the month….
slay girl.
FR girl.