Procrastinating well
“…the question is not how to avoid procrastination, but how to procrastinate well.” — Paul Graham
I’ve yet to find a better quote that addresses procrastination. All procrastination isn’t bad, and the reason I know this is because everyone procrastinates. We procrastinate on any number of tasks on any given day. Not everything can be started, worked on, or finished in any one hour, day, or moment.
We make choices.
Our choices define what type of procrastinators we are.
Mr. Graham believes that there are three types of procrastinators—those who do nothing, those who do something less important, and those who do something more important.
When studying my own habits, I find that much of my procrastinating ways fit into this mold. However, at different times, I’m a different type of procrastinator.
For instance, Friday I was a procrastinator who did something more important (depending on how I define more important—money won out that day). Saturday, I was a procrastinator who did something less important (turns out my digital music collection really needed to be organized). I can’t remember being a “do nothing” procrastinator on any particular day, but I do know that I’ve certainly been that kind of procrastinator on more than one occasion.
By defining my goals in terms of my passions, I’ve been able to let go of the idea that I’m procrastinating on any number of things. I’ve been setting goals for myself and meeting them, and frankly, ignoring the stuff that doesn’t fit into those passions. My goal every day is to be the procrastinator who did something more important.
By setting this goal for myself, I make sure I’m procrastinating well. Choosing to work on the more important tasks each day means I can look back at the day and feel good about what I’ve done—not look back and feel guilty about what I didn’t do.
You can choose to do this too. If you have to procrastinate on something, choose to work on something of more importance as a substitute. It doesn’t matter what the more important item is. If you can objectively state to an outsider that you worked on something more important than what you didn’t work on, you will eventually get the important things done.
What about you? What type of procrastinator do you see yourself as most of the time? Do you think you can make this method work for you? Let me know in the comments!
