How to Fall in Love with Procrastination (Blog)

[Savage]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

How to Fall in Love with Procrastination

[Lucidism]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

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

Yep!

[Criseyde]

Wow. That was incredibly relevant.

Also, my username is from Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde.

[James81]

Wowie wow wow wow.

It's as if you've been actively reading my mind for the past several weeks (or my posts lol) and wrote that article directly to me.

You must be Houdini or some kind of wizard or something.

Seriously, that article resonated pretty strongly with me. Great post. Great perspective.

[Andrew Brunelle]

Ha ha ha ha, great article, Steve. I have dropped out of college 3 times and finally realized it wasn't for me. It took me 2 majors and 2 different colleges to figure this out. Now I am a comedian, a writer, and a philosopher of sorts. I've procrastinated and caused disappointments all around, but now I'm earning a good salary with my current job and blogging and doing comedy on the side.

Procrastination is a way of putting off what you do not want to do. A procrastinator is someone who would rather be doing something else when they feel forced to do something. I like what you say rock bottom was what set you free to do what you want. Fight Club? "It is only after we've lost everything that we are free to do anything."

Excellent article, love the title. Funny as well, with your trademark wit.

[invisiblehouses]

Maybe you could do what the worst procrastinators in the world frequently do. Start your own productivity blog.

Maybe I'll start one dedicated to the art of procrastination!

Tomorrow, naturally...

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Criseyde

my username is from Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde.

Lol! He haunts me!

[Savage]

The idea for this article just popped into my head this morning while I was sipping my cinnamon smoothie. I can't say it was inspired by any particular person. It was just one of those instant download things that took over my mind and possessed me till I could transfer it into WordPress.

My accountant just emailed me. Turns out they don't really need the accounting data from me as soon as I assumed they did. Funny.

[Zach M]

Great article, Steve. I'll fall in love with procrastination later.

(No one has ever thought of a joke like that before. )

[dan1529]

I think the key here is: what do you do with the time you spend procrastinating?

1) Are you creating your own content that can help the world (even if it's not what you're "supposed" to be doing)?
2) Or are you wasting time in front of the TV or doing mindless internet surfing--consuming other peoples' content and adding no value to the world at all?

I think if you answer yes to the second question, then you have a problem with procrastination. If you answer yes to the first question, then you should think about a career change.

Although I'm not sure how to quantify somebody who procrastinates by shoplifting....

--Dan

PS: Ouch on the Chaucer!
_____________________________
Visit me at Casual Kitchen!
Cook More. Think More. Spend Less.

[ArthurHung]

Hahahahaha !!

This is the greatest Steve Pavlina article of all time.

I'll make sure to write something that matters to other people on this forum...

later

[carenkh]

This article was very... unschooly to me. Loved it!

[Rachelle]

Originally Posted by dan1529

I think the key here is: what do you do with the time you spend procrastinating?

1) Are you creating your own content that can help the world (even if it's not what you're "supposed" to be doing)?
2) Or are you wasting time in front of the TV or doing mindless internet surfing--consuming other peoples' content and adding no value to the world at all?

I think if you answer yes to the second question, then you have a problem with procrastination. If you answer yes to the first question, then you should think about a career change.

Although I'm not sure how to quantify somebody who procrastinates by shoplifting....

--Dan

PS: Ouch on the Chaucer!
_____________________________
Visit me at Casual Kitchen!
Cook More. Think More. Spend Less.

Actually, I think even if the answer is "yes" to your 2) situation, there might not be a problem per se. It could mean that the person somehow realizes they don't want to be doing what they're "supposed" to do, but hasn't really yet figured out what they do want or would like to do with their time and their life. ... unless they want to write t.v. shows or something.

[Philltopia]

Brilliant article. But we can we really neglect self-discipline? Even the work we love to do has obstacles and challenges that, if left unfaced, will leave us stagnant and unfulfilled. After all, there are really two types of procrastination: the type where you run off to do the things you truly love, Calvin-and-Hobbes-style, and the type where you sit in front of the TV and drool. (as dan said).

Maybe the secret is to never make what's important to you a "goal", so you can't ever get stuck and resistant and worried about it.

