Here’s another way to use procrastination to your advantage: even if a task is important, sometimes the reason we put it off is because it will require a certain amount of energy or a certain amount of uninterrupted time so we can really focus on the task at hand.
If you don’t currently have the energy or a big block of time to devote to the project, it is ok to put it off as long as you’re not on a deadline. In fact, putting it off can sometimes be beneficial because you can use the time to work through some of the details in your head. That’s actually part of the process, so you’ll be working even though it doesn’t feel like you’re working.
But here’s the thing: you shouldn’t waste the time while you’re procrastinating. Instead of sitting around on the couch eating Munchos and watching TV, you can use your “procrastination time” to knock some other, lower-level tasks off your list. That’s why it’s important to have both a time rating and energy rating next to the items on your to-do list.
If you don’t feel like doing any “real work” right now, use the time to throw a load of clothes in the washer, re-pot that plant that’s outgrown its current container, or clean out the medicine cabinet.
Even if the task isn’t work-related and has nothing to do with the project you’re putting off, the process of task completion will help to energize you so that maybe you will feel like tackling the project. Or, at the very least, it’ll help shorten your to-do list so that you have fewer excuses to procrastinate next time.
Another (and even better) way to approach this is to break the project down into as many steps as possible, then do one of those steps. That way, you’ve actually made progress on the project. You’ve moved the ball. And that progress could create momentum that will allow you to do another step. And then another.
Some problems worth themselves out.
While procrastinating is usually something to be avoided, sometimes the best course of action is to kick the can down the road a little bit. In fact, sometimes when we put something off, the problem works itself out. People who are asking us for assistance figure out a solution on their own.
Few things are as bad as we imagined.
Of course, most stuff shouldn’t be postponed. Have you ever put off, and put off, and put off something only to finally do it and realize it was quick, easy, and no big deal? For example, getting a colonoscopy. The problem with this sort of procrastination is that it weighs on you – you know you’ll have to do it eventually, but you imagine again and again how horrible the experience will be – it’s excruciating. In reality, it’s no big deal, so why not get it over with and skip the dread?