You heard me right…Procrastination is Good!
We have been told and taught that procrastination is bad. You have most likely heard these famous quotes, ‘Never put off till tomorrow what can be done today’. ‘You may delay but time will not’ and on and on
Here is one for us procrastinators: ‘Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time’ and ‘you can’t just turn on creativity like a faucet’.
Now you might be interested to know that there are two types of procrastination, Active and Passive. I sense your surprise. Would you like to learn more?
Active Procrastination is delaying working on the task while mentally mulling it over in your mind. You have a task or project you need to work on maybe it daunting or difficult. It’s on the daily list but you put it off; however, not completely. You are mentally working on it. Allowing yourself time to sleep on it and think on it. This is Active Procrastination
Passive Procrastination is not acting or thinking on it and you find yourself wasting time instead of working on the task.
Active Procrastination is good and Passive Procrastination is bad
I will tell you that I find myself in both camps and until I began researching this, I thought all procrastination was bad. I, now, know the truth and so do you. I found this knowledge gave me relief and comfort to be me. To solve problems and complete tasks my way. I can be an active procrastinator and that is OKAY.
Here are some examples of good procrastination:
Sometimes procrastinating on a task really identifies if it is important to you. IF it is really important to you, you would be you be all over it, getting it done, right? Sure you would. But if it isn’t really important then let’s just sit on it and see what happens. Take a day or two to assess the energy of the idea or task…let it marinate so to speak. In the mean time, think about how it can be accomplished or even improved upon. Speaking on improving the task….
Active Procrastination can allow you to become more creative
I really love using active procrastination for this and it has helped me to be more effective. I love to think about and use creative sleep to form ideas and strategies to complete a daunting task. It is amazing how creative the mind can be when we allow a difficult task to restfully sit for a day or two.
Now you have made time and space to create new strategies and ideas to complete the task easier. This leads to better decisions and successful completions.
So these are a few reasons why active procrastination is good, you might have a few of your own.
So what do we do about the bad procrastination?
If you find yourself on the couch looking at Social Media instead of working on the task, say HI!
Yup that is me when I am struggling with bad procrastination; sitting on the couch scrolling through Instagram. This would be a sign of bad procrastination. Funny thing is, I am not aware that I am procrastinating. Being aware of the procrastination action is very important to develop self-awareness.
First, to recognize the procrastination behavior and secondly, why? What is it about THIS task that so distasteful or fearful? I find that most bad procrastination is fear based. There is something about the task that scares you. The fear can be so subtle and familiar, it goes without recognition.
Is it a fear of being judged? I am not sure I can do this well so, if I mess it up, I will be embarrassed. Solution, do some research on the task and make a decision. Can I do this or should I ask for help. Often at first glance, tasks seem harder than they really are. After a little research, on, YouTube, for example, you will learn if the task is in your skill set or not. Now you have the information needed to make a decision. And it is off the list.
Or the project is HUGE OMG, I need a month off to complete this task.
Is the task just to overwhelming to even think about? And there I am scrolling on the couch. The solution is to just break it down into smaller bites. Sounds easy doesn’t it? NO! I used to say no too. Now I ask myself, “what small thing could I do today that would help with this task”. I like mind maps.
Mind Maps are relaxing, Just Saying…
An example of Mind Map: Last Christmas, Teri (my wife) tells me every bedroom will be occupied with kids and their spouses and a grandchild, so we need to get the house in order. I found this to be Overwhelming. This project had a lot of moving parts with closets being cleared and stuff needing to be taken to good will and garage needing to be organized to handle more stuff being moved from bedrooms and on and on. It was a nightmare. So I took a day and created a mind map. I don’t work well with lists. I broke everything down into little tasks with dates. And it all got done. Just having the mind map gave me relief. I wasn’t overwhelmed anymore. Instead, I was excited and focused to complete each task and cross it off. By the way, at the top of the plan, I wrote “The Kuhns Family Christmas”. Some will get the reference. Haha. Yes, Christmas Vacation is one of my favorite Christmas movies.
In closing, there you have it, The Good and Bad of Procrastination. If there was an Ugly of Procrastination, it would be to continue scrolling on the couch. Instead use this information, face the issue and make a decision. Self awareness is all you need to decide if it is Active Good or Passive bad.
Happy Active Procrastinating
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