Procrastination may be many things …
But I don’t think it’s laziness. One can do a thousand things while procrastinating. One can even learn, create, read, interact and yes, agreed, loose sight of priorities. Even so, I can say that often procrastinators can achieve many things even if these were not in the original plan.
I’ll admit that during my PhD I spent more time procrastinating than on my thesis and experiments [sorry there, taxpayers]. No one could see my screen, my supervisor only saw me twice a month, there was no schedule and not a single website was blocked. How’s that for a time-wasting recipe? And yet, during all those hours, I learnt so much about web design, energy, ecology, sustainability and poverty that it ended up reshaping my career (from theoretical physics to applied renewable energy). [For the concerned tax payers, I did publish some innovative research in excelent journals eventually]
I still can’t help but ask the question: “What if I had focused my efforts for those 3 years?” (without frittering away 80% of the time). The days when I could concentrate felt great. I’m sure you’ve experienced those days when the focus is so intense that only the task at hand matters and often 5 or 6 hours of hard work will go by inadvertently.
However, in spite of finishing my PhD on time I feel that most of my time was spent doing what I was not supposed to do. And that same thing applies to my university studies. I sat at my desk because I was supposed to. But I worked 20% of the time and did something else otherwise.
But I suspect the question of “what if I hadn’t wasted this time?” is a tricky one. In my 20s I wondered: Is it even possible? Is it a personality trait? And I think the answer is a mixed one. It’s not strictly a personality trait, … but certain personalities may chose to actively procrastinate. Let me elaborate: The mixture of overconfidence and low esteem we have spoken of suggests that it’s something we can change. A renewed attitude, a strong confidence and an excited interest can take us to that amazing “zen” working state. But can it be sustained? Would it drive us crazy? Personally, I’m just not interested in working on a single topic with such focus. I also believe that wasting time helps with lateral thinking. It helps to open perspectives and it helps you deliver efficiently when deadlines’ scythe swooshes past your head. Procrastination (as in Internet) has also given me many tools for a career change and to shape my world view.
In essence I would argue that procastination is not always bad but it should be consumed (like everything) with moderation. Has procrastination ever helped you? Next post will try to diagnose how bad my (your?) procrastination is today … and if anything needs to be done about it.
SOME LINKS:
How prevalent is procrastination?
VIDEO CREDITS: Story, animation and direction by Johnny Kelly. Voice Over by Bryan Quinn. (C)opyright Royal Academy of Fine-Arts 2007.
