How to Fall in Love with Procrastination (Blog)

[Caledfwlch]

Originally Posted by andreelerowes

<grammar police>These two sentences should begin with "whose" (who's = who is): Who’s Agenda Are You Fulfilling? Who’s deadlines are you really working on?</grammar police>

Only letting you know, because I'm under the impression that you do care about these things. Do correct me if I'm wrong. =)

Thanks for the reminder of something I know very well on the inside but don't always allow myself to acknowledge. Someone wrote a similarly-themed article a while back; I don't think it's available online anymore. It was about Leonardo da Vinci and procrastination. Here's the quote I culled from it:

Here's the article

How to procrastinate like Leonardo da Vinci • Psychology Evolution

[AHAInterestingTimes]

Excellent article. I've had the exact same sentiment lately - if you are procrastinating that means the work you are supposed to be doing isn't that exciting to you, so why bother with it at all?

I think this is a matter of vibrations. Early in my personal development "career" I wanted things like rising early, doing a set number of todo items every, have all my ducks in a row, and to never slack off on my various work/school chores. Nowadays, I can do those things if I want to, but I just don't have the time to think about that kind of low-level crap. I have better things to do

I think it's a sign of the times too. In 2005, everyone was talking about productivity and lifehacks. If you had a zillion things to do what you needed to do was to personally learn and invest in an arcane management system like GTD and organize every little thing down to the ridiculous level. Today, the Zeitgeist in the personal development community is more toward lifestyle design and creative chaos. If you have a ton of boring widgets to crank, you either ignore them and let the chips fall where they may, or you hire a virtual assistant to do them for you.

Also, I think there are two types of procrastination. The low-vibration kind where a person is just trying to spin their wheels without doing anything. And there's the kind you described which is really not procrastination in the traditional sense at all. It should rightly be called un-structured value-creating work 'cause that's what it is. In fact we should try to ONLY do this kind of work, since it is the kind of work that requires our own personal Unique Selling Point, our unique uncopyable ability. Anyone can crank widgets.

Procrastinators of the world unite!

[ChrisG]

WOW. Such a breath of fresh air. Thank you very much! This one really resonated with me, and at the time I read it I was actually feeling very unmotivated about a project I thought I should have been working on.

It's a great perspective to consider, especially if you feel like there's something you ought to be doing but can't bring yourself to do. By just letting go, you can actually have a life. What you do while procrastinating will either be productive in itself, or can help you get in touch with your truer desires and passions.

But- Surely you can't be doing this all the time? When feeling like you want to procrastinate, you just do it? How will you ever put in the effort you need to get particularly hard or challenging tasks/projects done? I appreciate the faith-based logic (as opposed to control-based) that you'll get done what you need to eventually, but even so. Will your life become a mess of unfinished projects with few finished ones to show for it?

My forms of procrastination are usually not very productive ones (WoW, Xbox, surfing, Facebook, YouTube) but I'm getting into drawing and cycling now so those are two good avenues to go down.

(Slightly off-topic) I could even make money from them at a later stage (if I so chose) but I'm not sure how I could turn cycling for leisure into a profitable activity. Writing books about beautiful cycle routes is an option, but it's the only one I've had so far

Anyway, beautiful post and very life-affirming. One of the most life-affirming posts you've done so far

[SarahLuvzYu]

Wow this seriously hit home, I actually feel really emotional about it. It's like this article was written specifically for me. I procrastinate a lot on assignments I don't care about. What do I do instead? I usually end up editing clips together on Sony Vegas & making a cool video. Or I watch movies or my fave TV show which end up giving me ideas for more videos. Or I research my favourite Japanese fashions & come up for ideas for photo shoots or just stuff I want to wear. It makes sense now that this could benefit me in the long run.

Funny thing was I was procrastinating while reading that article. I'm supposed to be editing an essay

Thank you so much for this article Steve, I really really appreciate it.

