A study by HubSpot has found that the more tools workers had at their disposal, the less efficient they were with their time.
โIn todayโs hyper-connected workplace, itโs easy to fall into the trap of feeling like you have to take on everything at once,โ saidย Brian Johnson, Operations Director at leading digital and marketing recruitment firm Forward Roll. โThe problem is that, without knowing where to start, itโs hard to get anything done at all. We need to find a method that allows us to focus without cutting ourselves off from the technology that is designed to make work easier.โ
So what do experts think is the answer to our tech-induced woes? Bizarrely, itโs that age-old foe of the workforce: procrastination.
What is โpositive procrastinationโ?
โProcrastinationโ is a bit of a dirty word. Thatโs because, according to author John Perry, most of us are doing it wrong.
In his book, The Art of Procrastination, Perry distinguishes between two types of procrastination:
- Negative procrastinationโ This is the type that most people struggle with. Itโs an unstructured form of procrastination in which we put things off as we get to them because we donโt want to do them. Negative procrastination stems from laziness and gets us into all sorts of trouble later down the line.
- Positive procrastinationโ Whereas negative procrastinators put things off indefinitely, positive procrastinators schedule tasks to do at a later date. Theyโll strategically book time in their calendar to do a task when itโs closer to its deadline, focusing on smaller but more urgent things in the present.
Perry argues that positive procrastination is the key to sustaining a high level of productivity because it helps us leverage the โget on with itโ instinct we have when weโre closer to a due date, without the stress of feeling disorganised.
What are the benefits of positive procrastination?
1. It forces you to focus
Pushing daunting tasks closer to their deadline puts the pressure on โ and that adrenaline boost can be exactly what you need to get your task over the line without dragging it out.
Karin Peeters, coach and psychotherapist at Inner Pilgrim, explains that the right amount of pressure can help eliminate distractions. โIt can be quite refreshing to have a set amount of time,โ she says. โWorking to a close deadline increases focus and concentration.โ
A small caveat? This wonโt work with big projects: just ask any student who has tried to write their entire dissertation the night before it was due. โYou need to strike the balance,โ says Karin. โLeaving yourself too little will cause unnecessary stress, but too much can leave your mind wandering.โ
Instead, break out big tasks into smaller ones, each with their own hard deadline. That way, you can leverage that little bit of time pressure without it being a detriment to the final output.
2. It helps you make better decisions
When you delay a task that is important but not urgent, you can often accumulate new information that can either improve the final product or โ occasionally โ help you realise the task is unnecessary. Few things hinder efficiency more than time put into tasks that, in hindsight, didnโt really need to be done.
A good way of ensuring you do gather valuable information is by asking questions about a task before committing to doing it. Not only will you start receiving more detailed briefs from team members, but youโll also identify any logistical issues that stakeholders hadnโt previously considered.
That way, you can leave it to them to determine the best course of action while you work on other, less abstract tasks, meaning no oneโs time is wasted.
3. It makes you more creative
Sometimes, jumping into a task or project straight away can close us off from better, more effective solutions we havenโt thought of yet.
โWhen we resist the urge to take immediate action, we open ourselves up to receive new and fresh ideas,โ says Karin. “Sometimes, you need to allow things to unfold without controlling the outcome. Go for a walk, take a nap, listen to bird song. And in this space of positive procrastination, new ideas will bubble up from deep within.โ
By deliberately allowing space for new ideas, we donโt have to accept our initial plan as the final version. It allows us to be reactive to new developments and to take an approach we wouldnโt have thought of without giving our mind space to wander.
4. It disables your inner perfectionist
Perfectionism is one of the main culprits for projects going on far longer than they need to. But for many people, itโs very difficult to switch off that tiny voice that keeps saying, โItโs not right yetโ.
Positive procrastination affords you a practical way to disarm that voice and be more productive as a result. โFor the perfectionists among us, says Karin, โpositive procrastination is one of the only ways to adopt that โgood-enoughโ attitude,โ because you donโt have the luxury of overanalysing the work youโre doing. Instead, you identify any major errors before getting it signed off.
Escaping perfectionism is far more time-efficient and far less stressful.
Quick tips to procrastinate better
- Get all of your to-dos in one placeโ Jot down everything thatโs on your mind in a big list. Now you can determine which of these tasks are urgent, and which arenโt. Those tasks which are important but arenโt due soon can wait.
- Schedule and commit to important tasks in the long termโ While you should focus on your urgent tasks in the short-term, schedule important tasks in your calendar. Productivity guru Dave Crenshaw, in his LinkedIn series โTime Management Tipsโ, suggests scheduling time for yourself to complete those tasks close to their deadline, giving yourself a little extra time for any unforeseen circumstances. He says that once that task is in your calendar, youโve committed to getting it done.
- Eliminate โmaybeโ tasksโ Some tasks can cause us stress even if itโs not clear whether weโre even going to do them. Crenshaw suggests putting these on a โmaybeโ list that is separate from your calendar. By not committing to these tasks, you buy yourself time to figure out whether theyโre actually worth doing or not.
- Schedule downtimeโ The difference between someone who is good at procrastinating and someone who isnโt is that the former makes time to wind down while the latter finds it. By scheduling downtime, you give yourself permission to unwind and space for those creative ideas to brew. Plus, youโre less likely to let that habit of mind-wandering interfere with your productive time.
Understanding how you can use your urge to procrastinate to your advantage will transform the way you work. Youโll be more prepared, less stressed and โ ultimately โ far more effective in your attempts to clear that ever-growing to-do list.
