How Procrastinators are Some of the Most Productive People
Procrastination is not always a curse.
Ah, the good old ‘act of delaying something that must be done, often because it is unpleasant or boring’ (Cambridge Dictionary).
Procrastination is seen as a negative act, often linked to laziness or lack of productivity. A simple Google search for ‘procrastination’ offers up guides on how to stop doing it and better yourself.
However, as a true procrastinator myself, I can tell you that in most cases, my procrastination has lead to something positive and productive.
‘84% of us are affected to some degree by procrastination and 1 in 5 of us procrastinates every single day in the U.K’. (Micro Biz Mag, 2020).
Given these statistics, if procrastination were always linked to time wasting, that would mean that only 16% of the U.K. population is made up of consistently productive people. That just can’t be the case.
So where are we going wrong in our perception of procrastination? What’s the catch?
The issue is that so many of us think that this act of delaying something automatically involves being lazy — such as taking a nap, gaming or binge watching a series. While many of us are indeed guilty of that, there is no prescribed activity for procrastination, and it can manifest itself in several ways. For example, according to Psychology Today (2016):
‘Procrastinators actively look for distractions, particularly ones that don’t take a lot of commitment on their part. Checking e-mail is almost perfect for this purpose.’
Checking e-mails is a productive use of time, ensuring that you are up-to-date on your communications. I check mine around 5 times a day in the hopes that I will have one I need to respond to, even though I have other tasks that need doing.
For me, I put off doing something and I justify it by doing minor tasks or less complicated ones to produce a sense of achievement and not feel guilty about the task I should really be doing.
My procrastination activities also include doing the laundry, writing Medium articles (procrastination Inception right here), creating videos for my YouTube channel, applying for jobs, attending webinars, baking and more.
But what about deadlines and being late as a result of procrastination?
If we refer back to the definition, procrastination involves delaying tasks, not doing them late or forgetting to do them. Some procrastinators will inevitably end up handing in work late, but for me, I procrastinate until I feel stress kicking in and then I ensure that I complete my task within the time required.
Procrastination makes me happy.
As I actively seek out activities and/or tasks to do instead of a more pressing task, I discover new things (such as Medium), meet new people (going out with a friend instead of being at home working) and get fitter (I started an exercise challenge recently), just to name a few activities.
In the end, both my minor and major tasks are completed on time (don’t get me wrong, I’m not perfect so this isn’t the case 24/7), so why would I want to ‘fix’ my way of doing things?
How do I know if my procrastination is positive or negative?
If you’re a procrastinator and feel guilty about it, reevaluate why you feel guilty: is it because the activities you partake in are not worth your time or is it because society says procrastination is bad? Do you still get your tasks done on time? Does your procrastination make you happy?
If your procrastination makes you unhappy, leads to time wasting and affects your life negatively, then yes, I would investigate ways of changing how you approach tasks. Otherwise, embrace it, use it to your advantage and know that you’re not alone!
