The power of procrastination

Sometimes I don't procrastinate and I start doing the "important task" immediately. After spending hours and hours, doing irreparable damage, I realise that I should never have started doing it at all.

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I am just going to come out and say it. I am a master procrastinator.

Procrastination is the habit of delaying an important task, usually by focusing on less urgent, more enjoyable, and easier activities instead.

Most people would call me a liar for saying so. Sure I may seem very productive and I get many things done. But what you don’t see, is how much time I waste.

Here’s how I waste my time:

  • I watch too many Netflix series
  • I spend too much time in the shower
  • I cannot say no to a coffee date
  • I go down Youtube rabbit holes
  • Sometimes I don’t do anything - I simply exist.

Sometimes procrastination can be a good thing

We can probably agree that at first glance, procrastination seems bad. However, in my experience, there is some good that comes from “wasting time”.

To delay a task is safer

There have been very instances where I knew I had to do something important, I put it on my to-do list, and then I start procrastinating.

I think of it in the shower, while I am driving, while I am watching a series on Netflix. Slowly I churn about the task at hand. And oftentimes, before I get to the “important task”, I figure out that there is a very good reason why I shouldn’t do it.

Versus

Sometimes I don’t procrastinate and I start doing the “important task” immediately. After spending hours and hours, doing irreparable damage, I realise that I should never have started doing it at all.

It would have been much better to procrastinate about doing it first.

When it is a good idea to procrastinate

  • When it’s not exactly clear what you need to do
  • When you want to send an angry email/text
  • When someone insults you and you want to respond
  • When waiting a day, has no immediate negative consequences.

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