I’ve always used procrastination as a power tool. For example, I use it as motivation to clean the house. All I need to do is start writing and the laundry will magically take care of itself.
Which brings us to the topic of productive procrastination (that shall henceforth be known as PP, hee hee). Can we actually leverage our lazy tendencies to get more done? Or is it doing us more harm than good?
Let’s find out.
The different procrastinations
I know you already know what procrastination is. After all, it only takes being human to know what it’s like to put off your important work.
You know the drill: have a task to complete, choose to watch all 10 seasons of Friends instead, panic a day before your deadline, done. That’s typical procrastination. Nothing new there.
Then there’s PP: you’ve got a big project due but you choose to organise your sock drawer, alphabetise your spice cabinet or, in my case, chop vegetables for prep (hey, it’s therapeutic). Then you panic a day before deadline and the rest is pretty similar.
Sure, you’re still putting off work with PP, but the substituted tasks aren’t bad by any standards. That’s especially true when you compare them to falling down the YouTube rabbit hole or window shopping on Amazon.
Is PP sounding super good to you right now? Maybe you’ve finally found a justification for all the work you’ve been avoiding. And maybe you want to upgrade from a small PP to a big one.
Well, not so fast. Let me present you with the pros and cons so you can come to a more informed decision.
Con #1: You can’t be present
I love the house-cleaning joke. In fact, I love the horse-beating trope of writing and procrastination. Need to clean the house for guests that are coming over? Just write a novel. Ha ha. So funny. Until I realise that I can’t clean the house unless I write.
Plus, it kills my ability to live in the moment too. I would promise myself I’d write a chapter, then end up vacuuming the rug, all the while thinking about the work I’ve yet to do.
The only way I can be present is by doing the exact thing I’m supposed to. And if I’m constantly chastising myself for not keeping my own word, then what’s to be of my self-image?
It also removes deep thinking, because you can’t get into flow when you simply skim the surface of your work.
Plus, attention residue is a thing, and splitting your attention between two tasks for an hour doesn’t mean you’ll get an hour’s worth of work done. You’ll also have to factor in the wastage. And the more you switch between tasks, the more time you lose to the procrastination gods.
Con #2: You become better at procrastination
Believe it or not, procrastinating isn’t a skill worth celebrating.
But we could get so good at it that we end up being better at pretending to work than actually working. Which is why having competence at avoidance is a curse you don’t want to be stuck with.
How do I know? Because I’m rushing this post out today, hours before it’s supposed to be published. This is despite having had an entire week to write. What did I do with all that time? I don’t know. Mopped the floor, I guess.
Plus, when you get better at substituting actual work for ad-hoc tasks, you’ll tend to be that person who sucks at all trades, and the master of none.
Con #3: Anxiety becomes a regular visitor
What happens when you have a pending task that you constantly ignore? Your conscience starts losing faith in you. Prolong the habit and you could very well perpetuate the cycle of anxiety and low self-esteem.
Because let’s face it. You can have a neat desk and an organised spice rack, but that won’t matter if your novel remains a to-do for eight years.
Some of our goals may be arbitrary. And it may seem self-indulgent to chase them. But once you set a goal, you have to at least try to reach it. Otherwise, your conscience will remind you of how little you can trust yourself, and boy does self-doubt suck.
Pro #1: You get to salvage the bad days
Because no matter how much you’ve procrastinated, you can always have a backup task that you did for the day.
Yeah, you may not have filed the taxes, but it feels great to kick back to a clean home. Or you may not have worked out, but at least you got the groceries done, right?
We’re human, and we can’t operate on the same level every day (which, by the way, I discuss in this post how we can optimise both good and bad phases in life). So it’s great to have at least procrastinated on a task you can be proud of.
Couple that with the method of living your days in quadrants and you’ll always find a way to better your day. All thanks to your PP.
Pro #2: It’s a good way to build routine
I spit so much game about cleaning the house that you’d think I’m a disciplined homemaker. Nope. I just write a lot.
This is what Atomic Habits author James Clear calls habit stacking. It involves applying a new habit on top of an established one.
Now, I know he didn’t mean for me to butcher the term like this, and he probably won’t condone this, but that’s how I build new habits. I just add my new habits to when I procrastinate, and boy, do I procrastinate. A lot. Heck, I just opened a new tab to browse for chef knives while writing this paragraph.
Still, if you’re a major procrastinator like I am, you can at least use your PP to build a new habit you’ve been meaning to. And if you discover that your new habit is more procrastination-worthy, then yay! At least your initial task will now seem less painful.
Pro #3: You can hit your day running
Even though your substitute tasks aren’t truly your life goals, it’s still thrilling to stack wins in your day. There’s just something magical about getting things done before everyone else wakes up.
I’ve found that I generate more momentum when I start with small things. Like putting the dishes back in the drawer, or wiping down my bathroom mirror.
Those tasks may seem trivial, but we don’t function in a vacuum, and sometimes all it takes is that one tiny nudge to get the productivity going.
On the days I really don’t feel like working out, I’ll tell myself to just do 15 minutes of easy exercises. And I won’t even push myself to sweat. What often results is a full hour of working out, with the extra energy to tackle the rest of my day.
It’s often the things I do outside of writing that get me to actually write.
Beware the pitfall of busywork
On the flip side of PP, you have busywork: the act of tackling seemingly-productive tasks which only make your life busier, not better.
That’s the equivalent of devouring self-improvement posts without actually taking action. Or brushing your teeth seventeen times a day. Sure, the tasks themselves may be good for you, but that doesn’t mean more is always better.
Other less-obvious but insidious forms of busywork include doing admin tasks that could be automated, taking on unimportant paperwork, or setting up meetings just to seem productive.
My revelation with busywork came to me during my time as a copywriter for a tech school. You typically wear different hats when working in a startup, and one of mine was to subtitle videos.
I’d spend hours every day, thinking I was contributing to the company, only to have my boss tell me to focus on the 80% that mattered. It was then that I learned how easy it was to assume I was productive just because I was busy.
Use your PP
Sometimes, taking action is much better than theorising the perfect solution. A little bit of wabi-sabi never hurt anyone, after all.
The point I want to make is this: don’t get carried away with the method. You could use PP to trick yourself into action, or you could end up wasting time on busywork.
But if you remember to stay mindful of why you’re doing what you’re doing, you’ll be golden.
I guess that’s why I managed to finish this post. Because I finally decided to stop playing with my PP.
Sign up for the newsletter so you can find new ways to play with your PP. You’ll also get a free guide on how to grow your WordPress audience through the art of comments. Join the community today!
Stuart Danker 
I’d love to hear your thoughts!