Productive Procrastination
How many times a day have you said, “I could get more done, if I didn’t have all these distractions!” If I got a nickel for everytime I personally said that phrase daily, I be on the beach somewhere. It’s true, we all have validly busy lives. The distractions, often life itself, offers us obstancles to gear us off track of our set goals.
To balance the obstacles becomes a struggle when we have to decide what’s important and what is not important. I’ve coined the following phrases,“have to do this”, “need to do this”, and “would like to do this” to indicate the level of importance in tasks. All the phrases are somewhat positive statements, but the urgency of the statements differ. I will use them a somewhat level of heirarchy throughout this posting. I believe also, this is individualistic, meaning I have no right to judge what is most important in your life and what is least important.
Have to do … Need to do … Would like to do
Here is a scenerio of a distraction. I sit down to do work either for school, something personal (like this website), or something related to my job. My four-legged daughter has learned this is the best moment to get my attention for something she has to have. Note I am using the highest priority as for her, as all her needs necessitate the highest priority in her mind. These needful tasks are usually to eat (freshly boiled chicken), to drink water(she insist it be fresh each time), or to go for a walk (high priority as you don’t want an olfactory distraction later). As you can tell, she has trained me well and she is quite spoiled. Needless to say, I take care of her urgent needs and then head back to my task at hand.
Similar scenario. This time when I turn on the computer, I have this urge to seek validation via FaceBook “likes” and “comments”. I recall I had posted a really cute picture of my four-legged daughter last night, and was curious to check the current status of my FaceBook friends approval. This might be one of those “would like to do this”. I ask myself. Does this take energy and time away from my current project linked to my job, or school. These items typically has the highest priority. The school assignment is past due and I hate further disappointing anyone. At this same moment, I just happen to notice a stack of book nearly falling from across the room and could hurt someone. Well actually to be honest, the books are actually just slightly unorganized for my OCD.
I have this sense FaceBook postings and the books are important, but they aren’t getting me to my goals. If you complete them, yes you feel a sense of self-efficacy, but it’s mere productive procrastination.
The term productive procrastination was introduced to me by Dr. Dominique Chlup, a creativity coach, to describe when I complete a lot of needed tasks that have to be done, but really do have to get done. The productive items are a form of procrastination and aren’t getting me ahead on main focus task. One tactic that is helpful in either of these obstacles (FaceBook or OCD compulsions) is a simple timer.
The timer can be your best friend.
Go to that FaceBook site, but set a timer for five minutes, then shut it down. Go rearrange the book, but set a timer for 10 minutes and then back to the computer. Even with writing, especially if you are familiar with the pomadora method, set a timer and keep track of your writing time. Now, I’m not suggesting micromanage all your time, but it is helpful when you have goals to achieve.
Keep a handwritten list of your priorities next to the computer screen you do most of your writing. Set a timer for all task that happen to come up.
- Set goals, write them down and keep near the screen
- Set priorities “have to do”, “need to do”, and “would like to do”
- Use a timer !
- Forgive yourself if you spend too much time on one thing, but reward yourself when goals met
