Some research says the best way to spark creativity is to walk away and that the best ideas come from those least-expected “aha!” moments. So maybe procrastination isn’t such a bad thing after all. Or is time spent on those cat memes taking its toll? Can procrastinating ever be a source of productivity?
Here’s the complete guide to procrastinating at work:
DO: Delay to Gain Perspective Before a Big Decision
[…] Some used procrastination as a trigger for a helpful amount of stress needed to ignite positive action. Others saw it as a “thought incubator”: They put off making a decision because they wanted to fully process it before finding a solution.
DO: Check Things Off the Bottom of Your To-Do List
[T]asks [done] while avoiding work were helping in other areas of their life. They were procrastinating efficiently and taking care of other responsibilities.
DON’T: Delay Important Work Out of Fear You’ll Fail
[P]rocrastinators aren’t simply managing their time poorly. It’s a tactic deployed by those with vulnerable self-esteem and has a lot to do with perceived notions of time.
DON’T: Delay Taking Important Action
There are those who delay making decisions, and those who delay taking action. [T]he decision-avoiders are dependent on others, relying on them to make their minds up for them. They’re more submissive and prefer to pass the buck to someone else whom they can blame them if it all goes wrong.The task-avoiders, on the other hand, are generally characterized by low self-esteem; they make a decision but don’t follow up on it. Of course a lot of people fall into both categories, but the findings go some way in explaining the different ways people procrastinate.
DO: Mind Your Work Habits From an Early Age
Though procrastination might seem merely a personality quirk, scientific opinion is divided as to whether it can be put down to nature, or is the product of a person’s environment.[F]actors like “time perspective” affect someone’s likelihood to procrastinate. Time perspective is how people understand and interpret their past, present and future. For example, someone who focuses on the bad things in his past is more prone to bitterness and resentment. […]
Other research, though, has found that environment is also a contributing factor in procrastination. [F]or example, found that procrastination often starts at school, where a lack of rigor in curricula and not being punished for missed deadlines can breed time-wasting habits.
DON’T: Be Hypocritical About Other Procrastinators
[…] When asked to the evaluate the poor performance of a co-worker who has the same procrastinating tendencies and habits as themselves, workers were harsher on them than their non-procrastinating co-workers.
DON’T: Get Sucked in by Cat Memes
That trance you can go into when finding yourself scrolling through cat memes or chatting an afternoon away has a name. It’s called “flow”. The concept was coined by psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi and was originally considered a good thing because it’s a state of deep engagement and absorption, as he abstractly explains in a Wired interview.[…] Unsurprisingly, [there’s] a strong link between procrastination and problematic internet use, as they wrote in the Journal of Computers in Human Behavior. But they also found that when someone was in a state of flow while engaged in a non-work related activity, she was more likely to end up with problematic internet use.
In a way […] this frames procrastination not as a time-wasting phenomenon, but more as a disconnect between intent and action. Flow is a desirable state to be in when you’re working, but you misdirect it at something else, like avoiding a boring task or the pressure of an assessment, you fall down a rabbit hole.
DON’T: Hire Neurotic Procrastinators
[…] People who believe in some form of fate or pre-destination – in a hopeless, “it’s out of my hands” kind of way – are more prone to procrastination, because such people tend to be more neurotic and anxious.But more surprising, perhaps, is that the other main characteristic of the typical procrastinator is a relatively healthy life outlook. According to the study, people who have a glowing, nostalgic view of their past have a high tendency towards procrastination. This new finding (the study was conducted in 2012) runs opposite to previous research in the field, and scientists don’t yet have a concrete explanation for what seems rather counter-intutive.