In this post you will find
What is productive procrastination?
Productive procrastination is a process that helps someone to manage their thoughts and emotions
towards tasks that are yet to be completed. Often, when we procrastinate, we tend to harbor negative feelings
against ourselves and that ends up making us feel unproductive.
Procrastination can make you neglect your workload and be less productive, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Types of procrastinators:
People who procrastinate quite often don’t actually procrastinate on their work. Rather they are waiting for some extra inspiration to get that work done. They are not generally lazy but the things they do while procrastinating will decide if they are productive or not.
There are two types of procrastinators:
Constructive procrastinators:
People procrastinate on their work as they are looking for some inspiration or that jolt to get that work done. This is not necessarily wrong but they need to leverage this time doing work that would help them find that extra inspiration. A constructive procrastinator does exactly this.
Destructive procrastinator:
People who procrastinate by doing unproductive activities such as playing games and using social media
Procrastinators often follow the wrong path, they try to minimize their efforts and commitments which
ultimately ends up destroying important sources of motivation. This is how a destructive procrastinator thinks.
Here are some psychological reasons why people procrastinate, procrastination psychology.
Do you procrastinate? Here are a few ways to leverage it productively.
Ways for productive procrastination
Many people would have heard of stories like,
“I had spent a few days on this one feature that wasn’t really that complex. Most of the time was spent banging my head on a couple of bugs I had introduced. Instead of putting in long hours like I was used to, I went home instead. The next day I had an epiphany, put all the code I had written aside, and rewrote everything in a couple of hours.” – Professor Beekum Blog
There is also an Edward Young Quote – Procrastination is the thief of time.
The travel to home and a good night’s sleep were all it took for him to figure stuff out. He did not necessarily put off work to do something completely useless. The walk and sleep gave his brain the time to revitalize and get that moment of epiphany.
Here are ways for you to procrastinate productively:
Plan your day
Most people try to block out time for doing important work and studies that inevitably end up in the
calendars. This is often called time blocking, so you can use a time tracking schedule for yourself. The
important thing is that you may avoid doing work for a while, but ultimately you have a schedule that will
help you go about your day.
Break your tasks into smaller parts
Getting started on a task can be daunting. Breaking down the tasks to do it in smaller bits isn’t exactly fun,
but it does help to lessen the stress, and once you get the hang of it, it becomes a day-to-day routine and
saves up on the time you use to procrastinate making it productive.
Take a walk or do exercises
This tip applies to any kind of exercise and physical activity. It could be riding a bicycle, swimming, or a jog.
You can utilize the time you use to procrastinate to get up and do something physical to get you motivated.
It’s good for your health and can also help with your cognition.
Spend time with important people
Spending time with your friends or family and having someone to share all your thoughts and feelings with is
a great way to use this time and is also a healthy way to take a break from your work life. Having the chance
to speak to people is the best way to destress yourself and make use of the extra time you have. Moreover, it
helps you to stay focused once you’re done socializing, which makes you more productive at work.
Read books
Reading books is a good way to procrastinate. You can spend your time gaining knowledge and boost your
understanding. It can be anything: novels, ebooks, newspapers, or even business resources.
Closing:
There is always the negative side of procrastination where people don’t get any work done. When trying to start a business or work on their craft, people just keep thinking about the different ways their work could pan out. They are sometimes terrified by these possibilities and naturally don’t work on them. Always keep in mind that procrastination kills dreams.
This is the main reason behind this article so that you can get leverage your procrastination into something productive.