[Elfwing]

When I was in school, I procrastinated by writing.

Now I'm out of school, I procrastinate my writing by surfing the internet.

Procrastination used to be awesome, but now I'm not so sure. I don't want to let go of my writing, I used to enjoy it!

Still, great article. Now I feel better about all that procrastination I did in school.

[Alexandra L]

I really appreciate how Steve owns all his past and mines the experiences for the ultimate value. He seems to be truly conscious of it all, even the rough parts. He's able to keep the good and release the bad, and then move on rather than getting, or staying, stuck.

Being able to examine procrastination with an open mind instead of knee-jerk response is refreshing. Steve's writing is valuable to me because he's thought about a huge range of topics, from deep to mundane, and then formed an opinion using his reasoning ability. He holds whatever opinion he thinks is true with no regard to its popular acceptance. I have consistently admired his intelligence and willingness to gain truth.

I'm always inspired to think more clearly about my own life.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Elfwing

I don't want to let go of my writing, I used to enjoy it!

Used to?

Where is your joy now?

[Andrew Brunelle]

If we were really motivated to do something, we would just do it, naturally. Seriously. We would make it a priority. All the other stuff can be procrastinated on. Because we don't really want to do it anyway. I'm sure most of the things don't even need to get done. We just think they do.

[verve]

Great article. I've seen this idea before, but I like how you expressed it here. Your idea of diving into procrastination would make an interesting 30-day experiment.

I did think of my friend, though, who didn't graduate high school with our class because he procrastinated making up credits. I'm not sure how well it's served him.

[Elfwing]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Used to?

Where is your joy now?

Daydreaming. I could daydream about my stories for hours and come up with all sorts of things to do with them.

I also have a great strength where when it comes to actual writing, I could write for a short time and have a massive amount of input. I'm talking just under a thousand words in 15 minutes, sometimes more than that. I also have fun with that.

My *problem* is that I cannot wing my stories. At all. I must have a plan. I've tried again and again to just write without a plan, just based on my daydreams, and sooner or later it dies and it's like pulling teeth, and it becomes even worse than when I try to plan.

But planning is what I procrastinate on. It's the bit I really don't find any enjoyment in - deliberately coming up with ideas and stringing them together, deciding which storylines to entwine, creating scenes (I have fun arranging the scenes but that's it) where to put Chekov's guns, that kind of thing. So it feels like I'm stuck whether I plan or not. So I think I wasn't being entirely truthful with myself when I say "I don't enjoy writing." I do. Just not the bit I feel like I need to do.

If I plan, I get stuck. If I don't, I get even stuck-er.

Hmm.

My only idea is to find somebody who can help me make my plans. If it's not out of place for me to ask here, does anybody have other ideas as well?

Or maybe I need to dissect my planning process and scrap the stuff I'm not having fun with and see if what's left is workable. Try more planning methods. Hmm.

(Thanks, Steve!)

[Jeff Lilly]

I'm probably missing an inside joke, but... where did the Chaucer quotes come from? Chaucer never heard of bicycles.

[Bradshaw]

Originally Posted by Elfwing

Daydreaming. I could daydream about my stories for hours and come up with all sorts of things to do with them.

I also have a great strength where when it comes to actual writing, I could write for a short time and have a massive amount of input. I'm talking just under a thousand words in 15 minutes, sometimes more than that. I also have fun with that.

My *problem* is that I cannot wing my stories. At all. I must have a plan. I've tried again and again to just write without a plan, just based on my daydreams, and sooner or later it dies and it's like pulling teeth, and it becomes even worse than when I try to plan.

But planning is what I procrastinate on. It's the bit I really don't find any enjoyment in - deliberately coming up with ideas and stringing them together, deciding which storylines to entwine, creating scenes (I have fun arranging the scenes but that's it) where to put Chekov's guns, that kind of thing. So it feels like I'm stuck whether I plan or not. So I think I wasn't being entirely truthful with myself when I say "I don't enjoy writing." I do. Just not the bit I feel like I need to do.

If I plan, I get stuck. If I don't, I get even stuck-er.

Hmm.

