I have been doing a lot of procrastination lately. This topic has been thrown about so many times that I don’t even want to write about it. Yet, I find myself wrting about it now, because I found a new angle about procrastination.
I joined the GTD-VSG (Getting things done virtual study group), and have been listening to the various podcasts they have there. One of the things that struck me was about procrastination. It’s not just a GTD phenomena. It’s something everyone understands. Everyone instinctively knows what procrastination means, even if the word is a long word with plenty of syllables.
What the VSG prompted was this:
everything you do is a procrastination.
Please read that again for good measure.
For example, I’m currently typing up this blog post. By doing so, I’m procrastinating on the dishes that I have to wash. I’m avoiding to clean the floor. I don’t want to be replying my emails now. I don’t want to be on Facebook now. I just want to write now. And by me writing, I am procrastinating on other activities.
My MacBook dictionary tells me that “to procrastinate” means to “delay or postpone an action; to put off doing something”.
The message from the GTD VSG? If you are going to procrastinate anyway, KNOW what you are procrastinating. It’s about knowing and feeling good about procrastination. It’s not about procrastinating itself. I know that when I write this, I will be doing the dishes immediately after I finish. I know that the floors will get cleaned this week. I know nothing on my email inbox will explode if I write this post now. I know that I can always surf on Facebook later.
So the next time, don’t fret about procrastination. Just make sure you know exactly what you’re procrastinating on, and feel good about it, i.e. it’s not the end of the world. If you are postponing it for a long time, chances are, it’s not that important to you. If it’s really important to you, you would have done that first, and procrastinate the rest.
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