[JexX]

Steve are you aware of the law of vibration? People are either moving towards or away from their goals.

Anyways, present results dictate where one has been. Their present results, however, have absolutely nothing to do with their future results. Procrastination can only be good if the bad results are identified but the idea of thoughts related to achieving one's goals takes over and utilized. However, if one is emotionally involved in their present results (Which most people are...in fact most people base their emotions on their present results) and the results are bad (Which is a common outcome to a procrastinator) then those bad results manifest bad emotions and you have more bad determining how one acts and those actions will determine the result. Very rarely does one hit the breaking point to where they turn negative emotions into positive energy, it is inevitable it will eventually happen...but until it does one is only existing, not living.

[joanmhe]

Great take on procrastination - I can see this in my daughter (less in myself) - her procrastination leads her down paths that are far more interesting and creative than her school work. But I strongly disagree with this "Through shoplifting I pushed myself to face my fear again and again and to control my adrenaline response, so I could maintain my composure even when taking big risks. That has been of tremendous benefit to me ever since, especially in business. I really love that I’m able to look at something that scares me and motivate myself to plow right through it without freezing up. It’s very unlikely I’d be doing public speaking today if I’d never learned those courage lessons via shoplifting." I think there are plenty of other ways to learn those courage lessons, even public speaking itself. I was a rather fearful and timid person, and forced myself to learn to speak up, then took up rock-climbing, which definitely helped me with public speaking. Anyway, at that point in your life it seems that you would have sought out some activity to satisfy the need for danger. I have read somewhere that procrastinators are often also adrenaline junkies.

[John Griggs]

When I procrastinate, one of the things I do is play chess online. In the 1990s, I used to play chess in tournaments for cash prizes. Reading Steve's newest article, it is a signal that I should get back into doing that.

[ColinH]

Thank you Steve for stimulating my intelligence again.

I have considered this post, suspended judgement and embraced it, and came out wiser. And I'm happy to announce that I'm quite sure procrastination is not all that it's made out to be.

Procrastination has its uses. When I'm hell-bent on the road to hell, delaying a little (hell, delaying totally) is a much better decision than forging ahead. Thus, if I'm misaligned with truth, procrastination is my sub-conscious way of reminding myself - 'Wait a minute. Don't go there.'

But what if I was the best lover procrastination ever had? Forever stalling, I would idle my life away. I would lose my livelihood, lose my friends, and finally, one day, delaying even food and drink, I would lose my life. In reality, this is unlikely to happen, as the desires for food and water scream far louder than any human desire to procrastinate ever can. But it is entirely conceivable that someone who is an extreme procrastinator could be forever chasing food and sex, and never climbing Maslow's pyramid, never achieving security, friendship, self-esteem and self-actualization.

So what do I make of Steve's defense of procrastination? It was clever. I had to re-read it twice before I realized what was happening.

When Steve forsook college and pursued shoplifting, he was actually seeking truth. It may have been the most 'real' thing to him at the time. And once he did that, what did he do? "Through shoplifting I pushed myself to face my fear again and again and to control my adrenaline response, so I could maintain my composure even when taking big risks. " That speaks of enormous power. The pursuit of truth, combined with power, is what delivered the benefits.

What if Steve had just procrastinated, first on college, then on shoplifting, then on whatever came after that? In all likelihood, He wouldn't have got the benefits. So it is not stalling that helped him.

Because Steve sought the truth, he also picked up many other truths - such as learning to love himself unconditionally, choosing a better path (and yet that path was so dim compared to what he is today), and gaining freedom. These are the results of his ardent search for truth, not the results of procrastination. If he had not had the oppurtunity to forsake college, but he still ardently pursued truth in the way he did, he would have grown tremendously in some other way.

