Is there really such a thing as “productive procrastination?”

If you know me, you know that I’m constantly talking about my habit of “productive procrastination,” a term that I completely thought I came up with but upon a quick Google search, I now come to see that it already exists. When I say “productive procrastination,” I am referring to pushing off my most important tasks at hand and working through smaller, less important tasks instead. I find myself doing this almost on a daily basis, and while it is procrastination, could it actually be productive?

As it turns out, I am not original at all for indulging in this habit, as there are many articles online about this exact topic. Productive procrastination, while it is a type of procrastination, it is actually considered to be good.

There are multiple ways to structure your procrastination to convert it into being productive. One thing that I always do which boosts my productivity on smaller tasks while also feeling more accomplished is keeping a to-do list. Throughout my day, I put any tasks that arise, no matter how small, on my to-do list because I often find the satisfaction of crossing an item off very encouraging. Sometimes, tasks I add to my list are as small and insignificant as “text this person back,” or “cook chicken in the fridge.” These were things I was already going to do that day, but by making them objects that I can cross off and feel rewarded for completing, I am more likely to continue my work in a more efficient manner.

In addition to just keeping a to-do list, it is important to make sure that all tasks are actually manageable. Often I become disappointed in myself because I wasn’t able to complete all the tasks on my to-do list and feel like a failure, but the real reason is that the plans I had for the day weren’t feasible in the first place. It is so easy for me to fall into the spiral of “oh, well I didn’t get this finished, so I probably won’t get other things finished either” and then get off-task and fill my time with unproductive tasks. But, by making sure that all of my goals are maintainable, I am less likely to fall into the trap of unproductive procrastination.

Something else that I do to “productively procrastinate” is to break larger projects up into smaller tasks to make them more manageable and to count the delegation of tasks as a task itself. For example: If I have an essay to write I might break my tasks up as follows: Day 1:plan personal deadlines, Day 2:write thesis statement, Day 3:find quotes from the book, Days 4&5:write, Day 6:review. (Can you tell? I am currently in the process of writing an essay for my humanities class, so the process is very fresh in my brain). By setting aside a day to take a step back and plan out the large, daunting task at hand, I not only have a more well-defined schedule for finishing my assignment on time, but I also feel accomplished every day that I am working on it since there is a specific goal to complete.

While these are just some of the ways that I integrate the idea of productive procrastination into my work habits, I encourage you to both try the same and also figure out other ways to boost productivity in the long run.