I admit it: I’m a procrastinator.
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The self-help gurus all argue that I shouldn’t say it this way because saying that I am a procrastinator suggests that I see procrastination as part of my identity, making it harder to overcome. Instead, I should say things like, “I procrastinate”— which makes it something I do and, so goes the theory, something I can change—or, “I have procrastinated in the past, but in the future I will ….”
Whatever.
I’m a procrastinator, and have been for a long, long time. I remember, for example, sitting down late at night, at the top of a stairwell in my dorm, to type three papers that were due the next day, only one for which I had a rough draft. And when I say “typing,” I mean typing, on a portable, manual, not-electric typewriter, with carbon paper so I’d be able to keep a copy. (This was my first stint at college, fresh out of high school, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth.) I finished at 5 a.m., and aced them all—to the dismay of my roommate, who got a B on the paper he had due, even though he went to bed hours before I even started that paper.
I’ve tried, seriously and often, to fix, or cure, or overcome my procrastination. I’ve read books (all overlong and useless). I’ve read articles (all shorter than the books, mercifully, but equally useless, with one notable exception: an equally enlightening and entertaining three-part series on procrastination by Tim Urban). I’ve written ad infinitum (and ad absurdum) in my journal, concocting intricate plans of attack, and have implemented these plans—for a few days, at least. I’ve treated procrastination as a failure of morals, or motivation, or willpower. I’ve even treated it as a habit (which it is), seeking ways to tweak the triggers, or the behaviors, or the consequences. But nothing changes.
Nonetheless, I’m more trustworthy than the average bear. I pay my bills on time. I rarely miss deadlines (though I struggle in situations where there is no deadline). I’m embarrassingly slow to return papers to my students, but when I finally do, I provide more detailed feedback than they see from other instructors (or so they tell me). And so on.
In short, I’m a functional procrastinator, having assembled a set of principles and tools that help me manage despite my challenges. Like ibuprofen, these principles and tools don’t get at the root of the problem, but they mask it enough to get me by.
Guiding principles
1. Procrastination has its advantages. Managed correctly, it allows me to get more things done. As Parkinson’s Law states, “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” I’ve experienced this often enough, such as when I’ve begun projects early, even setting fictional deadlines that would let me finish early. This attempt to outwit myself never works; it’s as if I know what I’m thinking. I work slowly, starting and restarting (not to mention flying off on tangents) until—just as if I’d procrastinated anyway—I have to rush to get the thing done on time.
Putting the project off until the last possible moment (or later) frees up a lot of time. (Not that I use it well. But I could….)
2. Effectiveness is more important than efficiency. I got this from Tim Ferriss, whose podcast I’m a big fan of (long-form procrastination!), though I’ve seen it in enough other places that I suspect he got it from someone else, too. The idea is that it’s important to do the right things, rather than doing unnecessary things well. I’m not perfect at this—I’m not even perfect at procrastinating—but when the panic kicks in, this principle helps me focus in on what needs to be done.
3. A trusted system covers a multitude of sins. The notion of a “trusted system” comes from the productivity geek’s geek David Allen, the inventor of Getting Things Done. I’m not a fan of the whole GTD system—though many swear by it, I found it too intricate to establish and too demanding to maintain—but I’ve developed a set of integrated tools that keep me on track by (a) drawing my attention to things I need to do just as the time for desperation is closing in, not later; and (b) letting me put everything else out of my mind without the fear that things will fall through the cracks.
4. Don’t hate yourself. Guilt, shame, and self-loathing aren’t great for the concentration, so I’ve learned to acknowledge them and move on. It’s a recent development, one of the benefits of mindfulness meditation (I use Headspace).
The tools
I have a lot of tools, and I will probably do a series of screencast-style videos about each of them. But there are four that serve as the backbone of my system:
1. ToDoist: There are a ton of to-do list apps out there, and I’ve tried most of them (testing productivity systems is a great procrastination strategy). Todoist is by far my favorite. It’s simple but flexible; I’ve been able to mold it to a range of different systems, including (though it didn’t last very long) a fairly strict GTD. There are excellent versions for both the web and for Android. It works with Google Assistant and Android Auto, too, so there are many ways to collect, and then organize, almost any ideas for things I might want to do, right when they occur to me. And since I can set due dates and reminders, it helps set off the panic that gets me to work on things before they’re actually late.
It also integrates well with my next main tool:
2. GMail: At a certain level, email apps are all the same, but GMail had two innovations that made a huge difference for me: archive, rather than delete; and labels, rather than folders. The light bulb moment came when Merlin Mann, the brains behind Inbox Zero, pointed out that organizing email the way I was—using a time consuming and intricate folder structure—was a bit like organizing a bottle cap collection by the date the bottle cap was acquired (or something like that… I’ve tried, but I can’t find where he actually used the metaphor, so maybe I dreamt it—a possibility, since I spend too much time thinking about such things…). Anyway, it’s a little inconvenient, since my work uses Office 365, but GMail is integrated into my system; I can create Todoist items , and I can create events on my calendar, both from within GMail.
3. Google Calendar: As I said, this is a little inconvenient because my work uses Outlook from Office 365. But the few added clicks required to work through both calendars is worth the time saved through integration with GMail. I also like multiple calendars, including a shared calendar with the kids’ mom, as well as the ability to color code different events. It’s also simple to send panic-inducing reminders to my phone.
4. Evernote: I can’t say enough good things about Evernote. I’ve been with them for a long time; I’m user number 18,318 (they now have well over 200 million users). I paid the premium price even when I didn’t use any of the premium features, just to support them. It’s my second inbox (after Todoist), capturing most things beyond simple to-do list activities. I love its flexibility; like any good procrastinator, I’ve been through many iterations of organization—a digital version of remodeling the office, I suppose—and I’ve recently developed yet another. I love it.
The irony
If you haven’t struggled with procrastination, I certainly don’t recommend you give it at try. Our minds can perform all kinds of mental gymnastics, and that’s what my mind is doing when I praise procrastination. Nothing that I said isn’t true, at least in my experience. But this is a rationalization, a justification after the fact. One might even consider it a surrender, or a cop out.
To be clear, there are a lot of problems with procrastination. It creates a lot of stress. Finished products, while they might be on time, are often of a lower quality than they might otherwise be. And if it seems that I’ve suggested that I use the time “saved” to do other important, productive tasks… well, the good news is that is more true, now that I’ve started this blog. But I have a tendency to be like Dug the dog in Up (“squirrel!“).
And, of course, the most delicious irony: exploring, developing, and refining productivity systems is the classic strategy of the procrastinator.