In hindsight, we have 20-20 vision, and hindsight is what we read about in success stories and self-help books, perhaps strengthening the illusion that all we need to succeed is to find the 'right way' (conveniently located on chapter 19), and then power through. In reality, we seldom know the right way. We have to play with trial and error, just like Edison did when he found 200 ways how not to create a light bulb before he finally found one that gave light. When we understand this, power doesn't seem so powerful anymore. And that's because it isn't. Power must be combined with truth. Power combined with the wrong truths produced the likes of Hitler. If we just power through, most probably we will have gone off the bend.

So, what I've got out of this article - is not that procrastination is good, but that I have to temper my power with truth. If I'm chasing something, and my gut feels something is wrong, maybe I'd better pause and find out if I'm following the best path I can at the moment. I wouldn't want to bypass the oppurtunity of a lifetime!

[ellie]

Yes I think procrastination can be a good thing too.

I noticed a pattern in my past, where I was going for certain jobs I would always inevitably run late (and I felt horrible about it, as the books always said "never run late to a job interview). Was it because I was lazy, unorganised, not smart enough? ...I came to the realisation of "no". Basically it was my way of blocking these jobs, which I wasn't suited to. The jobs that always felt aligned with, I always arrived early to. It was my bodies way of telling me something, without spelling it out to me.

I do think my procrastination of late, on certain things, is fear of success or fear of failure, but I do try and get the icky things out of the way, so I can have a clear mind and enjoy activities I really want to work on. But sometimes my procrastination is just about me needing a rest, and having some fun!

I played on the wii fit tonight that was some good procrastination

[roxyruby]

I've just gotten carried away "procrastinating" talking on the Steve Pavlina Forums All Night again, what do you think I'm subconsciously doing this for that will be a benefit in my future?

[inri]

Originally Posted by roxyruby

I've just gotten carried away "procrastinating" talking on the Steve Pavlina Forums All Night again, what do you think I'm subconsciously doing this for that will be a benefit in my future?

Kind of funny isn't it, how conditioned most of us have become to negating the value of pure and simple enjoyment within the present moment. I'm finally getting to the point myself where I can clearly see the profound value in engaging within an activity just for the sheer enjoyment of it.

Lol...when I find myself really stuck & intent upon making sure I'm doing something to benefit my future I tell myself this; Each time we allow ourselves to relax into the moment in pure joy, we're paving the way (through law of attraction) for MORE of these moments to occur in the future.

[honbloke]

Thanks for writing this article. It greatly resonates with me.

When I was in junior college, I had terrible low self esteem and and spent the bulk of time trying to seek approval from my friends. I procrastinate a lot when it comes to my studies. In the end, I flunk my A levels and this dealt a big blow to me. Living in a Asian society where there is huge pressure to excel academically, most people didn't want to associate with me and I blamed myself for a lot.

However, because of this, I learned to accept my own flaws. At an early age, I realized it was a huge mistake to conform to society and people's expectation. Getting a well respected job but working 8 to 5 doesn't seem so appealing to me anymore. As a result, I discovered a passion for writing and learning a third language at the same time. I hope to start my own online business once I have the money to do so I will avoid the dreaded 8 to 5.

Since I was never well-liked by most of my peers anyway, making changes was even easier since I don't conform to society's standard anyway. If I had done well for my As, I probably get a degree for the sake of looking educated and respected in front of other people's eyes. I'll live for others and not for myself.

Thanks Steve for the post.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by roxyruby

I've just gotten carried away "procrastinating" talking on the Steve Pavlina Forums All Night again, what do you think I'm subconsciously doing this for that will be a benefit in my future?

To me it suggests you're feeling under-socialized in your life. It tells me you're looking form more time social time with friends. Doing lots of socializing online can be a good step, especially if you use it to transition to more offline socializing, like meeting people from these forums face to face at some point.

I went through a phase like that when I was 22. I got really involved with a local BBS. Eventually that led to new friends, some dating, going dancing, and meeting Erin too. The more I socialized online, the more my offline social life expanded too.

