Monday, April 03, 2006

Procrastination

Most people think of procrastination as a negative. It is synonymous with laziness, carelessness, sloth. It is viewed as something to be overcome, a bad habit to break, a thorn in the side of productivity. There are entire counseling centers devoted to the subject.

I personally love it.

I get some of my best work done while I am procrastinating. If I am not in the mood to write a paper for school, I might write an entry for the entertainment news column instead. Laundry? Bah! There is grocery shopping to be done! (I love grocery shopping; it is a sick addiction. Maybe that’s another entry.) Clean the kitchen? Actually, there is a piece of classic literature I have been meaning to sink into, and what better time than now to further my understanding of classic prose? It’s necessary as a professional writer, you know.

One day I redecorated my entire bedroom, including painting 4 original pieces of artwork myself, while putting off balancing my checkbook. The irony, of course, is that this involved spending money from that very checking account.

The best procrastination is the kind that gets you to do something you previously procrastinated about. For example, yesterday instead of writing a thesis on sales management strategies, I pulled out all of my old clothes I had set aside and finally photographed them so I could list them on eBay. I had put off that project for about 6 months. It was completed because I didn’t feel like doing something else.

That paper will not write itself, though, so tonight I will have to dig into it. After I tan. And check my email. And make dinner. And look for writing gigs on Craig’s List. And Anderson Cooper 360 is on straight through to 9:00…

3 Comments:

Blogger Big Ben said...

My favorite line from Growing Pains.

Carole: Why are you always procrastinating?

Ben: You know about that!!?

8:04 PM  
Blogger Pieces said...

I *love* the procrastination that gets me to do something previously procrastinated. Thank you for spinning procrastination is such a way that I no longer have to consider it one of my worst character flaws!

8:39 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good luck with the paper. I always do my best work when I force a tight deadline. Hurrah for efficiency!

And if you need to push it off a little further, go ahead and take some festishy pictures of your toes.

10:40 PM  

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