This week begins National Procrastination Week, but what does it mean?

Is National Procrastination Week supposed to be a time of leisure when we can feel good about putting things off, or is it a time when we’re supposed to bust out of our procrastinating ways and get our stuff done?

I’m not really sure about the answer yet, so I’ll give you a choice. Pick one and follow the instructions for a productive National Procrastination Week.

1. Let things go

Take the week off. Anything time sensitive should be delayed as long as possible. Maybe you’ll get lucky and someone else will do it for you.

2. Play catch up

Schedule every day with as many of those long put off tasks as you can remember and race the clock to get them done before the end of the week. Just think. If you finish even half of them, you’ll be halfway to done.

Sometimes I really feel like I have it all together. Sometimes though I feel like I’m still floundering in the depths of procrastination. If you stop by this site often enough, you’ll probably realize quickly that my post topics follow along that pattern.

Lately, I’ve been suffering from the fallout of following my own advice a little too closely. I still believe 100% that you have to find your passion if you want to find a true path out of perpetual procrastination. However, anything can be taken too far, and over the past six months, I’ve probably taken my passion too far. Continue reading this article »

“…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. Continue reading this article »

I’ve procrastinated long enough. I used to have several posts on this site about procrastination, which I lost during a transition. When I say lost, I mean I have a backup but I never restored it, and I’ve since upgraded WordPress many, many times. I don’t think it would be a good idea to try it now.

However, I’ve revisited some of the content, and I do think some of my previous posts had value, so the day has come where I’ve decided to add some of that content back to the site. So if you see something new pop up and it seems kind of like a rerun, maybe you’re right.

I’m not going to specify what’s new and what’s old, since most likely you aren’t going to notice. I mean, it’s been years…. and the site is so small that I doubt any of you have even been here before.

Since this site is about overcoming procrastination, I think it’s important that at some point I do some overcoming! :-)

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. Continue reading this article »