I’m not a procrastinator, but there comes a time when I need to treat procrastination as an ally to boost my productivity.
(hjl | Flickr | Modified)
I’m quite proud of the fact I have a reliable writing routine for this blog. I set a personal deadline for myself to publish at least one blog post a week by Thursday morning. This means I always have a rough draft ready for editing by Monday.
But this week was different.
On Friday, my wife and I had food poisoning, rendering us useless. So I put off writing a post.
This weekend I recovered from said food poisoning and decided to take a “break.” So I put off writing a post.
Monday I watched my son while my wife was out. So I put off writing a post.
Tuesday was our third wedding anniversary. So…you get the point.
Harnessing Procrastination to Increase Productivity
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Throw in some other priorities – some foreseen and some unexpected – and you find me here at my desk, 10:30 on a Wednesday evening, hacking away at my keyboard.
This is not my usual writing process, but to be honest, it is helpful. You see, I am harnessing the subtle yet effective power of procrastination. My wife is notorious for procrastinating, but she gets things done. She christened this method: productive procrastination.
The Ticking Time Bomb Mentality
Two nights ago, I did have a smidge of free time to write after putting my son down to bed. As I stared at the blank screen, I struggled to write anything cohesive enough for a blog post.
Tonight, I have no problem whatsoever!
I’m no psychologist, but I have a theory we become more motivated to complete a task as our internal clock ticks away towards a deadline.
Two nights ago, I didn’t have the fire under my butt to write something. Today, however, I subconsciously formulated this post throughout the day. It is almost as if my thoughts were able to percolate once the fire was lit.
How you can harness the power of procrastination
Here are a few tried and true methods to fully utilize procrastination to your advantage:
- Don’t call yourself lazy – Feeling guilty that you aren’t working on a task will only diminish its chances of getting done.
- Find an accountability partner – If you still don’t trust yourself, find someone who will help keep you accountable for finishing those tasks.
- Give yourself time – Down to the wire doesn’t mean hustling the night before to finish a task (like I am doing right now). Make sure to give yourself some buffer before any deadline.
- Find things to fill in the gap – If you procrastinate on purpose, it better be for a good reason. Filling in the “gap time” with smaller, easier tasks to complete will help you to feel more productive.
I’m probably not going to change my writing routine after this one experience however, I am warming up to the idea of using procrastination again. But I’m putting that off for the time being.
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Discussion Question: Do you use procrastination to be more productive? Share your thoughts on Twitter or in the comments.
The post Harnessing Procrastination to Increase Productivity by Declan Wilson appeared first on A Millennial Type.