GO AHEAD, PROCRASTINATE!
by Lynn Colwell
I have a theory and it’s this: Procrastination can be good for you. OK, I know, you’ve heard just the opposite your whole life (especially ifprocrastination is your specialty). So have I. My clients tell me, “I’d be a successful writer if only I didn’t procrastinate.” Or, “I’m doing OK, but I could turn out so much more work if only I didn’t put stuff off.”
I’ll give you this: Procrastination provides a great excuse, a good whipping boy, for our frustrations and inability to accomplish what we say we want.
But is it the truth? Is procrastination the monster boulder on our path to success? In many cases, I don’t think so.
All of my clients are successful in some (often many) areas of their lives. They may be great parents, thrive in their day jobs, are wonderful gardeners, physically fit or terrific friends. Whatever they have accomplished has happened despite procrastination. In some cases, as one wise client pointed out to me, procrastination even serves as a kind of prioritization tool. Whatever is put off allows the person to move something else to the forefront. Sometimes they consider that activity worthwhile in its own right. More often they don’t. Yet, whatever activity we choose to do at a particular moment serves us in some way.
So what if, instead of believing that we can succeed only when we “beat” procrastination, we turn it around. What would it be like if we could succeed only if we procrastinate?
Is it possible that procrastination is simply one way to deal with the stresses in life? And if so, is it such a terrible habit?
People often procrastinate because the task they feel or believe they should be doing is onerous in some way. Writers fear the blank page, so they just don’t start. Maybe their dread of failure produces roadblocks. Perhaps they are simply bored. Whatever the reason, instead of writing, they find other things to do-clean up the desk, fold laundry, read to the kids, take a walk.
Personally, I can’t see the crime in this. You may not be accomplishing as much as you’d like to. You may be up at 4 a.m. polishing up the article that’s due tomorrow. You may be feeling overwhelmed because you’ve got five deadlines staring you in the face. But the likelihood is, if you accomplish in other areas of your life, you can do it with your writing as well.
From high school on, I was one of those annoying people who got all my work in on time. I was organized. I took pride in my calm, ordered approach. I never endured a single caffeine fueled all-nighter even in college. My best friend, on the other hand, left everything until the last minute. She made many a desperate call to me begging to remind her of the assignment. I often fell asleep to the rat-a-tat-tat of typewriter keys (this was in the sixties before computers) and woke up to the same rhythm. But the interesting thing is this: We both got good grades. She got her work done in what appeared to me to be a stress-inducing frenzy, but it worked for her.
That’s the point I’m making. It’s not always necessary to change habitual behaviors like procrastination in order to be successful. It could be both easier and more kind to embrace your procrastination.
In thinking about the role procrastination plays for you, here are some questions to consider:
* How does procrastination serve me?
* If I look at procrastination as a positive, what would that mean to me?
* If I didn’t procrastinate, what other ways might I deal with stress or boredom?
* What areas of my life am I successful in when I don’t procrastinate?
* What can I learn from that?
* If I choose to remain a procrastinator, what do I need to do in order to feel OK about that?
* Beating procrastination isn’t brain surgery. Once you know how it works in your life, you can decide whether you want to use it or lose it.
Take it from me. Choose the easier path. Then get to work.
(c) 2005, Lynn Colwell
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