To Procrastinate or not to Procrastinate

That is the question

I don’t know about you, but I’m a pretty good procrastinator. The big things that lead me into procrastination include having an overwhelming to do list, not knowing where to start, projects I need to do but don’t want to do, and not knowing where to go next with a project.

When I have so much going on and I start to spin and feel lost, the best cure for this is to make a list and look for deadlines, then dive into something small and doable to get the flow going.

Some things move off the list easily when I develop habits to just get them done. Like, reading, journaling or drawing every day. If I have the supplies by my chair where I have morning coffee, I’m far more likely to spend time on each while enjoying my coffee than if I have to go and grab the supplies.

Concrete deadlines are very helpful, but made up deadlines do nothing for me. If I don’t want to do it or I’m not sure how to do it, then spending time making up a deadline is just another way to procrastinate and let time pass. I’m much better off just doing the thing.

Adam Grant writes about Procrastination in his new book Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things¹. So as not to get caught in more procrastination, I will share what I remember from what he wrote. ( I listened to the book and don’t currently have access to a copy to go back and quote from.) As I recall, he says that when we procrastinate on something that we don’t want to do, we will never get around to it or we’ll leave it to the last minute and not have time to do a good job completing it. On the other hand, if we start a project immediately without giving any time to considering more than the first way of working on the project, we are likely to miss out on a better direction or solution. There’s a sweet spot to procrastination. You need to look at the project and know what you need to complete. Then, give it some time to percolate in your subconscious. Don’t wait until the last minute to get back to work on the project.

I realized that I’m pretty good at this type of procrastination especially with my art and writing. I spent most of the month of January in a form of procrastination. Maybe it was just a form of rest and rejuvenation. I participated in Wendy MacNaughton’s 30 Day DrawTogether Challenge². Each day she gave a 10 minute activity/prompt. One day was on making a chart as a drawing. I’m a huge fan of dichotomous keys³. As I was working through what I wanted to say in this post, I made a couple of charts to help deal with procrastination. All my play came to something I find useful. Here’s key number 1:

Sometimes procrastination stems from not knowing where to go with a a project. You may get a variety of feedback on a story and you aren’t sure which advice makes sense. You may be writing a story and you just know the ending isn’t quite what you are aiming for. Maybe you are making some artwork and it doesn’t feel quite finished but you don’t know what will make it work. Or maybe you are writing an article on procrastination and you have a lot of thoughts, but aren’t sure how to fit them together so they make cohesive sense.

I have started some articles and put them aside to write something completely different because I just wasn’t sure how to pull it all together. By letting go and doing something else, I was able to produce an article in a timely fashion and let my subconscious play with the ideas from the other one. Like magic, I found resolution and that procrastination time helped me clarify my thoughts and finish the article.

This article has been swirling for a while. I have spent time wondering if my thoughts on procrastination matter to anyone but me. But, it keeps floating to the surface, begging for me to write about it. I hope that it will help others and not just me.

January is a challenging month. In Human Design, it’s the end of the year and time to finish projects and clear the old before starting with the new. It’s a terrible time to set resolutions or start on new goals. It’s a time to rest and rejuvenate. I spent the month working on little things, letting this article simmer, and participating in both Storystorm⁴ and Wendy’s Challenge. I made more than 30 drawings in my sketchbook and came up with more than 30 ideas for my writing and art. I needed the play time. I gained confidence in drawing people, made one panel comics and 4 panel comics. I doodled and meditated on drawing circles, and I filled the last page of my sketchbook on January 31st.

My homemade certificate of accomplishment. Maybe we should make these for ourselves more often.

On an outing with a friend we saw a large white bird snoozing with it’s head tucked behind it's back. There were many gulls around and we decided it was just another large gull until it woke up and like magic, the giant gull became a pelican. I love this simple drawing and the line to remember a moment during my day. This is the last drawing I made to finish my sketchbook. I started a new one the same day so I wouldn’t have any excuses to procrastinate.

I’ve been reading Stephen Nachmanovitch’s Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art. He talks about our need for patience and allowing an idea to ripen. This led me to the an apple’s life cycle as a metaphor for the development of a story.

Whether you need a break or you just need a little time to procrastinate and let your subconscious work on a project, listen to your needs and take care of yourself. There is a lot of magic in flow and quite often forcing just gets you more stuck or heading down the wrong path.

1. https://amzn.to/3Uns2bH

Affiliate link.

2. The 30 day Drawing Habit is part of her paid subscription. She offers great stuff for free as well.

3. Generally used in science for identifying something through asking a series of binary (yes/no) questions. It seems to work for procrastination too. You decide if the keys I created have value for you.

4. https://taralazar.com/2024/01/04/storystorm-2024-day-4/ This is a good post about letting an idea simmer.