I think it would have been a bit stagnant though if that socializing didn't transition from online to offline. Online socializing is a bit limiting by itself.

I still use this approach today. I do lots of online socializing, and it acts as a wonderful feeder for offline social opportunities.

Tonight, for example, I'm going to see Rachelle's play with the Fringe festival in Montreal. This is my first trip to Canada. It was largely spawned from online socializing creating offline opportunities.

[dunnolol]

Some weeks ago, read "Overcoming Procrastination"
Today, read "How to Fall in Love With Procrastination"
At first I was , but then I

Hmm... My procrastination is bad. I failed one class, barely made it in some other class. In short, I'm in a bad situation. My parents are disappointed, naturally. However, one class I'm really good at is programming. But, since I'm in engineering course (how did I get here, anyway?), programming doesn't get much attention.

What did I do to procrastinate? Playing old games, a lot. Watched a lot of science documentaries and read books about science and philosophy. Some weeks, I'd read comics non-stop. I don't think I ever studied seriously. Sometime, I'll play around with Python or C++.


"My original plan was to earn my degree in computer science, then maybe go on to earn a Ph.D. Afterwards I could get a nice job as a computer programmer somewhere. That was my “should” path."
How long have you been spying on me?!!! That's exactly my plan, although mine is engineering instead of computer science.

"When I got expelled from UC Berkeley after 3 semesters — I think that in my final semester, my GPA actually started with the decimal point"
*spits coffee* Seriously?!

"You had to procrastinate on something to read this article, didn’t you?"



Thanks Steve. I think I'm going to try and design some games and see where it'll lead.

[Julia.Ru]

And what if the only thing I like to do when I procrastinate is falling asleep or simply lying in bed? Not that I'm terribly tired... Of course, it could be depression and all that, but I've decided to look at this problem as though it were procrastination.

The question is, where could it lead me, what useful lessons can I learn from this? I can even see how it can help one if one's procrastinating watching TV, but while I'm asleep, I'm doing nothing, only watching dreams that I usually fail to remember))

[Julia.Ru]

No, seriously, I just can't solve it by myself: what if the only activity I like to do now is just sleep? Where could this kind of procrastination lead me?

[roxyruby]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

To me it suggests you're feeling under-socialized in your life. It tells me you're looking form more time social time with friends. Doing lots of socializing online can be a good step, especially if you use it to transition to more offline socializing, like meeting people from these forums face to face at some point.

I went through a phase like that when I was 22. I got really involved with a local BBS. Eventually that led to new friends, some dating, going dancing, and meeting Erin too. The more I socialized online, the more my offline social life expanded too.

I think it would have been a bit stagnant though if that socializing didn't transition from online to offline. Online socializing is a bit limiting by itself.

I still use this approach today. I do lots of online socializing, and it acts as a wonderful feeder for offline social opportunities.

Tonight, for example, I'm going to see Rachelle's play with the Fringe festival in Montreal. This is my first trip to Canada. It was largely spawned from online socializing creating offline opportunities.

oh if i had $5000 spare or something I would be meeting them face to face

I tell them you're welcome to come to my house, then they're like, "I would if you paid for the plane ticket!" lol

you had the internet at that time?

[roxyruby]

Originally Posted by Julia.Ru

No, seriously, I just can't solve it by myself: what if the only activity I like to do now is just sleep? Where could this kind of procrastination lead me?

why not test it? plan to do nothing but enjoy nothing but sleep. For a few days or something. Sleep in all day. I bet you'll eventually get so bored that you won't even be able to keep sleeping all day!

[inri]

Originally Posted by Julia.Ru

No, seriously, I just can't solve it by myself: what if the only activity I like to do now is just sleep? Where could this kind of procrastination lead me?

Perhaps if you just went with the flow of this without judging it as good or bad you might come to a perspective that life does not necessarily have to be about 'accomplishing' something ......that instead, just 'being' is sometimes enough...?