Making Procrastination Work For You

Recently when I was no doubt avoiding washing the dishes, I came across this article by John Perry, a professor at Stanford University . It's quite genius. In it he explains, "an amazing strategy I have discovered that converts procrastinators into effective human beings, respected and admired for all that they can accomplish and the good use they make of time. All procrastinators put off things they have to do. Structured procrastination is the art of making this bad trait work for you."
He calls it "Structured Procrastination", breaks down the psyche of the average procrastinator, and works on the premise that if you put one dreaded item at the top of your "to do" list you will do a plethora of less heinous (yet still important) things to avoid doing it. Kind of like how you used to tidy your desk to avoid studying? So, in avoiding something you really don't want to do, you will accomplish many other things. In the end, it's a good trade-off.

You really must read the article (and the rest of his site), but yes, it does address the obvious question, " but what about the dreaded task you put off in order to do everything else?" He says for this method to work effectively the ideal avoidance tasks would:
" have two characteristics, First, they seem to have clear deadlines (but really don't). Second, they seem awfully important (but really aren't). Luckily, life abounds with such tasks."

He goes on to give an example from academia since he works in a university. Let's look at this from the standpoint of a SAHM mom. Let's pick for want of a better dreaded task: dun..dun...dun....laundry. And..... take it away, procrastinator jane:


I must, must, must do the laundry today or my kid will have no clean clothes for his soccer game!

But first! I must clean the kitchen so that I can clear off the counter next to the washer, so I have somewhere to fold the clean laundry. Then, I need to go grocery shopping, because I am out of the stain booster I use and I will need that for the laundry, while I am out, I may as well mail that package that's been sitting at the front door, but
before I mail the package I need to make a card to put with the gift.

So check it out: by avoiding the laundry you have accomplished:
A clean kitchen, a clear counter-top, a grocery trip, making a card and mailing a gift. That's 5 really productive tasks at the expense of one. Is it a fair trade? Well let's see. The Avoidance job was? Laundry.

Let's see a couple of case scenarios which may emerge if you follow structured procrastination method:

1. You have just enough time to wash the laundry but you must toss just the soccer uniform in the dryer so it will dry in time. Not ideal for sure, a bit of a waste of energy and a bit stressful, but is it worth having 5 other jobs done? I'd say yes. You now have a full fridge, a clean kitchen and a happy friend, plus you worked in some time spent on a creative outlet too.




2. Worst case scenario-your kid wears dirty socks to his game. So? And then who died? Not exactly the end of the world, they'd be sweaty within moments anyway. When was the last time you scrutinized the uniform of a kid other then your own prior to them getting onto the field and muddied all up?

SO! How does this change your life? Here's how, it changes the way you think about yourself. You tend to live up to your self-image. So put yourself in a positive light.

Stop labeling yourself as a procrastinator, stop feeling guilty and bad about how you get things done. In the end you get things done. Doing the most unpleasant job first isn't necessarily virtuous. the most unpleasant task may not even be necessary to do in the end. Now that you know the secret about procrastinators: "the procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely and important tasks, as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important."

you can:

"(shape) the structure of the tasks one has to do in a way that exploits this fact. The list of tasks one has in mind will be ordered by importance. Tasks that seem most urgent and important are on top. But there are also worthwhile tasks to perform lower down on the list. Doing these tasks becomes a way of not doing the things higher up on the list. With this sort of appropriate task structure, the procrastinator becomes a useful citizen. Indeed, the procrastinator can even acquire, as I have, a reputation for getting a lot done."

I don't believe there are any truly lazy people, only unmotivated people and disorganized people. This is a form of organization that works with the way you are best motivated. And that works for me.

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