Procrastination - A Somewhat Introspective Journey

TL;DR I procrastinate without guilt because sometimes, there are more important things in life than the supposed “important” tasks, especially if it’s work or study related procrastination. However, there is no overarching solution, and everyone has to find a way that works best for themselves.

Ok, here we go.

I don’t think I am exaggerating when I say that if procrastination were an Olympic sport, I would find myself on the podium. Not because I think I’m Top 3 in the world, but because the world class procrastinators would find themselves not registering for the event in time, and not qualifying for the competition, just because they are too good at it. The irony. Procrastination, after all, is a failure of the human condition, the woes of the chronologically challenged, and the heroically late. The overriding feeling regarding procrastination is often guilt, the guilt of being unproductive.

But is it really a human flaw? Is procrastination really the bane of productivity? And should we feel guilty about it? You might ask “And if you’re such a world class procrastinator, why are you writing about it now instead of 8 years later? (you fraud)”

I’ll tell you next time.

For now, let’s do a shallow, unscientific dive into procrastination(using myself as an example mostly), why it might not be unproductive, and how to feel little to no guilt while cleaning your room instead of writing that article that was due 3 days ago.

What is procrastination really? Is it a problem?

A cursory search on your favourite search engine leads to a multitude of quotes about procrastination, the good, the bad, and the ugly. But in general, my favourite definition of it is “The fine art of postponing the inevitable, often by engaging in completely unrelated and unnecessary activities with a false sense of urgency.” Because it’s true. One main reason I procrastinate is because the thing that I have to do brings about negative feelings. It could be too difficult, too boring, too overwhelming, too (whatever excuse you have is valid).

And the most common solutions basically rely on breaking the task into easier, manageable parts, reducing the mental barrier to starting, removing distractions, and a reward structure to completing these manageable parts. Common techniques include the Pomodoro technique (Work in short bursts with small breaks in between.), The 5 Minute Rule (Trick yourself into starting by committing to just five minutes. Once you begin, momentum usually carries you forward.), and creating accountability with external pressures, be it telling someone you’ll do it, setting a deadline, or using apps that remind (or shame) you into finishing tasks.

AND they’re mostly correct and effective to a certain extent. However, in order to utilize these techniques, we have to accept that our procrastination is a problem, and that these are steps to deal with the problem. 

What I do personally, is less common, but more productive in a time x amount of work done scale. This is not always workable, nor effective, depending on your line of work, but as someone whose freelance work involves writing, I often utilize panic as an effective motivational tool to shut out all external distractions and get cracking. The best example involves writing a 21,000 word masters thesis in 27 hours, including research*. I believe this has to do with something visceral, like our bodies' fight or flight response, but I shall not bore any possible readers (nor myself) with this science stuff. Why do I not feel guilty when I’m doing this? Because I simply do not have the capacity to.

*P.S. If it’s that important, I got a B.
*PPS. If it’s also that important, I had 4 months to write it.

Procrastination, Positivity, and Productivity

Moving on from my ineffective solution, I think procrastination could be harnessed effectively, and looked upon as a positive, in terms of productivity and efficiency. One of my favourite quotes neatly sums this up.

“Procrastination taught me how to do 30 minutes of work in 8 hours, and 8 hours of work in 30 minutes.”

Simply put, the human brain is pretty amazing (this is not a science article) in terms of adapting to what is needed at any point in time. This is tenuously linked to my panic being an effective form of motivation, but my point here is that productivity need not be harmed by procrastination. Sometimes procrastination, while making the non-urgent work urgenter and urgenter, is very healing for the soul.

Another of my favourite quotes, sometimes attributed to John Lennon “Time you enjoyed wasting, was not wasted”, is something I try to think about when I find myself putting things off. In trying to find out why I procrastinate, I found out more about myself, and the reasons why I chose to approach certain things in certain ways, and why I chose to put off certain things for other less important things. In the end, I found out that the main issue was motivation (surprise, surprise). Often, the things I handled at hyperspeed with panic as my red bull, and red bull as my red bull, did not have far-reaching, negative consequences for it being done simply to a minimum level of adequacy. If I could do the “8 hours of work” in 30 minutes, while playing with my dog, watching a movie, and going for a walk (all arguably more important than work) for the other 7h30min, and still get paid for it, obviously I’m not going to work for all 8 hours and produce better work, and get paid the same. Why? Because the lower level is accepted, and I don’t get paid more for better work. And I get to enjoy better mental health.

Now, if the quality of work is important, the motivation would be different, because to some extent, there would be a level of personal responsibility and pride (and maybe money) involved. If I found a client that I really enjoyed working with, and we have the same direction artistically, I would inevitably “vibe” more with the project. And since it’s something I enjoy doing, why would I procrastinate doing it? And if it’s an idea I’m aligned with, naturally I would want it to be done to the best of my ability.

Imposter Syndrome - The real productivity killer (personally)

This is where it gets abit murky. Because the pressure to do something well is another excuse to procrastinate. I have sometimes found myself delaying a task I enjoyed because I was not “in the right frame of mind”, or because “I’m not doing this justice”, and “it could and should be a lot better than what I’m producing” and have actually not submitted an article that I pitched to a newspaper editor (it’s been a year) because of these excuses. The kicker? The article is fully written. 

After kicking about on some copywriter communities (I love Copykooks, the people there are so supportive), there was a name to this bane of mine. Imposter Syndrome, as Tam so helpfully pointed out in many of her courses. What is it? The persistent feeling that you’re a fraud, despite clear evidence of your competence. It’s a fear that someone will “find out” you’ve been winging it all along—when, in reality, so is everyone else. I have since found out that it plagues so many of us, and that sometimes we procrastinate because of this. And I have since tried to combat this by telling myself that I am not Ash Ketchum and I don’t wanna be the very best, like noone ever was. Or you know, something I am already doing with the work that pays for adequacy. So there’s no secret here. It was just learning to balance my mentality, instead of veering between two extremes.

How do I not feel guilt while procrastinating?

I just understand that sometimes taking a break is necessary and that not all work has to be good and that life is more than work anyway? When in doubt, zoom out, see the big picture, and if that 48 hour deadline is really a deadline, or can that be extended by an email, a text, or a call (DO NOT CALL I HATE CALLS)

How do YOU not feel guilt while procrastinating?

I don’t know. I can only tell you what works for me. And at the end of the day, there’s no overarching solution to procrastination, or how to not feel guilty while doing it. It’s getting to know yourself, and taking your own habits into account while working, or doing tasks. It sounds like a cop out to end like this, but copping out is also one of my traits and I will not answer for it. That’s why I’m copping out.