Use Procrastination to Get Things Done
There are many crutches I use when I’m avoiding work that also help me avoid feeling guilty about not accomplishing my goals.
For years, I’ve been using procrastination in this way to get things done.
I love to learn. I know that doesn’t sound like something I should limit, but more often than I’d like, I procrastinate by learning something new. These things that I learn are usually important skills for the work I do (and for the hobbies I pursue).
However, I can spend 70%-80% of my day looking for and reading information online about whatever it is I’m working on.
I tracked my time on some projects I’ve been working on and discovered that for my websites, I used 99.6% of my time to do stuff other than write posts or articles for them. Over the past few years, in between job time and family time, I’ve taught myself lots of fascinating skills, but in the process I’ve procrastinated on many, many things I wanted to get done.
On the other hand, I’ve learned some enormously helpful and useful things over the years, and I’m not sure I would be where I’m at if I hadn’t procrastinated by learning.
Learning online is a habit I’ve developed to keep me from working, without the guilt I might feel if I had instead spent that time playing Spider Solitaire.
Learning, however, is only one of many procrastination temptations I have to watch out for and it’s only one of the ways I’ve used procrastination to accomplish my goals.
My particular list of guiltless procrastination activities can be summarized in a short list of 8.
8 Guiltless Activities I Use to Procrastinate
- Learning or studying something new
- Planning and scheduling
- Watching TV
- Reading
- Personal finances
- Laundry
You might ask why some very obvious leisure and household tasks are on my list, so let me explain.
I have several fan sites where it’s important that I stay caught up with the TV shows those sites follow. If I don’t watch the show, I don’t have anything to talk about. The timing of when I decide to watch invariably arrives just as I’ve become aware of something very important that needs my time. I also review books for one website I run and I put off reading the books until I have something more pressing to do. Then of course, I just want to read. But since these things do need to be done, I generally don’t feel that guilty about putting something else off in favor of sitting down to watch television or read a book.
Don’t mistake this for anything other than procrastination though. I often use procrastination on one thing to accomplish another. This is related loosely to the practice of Structured Procrastination.
My personal finances on the other hand have always been a problem for me. I can get caught up in reports and budgeting and spend hours accomplishing absolutely nothing. I do feel guilty then, but when I manage to keep myself focused on a checkbook or bill update, I’m fine with it.
Most of the time, I still want to be very careful with this technique, because anything can be overused and lead to a glut of procrastination. Sometimes, getting anything accomplished that needs doing is an accomplishment. Sometimes, it’s not.
Finally, laundry deserves an explanation. I hate doing laundry and the fact is, if I want to avoid work on something in favor of doing laundry, I NEVER feel guilty.
What are your biggest procrastination temptations? What do you do when you want to procrastinate but don’t want to feel guilty for it later?
See if there’s any way for you to use those things to help you accomplish some of your goals.
What do you have to lose? You’re going to procrastinate anyway, and you know it.
