Everyone is a procrastinator on some level. Some of us are terrible offenders, spending hours doing useless things like browsing facebook or blogs or walking up to see what is in the fridge multiple times a day, all in an effort to avoid the work we know we should be doing.
Over the past few weeks I implemented a method to help get the most from procrastination. This technique means you still procrastinate, in that you do something that is not exactly what you know you should be doing, but you still get results from your activities rather than waste time on idle tasks.
I call this efficient procrastination and here’s how it works.
Your focus needs to be on action. The whole reason I started thinking about this technique in the first place was after writing my article - Are You Drowning, Treading Water or Swimming? - which made me realize as long as the majority of daily activities moved me forward in some way, I could count that day a good one.
Once you realize that action is key, the next step is to isolate actions that lead to results of some kind for you and your business. Generally some tasks require more work than others and some you enjoy more. It’s precisely because of the tasks that you don’t enjoy, yet are critical for your business to move forward (or for you to move forward personally - like say studying for an exam), that you look for ways to procrastinate.
When you are sitting down, working on something you don’t really enjoy or you are tired of and that procrastination urge hits, it’s time to go and do something else, however that something else is still an activity that helps your big picture. You must choose a swimming forward task, not a time waster.
Surfing the web rarely helps move you forward, however spending time at sites like forums and blogs doesn’t have to be a useless activity. If you are a blogger then you know leaving comments and posting threads in forums can help your traffic, so instead of being a passive participant when you surf, use your procrastination time to contribute, which helps bring traffic to your blog (at least if you know how to get traffic from blogs and forums - see Blog Mastermind for more on that!).
One of the classic procrastination tools is television. It’s amazing how easily a 15 minute “TV Break” can turn into a two-hour, midday movie marathon, and suddenly you’ve lost two hours of your day to the box. Instead of using TV as a time waster, I’ve begun watching educational DVDs.
I’m forwarding my education in Internet marketing by watching presentations from conferences like StomperNet and Mike Filsaime’s 7 Figure Code. I usually watch at lunch or during other things, like exercising, that don’t require my active attention so I can listen in the background.
Watching Internet marketing presentations may not seem like the most moving-forward activity and it isn’t directly - I don’t get paid to watch - however from what I learn in the DVDs I have the seeds for blog articles (two of my more recent articles about eBay and PPC marketing came from watching the StomperNet Orlando presentations) and all kinds of practical ideas I can apply to my business. It’s because of watching DVDs like these that I can stay a leader in my field, so I certainly consider this time well spent.
Clearing Clutter
One of the tasks I recently did on an efficient procrastination break was to clean my house. I’ve just moved in and there were boxes everywhere that I had to sort through. Whenever I was feeling that I had enough of the computer task I was doing, instead of wasting time surfing, I went downstairs and cleaned up.
You might think cleaning my house is not the most important task for my business, but it actually is. Every day when I would go downstairs I would think about how I still had to clean up. This caused me stress. The act of ticking a box and completing a task creates a sense of moving forward - of “getting things done” as the famous book goes - which created an energy in me, a desire to get more things done.
Getting In The Zone
As a result of completing tasks you create an environment conducive to completing more tasks. I think the biggest problem with procrastination is that it’s based on emotion and the act of procrastination in fact enhances the feeling that procrastination creates, making you want to continue to procrastinate - it’s self perpetuating.
If you can turn procrastination into some form of productivity, even if it isn’t exactly what you should be working on, eventually your emotional state will change, leading you back to the task you need to do. Efficient procrastination is about creating the right frame of mind and understanding that it’s okay to take a break from time to time, but breaks should be productive too.
Next time you feel the urge to run away from the task you currently doing, think about a new task you could do that still contributes to you moving your business forward, rather than a waste of time activity that just makes you feel guilty for not doing the work you should be doing.
Yaro Starak
Efficient Procrastinator
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Great read. I (and I’m sure almost everyone else) can really relate to this.
I find that if I give in to procrastination, it just becomes easier put off whatever I have to do more.
I’m a week behind making some calls now that I have been procrastinating on. It is tempting to try and get caught up tomorrow.
LOL I am guilty of procrastination
I sometime find myself reading forums and browsing the internet when it’s not necessary at all :hehehe:
I don’t procrastinate anymore though (found something I love to do - Blogging!)
There is a quote from David Schwartz in The Magic of Thinking Big - “Action Cures Fear”
According to him, procrastination usually stems from some sort of fear in the activity you need to get done. Just sitting down to do “it” will usually get you moving forward.
I appreciated your post. I can justify just about any activity if I really want to procrastinate. What I’ve found is if I just do something, anything, toward my goal, then I often get in the swing of things. For me the real problem is just getting started.
Excellent article, Yaro! Many times I need a break, I clean up the room or hit the gym. Watching the Back to the Future trilogy is one of the worst time wasters in my blogging life.
