Happy Friday!
I’m supposed to do these on Tuesdays but I procrastinated and I don’t give a crap! Here’s why:
Benefits of Procrastination
It gives you time to realize your work ain’t so important
Now, depending on what you do, what you’re working on might be ESSENTIAL to someone or some group.
You could be preparing for surgery! Or crafting an argument to defend an innocent person in court!
However, if your next project is THAT dire I’d wager procrastination isn’t much of a problem for you. You’ve probably been put in that position because you’ve had a career of getting things done on time with little problem. And you probably welcome the work. Good for you!
But I bet most people who struggle with procrastination are working on projects that probably won’t result in a TOTAL DISASTER if they fail to complete them. I hope so anyway.
To you I say, it’s okay. Life isn’t only about getting things done. It’s about living! Enjoy yourself! Interact with loved ones in your life! If all you are doing is existing, that’s enough.
When you procrastinate it gives you time to get perspective on the importance and unimportance of things rather than constantly thinking about work.
Although, I imagine it probably causes you to think more about the work because it’s stressing you out that you’re not doing it. Just try to enjoy the free time your lazy lazy procrastination provides for you!
It gives you time to make things better
Often the days of avoiding the upcoming project allow me time to ruminate on the project I’m doing and free-associate new ideas.
Sometimes this leads to better ideas than I would have had had I just jumped in and work work worked.
There’s a danger to making a grand plan and jumping into the grind and churning out the goods over and over again and never getting your head above water.
In that environment, it’s hard to even recognize all the areas that could be improved.
But glorious, slothful procrastination gives you that chance.
It makes you clever
Or to put it another way, it makes you work more efficiently.
There’s an old adage that I’ve mentioned here before, “Work expands to fill the time allotted.”
In my experience, this is 100% true EVERY TIME. It’s annoying. If I give myself a certain amount of hours to work on a project it takes that many hours!
Maybe this is more often true with creative work than other fields, but on the other hand, there are creative elements to almost ALL fields.
Don’t underestimate humanity’s ability to create unnecessary work for itself.
I think the problem is that most of my work involves decisions.
“Is this better or this? Is there a solution I’m not seeing?” And I unconsciously hold on to these decisions, waiting for the right answer to present itself.
And I will WAIT AND WAIT until the time is up. But it won’t feel like waiting. I’ll find other busy work to do around it so I don’t even realize that I’m actually waiting.
Some of that busy work may create minor improvements to the overall quality of the work, but the hours it takes provide diminishing returns.
So why not just avoid work for a while until I’m closer to the deadline, forcing myself to just stop being wishy-washy, ya know?
It makes your work a suspense movie, and those are fun
It sounds stupid, but I think an approaching deadline really does give you an adrenaline boost that makes the whole thing feel “important” and actually kinda fun.
And the euphoria of finishing is so much greater than if you just slowly completed the project with no danger of missing the deadline.
This is probably not a good reason to procrastinate, but it is a thing.
It gives you a friggin break, jeez.
Humans require decompression sometimes. We know the problems caused by hustle culture. Burnout, depression, etc…
But also, breaks just make my work so much better when I come back to it.
I’ve become pretty good at just instinctively knowing when I need to stop working. I feel it in my brain and body. My creative output suffers big time. I know that if I step away and come back fresh everything will be easier and better.
Also, these feelings don’t always coincide neatly with a daily schedule and I just have to go with that. (Unless of course, the deadline is approaching. I really benefit from being my own boss and working alone, in this way).
After writing this passage I realize this sounds like I’m conflating taking breaks with procrastion. I don’t want to do that. Breaks should just be a part of a regular work schedule and shouldn’t be labeled procrastination as they are just part of work.
And ya know what, maybe procrastination shouldn’t be labeled procrastination either as it’s a part of life! Maybe we should just call it life.
(not) Sorry for lifing on this newsletter for several days. What can I say? I’m such a lifer!
Craig
As a chronic procrastinator, I concur that the adrenaline rush of an impending deadline helps give me the push to get something done - especially if it’s something I don’t really want to do.