Procrastination: Friend or Foe?

      By: Brooke Lanser

Have you ever lain in bed, on your phone, or sat in front of the TV, knowing that you have homework, but not having the capacity to get up and actually do it? If the answer is no, then that’s great. But if you’re one of those people who find themselves in this predicament every day, then this is the article for you.

Procrastination is one of those behaviors that becomes a habit, easy to start but difficult to stop. The thing is, many people often believe that this behavior comes from a lack of time management skills, which is very easy to assume, considering the common understanding is that it’s a waste of time. However, studies have shown that it usually comes from an uncomfortable feeling when completing a task. Homework isn’t always easy, and it could sometimes be daunting to begin before you have momentum, especially on those days when you just want to relax and not have to worry about anything. Fortunately, there is a solution.

Over the past 30 years, a new way of postponing work has been introduced: productive procrastination. In 1995, John Perry, a Stanford philosophy professor, wrote a novel titled The Art of Procrastination: A Guide to Effective Dawdling, Lollygagging, and Postponing. In this novel, he spoke about the concept of “structured procrastination,” as he called it, which is a way of taking the need to procrastinate and turning it into something meaningful. For instance, instead of doomscrolling for 3 hours straight, you could complete a small task: an easy assignment, chores that you need to get done anyway, or even starting a new book or language on Duolingo. Each of these tasks allows you to postpone the main one at hand, while preventing the loss of time that comes from different activities like overusing social media or bingeing on a new show (not to say there isn’t a time for that). 

Productive procrastination does not make the task magically disappear, but it can definitely ease the stress that comes with completing it. Starting something small and manageable allows the building of momentum. Tidying up your room, washing the dishes, or reading a few pages in the book you’ve been wanting to start is progress, and suddenly, the important homework assignment might not feel so impossible.

Of course, it might be easy to mistake this solution for avoidance, but that is not the goal. Instead of completely replacing the difficult tasks with easier ones, use the easier ones as stepping stones towards a greater objective. The hardest part of this is knowing your limit. Maybe set a timer for yourself--a few minutes doing the small task, and then the same amount of time on the one that is being avoided. Sometimes, the hardest part is beginning, and once you start, it might not seem as bad as it did from the couch or from the warmth of your bed.

Ultimately, procrastination is universal; everyone does it in their own way, you just need to have the means to begin — and who knows? Maybe one day you’ll be sitting around on your phone and you’ll choose to take that one small step.

Sources:

https://www.2civility.org/productive-procrastination-how-to-feel-good-about-avoiding-tasks/

https://news.dasa.ncsu.edu/productive-procrastination/

https://www.npr.org/2012/09/06/160670566/getting-around-to-writing-art-of-procrastination

https://www.businessinsider.com/use-procrastination-to-get-things-done-2014-6