Speaking of the zone, working out is a great way to get into and stay in the zone. Grab your water bottle, head to the gym, hit the weights and then do a little cardio. It clears your head, energizes your mind and body and you’ll find yourself in your blogging groove! You’ll feel like an A-List blogger and write spectacular articles like one and your readers will know it!!
Ready……..Set………BLOG!!!!
If this doesn’t describe me I don’t know what does. My wife alway complains that I procrastinate too much. Oh well…
[…] A few days ago I touched upon the subject of how to overcome the procrastination habit in which I linked to a post telling you how to tackle the procrastination habit. But even if you don’t want to beat procrastination you can steer it towards some productive outcome. During your procrastination phase you can do some work that doesn’t have direct bearing upon your immediate projects but can be of huge benefit in the long run — visiting blogs and leaving comments, for instance. The main objective of procrastination is avoiding something that requires lots of effort so you can do something that doesn’t require much effort, that helps you acquire newer skills, and something that entertains you too. Good entertainment always revitalizes your cramped intellectual muscles. This blog post tells you how to become an efficient procrastinator. […]
Great tips. Reminds me of structured procrastination espoused by philosopher John Perry.
I’m the queen of procrastination. Hell, it’s even a part of my blog’s sub title. Fortunatly I like to procrastinate by watching Japanese dramas - which I then review on my blog, so all is not lost.
Well, I have to say, keep in mind of the importance of being idle. If even want entertainment to be effective, that would left life with too much stress. Even though it’s common among IT guys. Another thing we may ignore is our family, which is more important. the most important actully.
Do you use Geni.com ? I guess that’s the best thing for us who would spend so much time online to keep the family tie.
Very good article. This is how I got through college by staying busy all the time and by avoiding the procrastination feeling.
Not necessarily procrastination, but more like redirection. I make sure I have enough things going that I have the option of redirecting. The same thing can get really boring and kill productivity.
Great post. Now, I must get my wife to read it, so she will believe me when I say I am working.
Ugh, I really can relate with this. My internet connection is the worst offender at this moment.
“Get things done” is so much easier said than done.
I’m also a great procrastinator. If I lazy to do works, I will tend to watch Animation and also read through the other blogs and sites to learn something. I like to learn but lazy to take action. haha
But I don’t think I loss any time here. First I always learn something, spiritually, from Animation. I always learn the spirit of never give up from it. After that i learn something new from blogs and sites, and now I learn a new trick from Yaro, make myself participate in the conversation and build traffic. This idea is really great!
Now I proud that I’m a procastinator.
I use this kind of approach too, and sometimes it can have great results. I often find that when I am deep in work i am focussed on just that task at hand and i can lose sight of the bigger picture.
You use the example of cleaning your house - I do that too. I will go do some clearing up or cooking etc as a way of taking a break but because I don’t have to think about this stuff I can think about my work and doing that whilst not actually working helps me come up with all sorts of ideas that I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.
Sometimes it really helps to give yourself a break and some time to think.
I’ve been out of coffee for three days. I do have some instant but that should be only for emergencies.
My emergency is that I work at home in my sweats and get involved in adding one more paragraph to the latest post I am working on - and surfing other people’s blogs - then it gets late and I say I’ll go tomorrow.
So as a result of your inspiring article, Yaro, I am taking an action step. I am putting on my sneakers right now and walking out to my car and going to the store.
Who knows what could be next. Pay the bills that are piling up? You may have started something big here.
One of my first posts was on procrastination. It is certainly not the pillar you have written here but it could amuse you.
http://www.personal-growth-with-corinne-edwards.com/procrastination-and-chocolate-cake/
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Procrastination is really my blogging time killer. I was an inefficient procrastinator, hopefully, your tips would let me efficient a bit!
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Well, we showed some signs of procrastination, but then we kicked our butts.
Thank you very much for your post. We have included it in our current Carnival of Small Business Issues - “The Canarian” - Edition #25 — Mary S. for fcon21.biz
[…] but I think Women Entrepreneurs will be both inspired and amused by Yaro Stanak’s article on How to Be an Effective Procrastinator at Entrepreneur’s Journey. Look for this carnival to be hosted at MoreThanWEKnow on Nov […]
[…] How To Become An Efficient Procrastinator (@ Entrepreneur’s Journey): “Over the past few weeks I implemented a method to help get the most from procrastination. This technique means you still procrastinate, in that you do something that is not exactly what you know you should be doing, but you still get results from your activities rather than waste time on idle tasks.” […]
Great article Yaro, I found it at a Blog Carnival, time waster? or forward moving action? Today it was forward moving as I was looking for places to post my articles and drive more traffic, it’s not always though. Thanks for the great tips to keep me moving forward.
Jackie Lee
Procrastination is really my blogging time killer. I was an inefficient procrastinator, hopefully, your tips would let me efficient a bit!