The Art of Procrastination: How to Perfectly Time-Waste Your Way into a Career You Love
Your guide to turning “putting things off” into “putting things into action.”
If you’re anything like me, sometimes you can be the world’s best procrastinator. Need to clean the house? Suddenly, you’re an expert at Sudoku. Have a report due tomorrow? Well, it’s high time you reorganized your digital photo collection by color, season, and the position of the sun in the sky.
But what if I told you that this “weakness” of yours is actually a secret weapon in finding a job you really love? Yes, you heard me right. Your ability to avoid tasks like a ninja might just be your ticket to professional bliss.
Procrastination: A Misunderstood Superpower
Procrastination is often viewed as a negative trait, a roadblock on the path to productivity. But consider this: What if procrastination is not about laziness, but rather a subconscious rejection of tasks you don’t enjoy?
Take a moment to think about the tasks you often put off. You might notice a common thread: they’re probably not the things you’re passionate about. Your mind is telling you something here, and it’s not just “I’d rather watch another episode of this new Netflix show than do the laundry.” It’s saying, “This is not what I want to be doing with my time.”
Listening to Your Inner Procrastinator
By paying attention to when and why you procrastinate, you can gain valuable insights into your passions and interests. The key is to notice which tasks you consistently avoid and which ones you gravitate towards when you’re in full-on procrastination mode.
Let’s say you’re avoiding cleaning the kitchen, but instead, you find yourself drawn to doodling elaborate designs or writing funny tweets. This could be a sign that your interests lie more in creative pursuits than in domestic duties (but we already knew that, didn’t we?).
Turning Procrastination into Action
So, you’ve identified that you’d rather alphabetize your spice rack than tackle that spreadsheet from work. Now, it’s time to transmute those procrastination vibes into something more productive (and significantly more fun).
Start by giving your procrastination a promotion. No longer are you avoiding tasks; you’re doing “creative research”. This involves taking those activities you migrate towards and blowing them up to Godzilla-like proportions.
Enter the Procrasti-Nation
Welcome to the Procrasti-Nation, where the national pastime is doing anything but what you’re supposed to do. Here, we don’t see procrastination as a vice. No, we see it as a unique form of vocational exploration.
For instance, instead of scrolling through Instagram to avoid that work presentation, why not take it up a notch? Start leaving witty comments on posts. And I mean really witty. Make Shakespeare look like a comedic amateur. You never know, you might just become the Oscar Wilde of Instagram comments, landing a gig as a social media consultant or content creator.
Or maybe you’re dodging your weekly grocery shopping by meticulously arranging your succulent collection, ensuring each plant gets the perfect amount of sunlight, water, and motivational pep talks. This could indicate that you’re meant to be a professional botanist… or a life coach. Maybe you should truly consider exploring careers in horticulture, the environment, or nurturing things.
Leveraging Your Time ‘Wasted’
As you level up your procrastination, you’ll start to see potential career paths forming like constellations in the sky.
One possibility is that you could take things literally. That passion for making parody songs about your pets? Hello, future YouTube sensation! That knack for crafting intricate dollhouse furniture instead of writing reports? I smell an Etsy store!
Maybe you’re not up for a career specifically in making dollhouse furniture (money?! healthcare?!). The other option is to squint your eyes at the procrastination task. Why do you enjoy it? If you can name the broad qualities that appeal to you, you can find them in existing, “normal” careers — maybe even in other roles at your current company.
Either way, remember, in the Procrasti-Nation, we don’t “waste” time — we “invest” time.
The Procrasti-Pathway to Success
The journey to a job you LOVE may look less like a straight, well-paved highway and more like a twisty, turny road through a quirky, vibrant town. That’s okay, because this town is where you’ll discover that the things you love doing might just make a job you’ll love having.
So, the next time you find yourself avoiding a task, take a moment to appreciate your skill. You’re not a procrastinator; you’re a Procrasti-Navigator, charting the course to a career you’ll love.
And when someone accuses you of procrastinating, just tell them you’re not procrastinating, you’re conducting important research.
