Productive procrastination

I’m not a habitual procrastinator. But when there is time before the deadline for a project, sometimes I put it off. (You know, just like everyone else.)

Here are bad reasons to procrastinate:

• I hate this work. (It’s not going to be any less unpleasant later.)
• I don’t feel like working. (You’ll still feel lazy later.)
• I hate myself. (That is a problem, but it’s one you need solve by getting emotional help. You’ll probably still hate yourself later.)

Good reasons to procrastinate (and what to do about them)

Here are good reasons to procrastinate:

• You don’t know everything you need to know to do the work. (So go learn about it. Instead of trying to do the work, make a little project out of learning what you need to know.)
• You need information from somebody else. (So ask them for it. And also figure out what progress you can make without it.)
• You started, but got stuck. (So why did you get stuck? Find the reason on this list, and act appropriately.)
• You need some sort of idea or insight that you don’t yet have.

That last reason is the interesting one. Sometimes you have time but not inspiration. Starting to work on your project without it is going to result in something that is by definition uninspired.

I will often find in these situations that I think about the work and try to figure out the insight or inspiration — and fail. I have nothing.

I may do this several times a day, or several days in a row.

But when you do this, something interesting happens. Your subconscious mind starts working on the problem.

And you may find that when you come back to it later, you do have the missing inspiration or insight.

It may seem to you or others like you’re not working. But you are, just not consciously.

Don’t just fool yourself

If you procrastinate continuously and don’t end up with the insights you need, you’re just making excuses.

But if you do this enough, you may find that procrastination — and letting the ideas “percolate” — tends to generate insights you wouldn’t have at first.

You could make this part of your process, assuming you get in the habit of allowing your subconscious creative mind to work on ideas when you’re apparently doing other things.

That’s productive procrastination. And it’s a habit worth cultivating.