My only idea is to find somebody who can help me make my plans. If it's not out of place for me to ask here, does anybody have other ideas as well?

Or maybe I need to dissect my planning process and scrap the stuff I'm not having fun with and see if what's left is workable. Try more planning methods. Hmm.

(Thanks, Steve!)

Sure you can wing them. Free Writing is awesome, actually.

[secrets0stolen]

So you took a different perspective, huh?

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Elfwing

Daydreaming. I could daydream about my stories for hours and come up with all sorts of things to do with them.

I also have a great strength where when it comes to actual writing, I could write for a short time and have a massive amount of input. I'm talking just under a thousand words in 15 minutes, sometimes more than that. I also have fun with that.

My *problem* is that I cannot wing my stories. At all. I must have a plan. I've tried again and again to just write without a plan, just based on my daydreams, and sooner or later it dies and it's like pulling teeth, and it becomes even worse than when I try to plan.

But planning is what I procrastinate on. It's the bit I really don't find any enjoyment in - deliberately coming up with ideas and stringing them together, deciding which storylines to entwine, creating scenes (I have fun arranging the scenes but that's it) where to put Chekov's guns, that kind of thing. So it feels like I'm stuck whether I plan or not. So I think I wasn't being entirely truthful with myself when I say "I don't enjoy writing." I do. Just not the bit I feel like I need to do.

If I plan, I get stuck. If I don't, I get even stuck-er.

Hmm.

My only idea is to find somebody who can help me make my plans. If it's not out of place for me to ask here, does anybody have other ideas as well?

Or maybe I need to dissect my planning process and scrap the stuff I'm not having fun with and see if what's left is workable. Try more planning methods. Hmm.

(Thanks, Steve!)

You seem to be stuck in either-or thinking. Neither option is working for you, so maybe it's better to reject them both. Take a step back and brainstorm some other options.

For example, how about starting an "Unfinished Stories" blog? Post your unfinished stories, taken as far as you care to go without a plan, and then challenge other people to finish them.

For some people, starting a story is the hardest part, and finishing them is the fun and easy part.

In many ways designing computer games is like creating unfinished stories. The player must fill in the details to complete the story, and they often do so in ways the designer didn't expect.

Sometimes stories are never finished, but they're still fun.

Maybe you could become the world's greatest author of incomplete stories. You could end them abruptly and then ask the reader to decide what happens next and why. For some people that could be a really cool exercise that teaches them about themselves.

Another name for an unfinished story is a riddle, and riddles have been popular for quite a long time.

[Zach M]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

The idea for this article just popped into my head this morning while I was sipping my cinnamon smoothie.

You wrote all that in half a day? Were you always this fast a writer?

[Andrew Gubb]

Brilliant Soooooooooo true.

[Bliss Sage]

I'm afraid to read it, because I don't want to fall in love with procrastination.

[Elfwing]

Originally Posted by Bradshaw

Sure you can wing them. Free Writing is awesome, actually.

I've tried that out several times, for several days in a row each time. Usually I did it just a couple of weeks, but last time I went 27 days and just realised it was a huge burden and I didn't enjoy it at all. I'm sorry. Thank you, though, for the suggestion, I do appreciate it. I feel like I'm being fussy.

[Elfwing]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

You seem to be stuck in either-or thinking. Neither option is working for you, so maybe it's better to reject them both. Take a step back and brainstorm some other options.

For example, how about starting an "Unfinished Stories" blog? Post your unfinished stories, taken as far as you care to go without a plan, and then challenge other people to finish them.

For some people, starting a story is the hardest part, and finishing them is the fun and easy part.

In many ways designing computer games is like creating unfinished stories. The player must fill in the details to complete the story, and they often do so in ways the designer didn't expect.

Sometimes stories are never finished, but they're still fun.

Maybe you could become the world's greatest author of incomplete stories. You could end them abruptly and then ask the reader to decide what happens next and why. For some people that could be a really cool exercise that teaches them about themselves.

Another name for an unfinished story is a riddle, and riddles have been popular for quite a long time.

... I really, *really* like this idea. Thank you!

[supertom]

This has helped me understand myself and my life a lot better.