May 16, 2006
Procrastination
Welcome to Scraps of Mind. I'm delighted to see you. Why not check out the site, and if you like what you see, subscribe to my RSS feed and get daily updates delivered to you. If you're not sure what the RSS thing is, then check out this 'RSS made easy' post. Thanks for visiting and I look forward to seeing more of you.
I would have written about this sooner, but I kept on putting it off.
Procrastination is one of my besetting sins. Over the years I have invented a squillion ways to avoid starting something I really don’t want to do…but should. I like to think that I’ve now developed it into an art form.
I find I can use procrastination as a tool to get so much done. Yes it’s true, procrastination can be a productivity tool!
Example:
It’s Saturday and I have to write a document for work on Monday. I’m not really in the right mood for it (not sure what the right mood for writing a work document looks like) and I know it’s going to be a grind. So I won’t start on it straight away. I need some time to prepare myself, get myself in the zone. I know I’m procrastinating and I feel guilty, so I do a bunch of housework to ease the guilt. Usually I’ll pick a grotty job or one I’ve been putting off (that’s right… procrastinating). And before the afternoon is gone I’ll have managed to complete at least one daggy chore that would otherwise never have been done. Of course it’ll be too late to start on the work document because I’ll need to be fresh to work on that and now it’s too late in the afternoon. So I’ll wait until Sunday and then I’ll really get stuck into it…
You get the idea. So I used to think procrastination was a fault, but now I’ve decided to look at it as a productivity tool.
Now I’m going to take a look at my other faults and see if I can’t turn them into desirable traits by looking at them from another angle.
Well, maybe I’ll do that tomorrow, when I’m in the right mood…
Stumble it!
11 Responses to “Procrastination”
It made me smile :o) Do you think you could teach me how to look at things from a different angle like that? I reckon I’d be really stunningly pretty if I could do that ;o)
By Jane on May 16, 2006
Wow, I never realized that procrastination could be so productive. You must have a different strain than I because I get nothing of note done while procrastinating - other than reading people’s blog entries, browsing the scrap galleries and generally wasting time. I need to look into rechanneling my energy. Oh, wait, I am frequently putting off the house work. That would explain my lack of productivity, wouldn’t it?
By Linda on May 16, 2006
Holy mackerel, I think we were separated at birth. I get so much stuff done when I’m trying to avoid doing other stuff! Thing is, I never looked at it that way before–see what a service you’ve provided by introducing the world to your new angle?
By Judyy on May 17, 2006
Wish I had thought about listing procrastination as one of my faults! It’s funny how much I have in common with other bloggers!
By loony on May 17, 2006
Why are you reading this comment? Are you just putting off your work?! hee hee Great post!
By Heather on May 17, 2006
Hey Karen….I procrastinate too…much too much….I definitely feel your angst.
AND……
I don’t bite the acrylics - I wear them because when I don’t I bite my natural nails ….
By Sharia on May 17, 2006
Sound like maybe you’ve turn your procrastinating bad habit into an art form!!
By Dawn on May 18, 2006
Great post!!!
By Artcmom(Trish) on May 18, 2006
Great point. And there’s a great post at ambivablog on why procrastination is good for the soul:
http://ambivablog.typepad.com/ambivablog/2005/04/why_dont_we_do_.html
From that post:
Procrastination is one of the signs of the soul at work, undermining and sabotaging the grandiose aspirations of the hero-ego, perhaps so that something real can happen, or not happen, as it, not I, wish.
By Alexander Kjerulf on May 28, 2006
Over at Pschology today is an article about the “p” word (no not that one). http://www.psychologytoday.com/rss/pto-20060324-000001.html
“Say the word procrastination and heads snap to attention. Procrastination is the one personal flaw that every student and adult in our time-pressured culture openly admits to. Misery has oodles of company.”
Quite a good article.
By Thatch on Jun 6, 2006
Well judging from the amount of interest this post has created I’m starting to think that maybe the non-procrastinators (whatever the collecting name for than it) are the ones who are out of step.
By Karen on Jun 6, 2006