In Defense of Procrastination

bigdog posted on 10/28/10 at 09:13 AM

It's the great universal: everybody procrastinates. But why - and how? (Not only am I curious about you guys, I also need some fresh stalling strategies myself.) Recently two different friends emailed me good web finds about procrastination - no doubt, they were emailing me when they've should've been doing something more productive. Ha!
Anyhow: I totally enjoyed those and thought you would, too.
First up, business columnist James Surowiecki at The New Yorker reviewed a new book on procrastination, The Thief of Time. His review - fittingly titled "Later" - summarizes some fascinating angles psychologists and other experts have discovered about why and how we procrastinate. 


...And if that's not enough fodder for your Extremely Extended Coffee Break, here's another fun item: this animated video on procrastination is beautiful, hilarious, and oh-so-true. I have resorted to each and every one of these tactics to delay some task I really didn't want to start in the first place.


What about you - what's your go-to task when you're just putting off the inevitable?

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Posted by bigdog on 10/28/10 at 09:13 AM

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070622-snook-b_thumb Brokerage Account

TampaJake posted October 28, 2010 (11:10PM)

If you are too busy to go fishing, you are just too busy. (tomorrow looks like a good day to go)
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Steves_thumb Brokerage Account

Lamp posted October 29, 2010 (03:43AM)

Great video and oh how true. My favorite one is going to the bathroom. When I was in grad school years ago I had a habit of getting up from my studies and going to the bathroom or getting a drink of water. Most of the time I would meet another student and we seemed always to find something to talk about. Over time I broke that habit by making myself stay at my desk and study, if I got up I wrote down the time. When I came back I wrote down the time. The time I was not at my desk was not counted toward my study time. After spending 8 hours at my desk one day and I only actually study 4 hours I decided to make fewer trips. So many things can steal your time, but most of the time its a choice we make.
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Man-song-puppet_thumb Brokerage Account

corbinb2 posted October 29, 2010 (07:26AM)

A big part of procrastination is that you would really rather do something other than the task at hand. I struggle with this daily, especially when working on things involving code which can be tedious. What has worked for me is to break it down into segments.

This could be doing something for a sepcified amount of time or reaching a certain point in a project at which time I get a 'reward' if you will of going out for a cup of coffee, or even just moving on to another project to change things up.

Does it always work? No, but more times than not it does and I am more productive as a result.

As for nre ways you can procrastinate BigDog, well I'll tell you that tomorrow...:0)
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Wallstreetking_thumb Brokerage Account

WallStreetKing posted October 29, 2010 (07:28PM)

I started and finished eating vegetables that I grew, is that procrastination.

I seen a video were the High School Student spelled bored incorrectly (baored) the future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvywTGuF0lQ

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Alcoholresearch_thumb Brokerage Account

spshapiro posted October 30, 2010 (09:15AM)

thought I might get back........
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Don_1_thumb TradeKing Staff Member

bigdog posted November 02, 2010 (09:59AM)

Lamp: getting a drink of water is a CLASSIC procrastinator tactic, right up there with another personal favorite of mine, getting that second (or seventh) cup of joe. Nice ones! I also liked your method for combating the habit – yours too, Corbinb2.

TampaJake: now that we’ve rolled out TradeKing Mobile for BlackBerry, you can easily trade from the boat! Just wrap your device in a plastic sandwich baggie, and you’re all set for a leisurely day of Cast-the-Line, Check-Your-Quotes. ;-)
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