It’s insidious, isn’t it? You have the best of intentions,
then it gets you – and half an hour’s gone by. Well, with no paid work today,
it seems like a good day to blog about it. Because on a day like this I’ll
worry that I’m not getting anything done. And the truth is that most days I
worry that I’m not getting enough done, or that I’m not doing it fast or attentively
enough.
Why is that? I’ve never (at time of publishing…) had the
feedback “Did that really take you all day?” or “Is that it?!” Yes, I’ll get
feedback and extra requests and – normally - I take that with a smile. My
clients seem more than happy with what I produce and how I produce it.
So why this nagging doubt? In part, it’s because I
undoubtedly do my best work when I’m up against it. There’s something about pressure
or volume that puts my brain into an active, focussed state. I work quickly,
creatively and I see the gaps. It’s not always comfortable, but it’s effective.
On the other hand, give me a day to do a half-day job, and at about 5 o’clock I’ll
realise I’ve missed the blindingly obvious. So am I creating my own pressure by
wasting half the day? Or with that much space in the day is the lure of the web
just too strong?
Broadly, there’s two things you can do about procrastination.
You can tackle it head on: http://www.fastcompany.com/3008359/3-ways-tackle-your-procrastination-problem?partner=newsletter
Or you can use it more like a way of taking a long run-up to
getting going: http://hackerspace.lifehacker.com/how-procrastination-can-become-a-productive-activity-1440113157
Me? I’m probably more of the latter. I’ve always got a list
of things that I can usefully do that isn’t paid work: so that’s admin and
finances, that’s new business, that’s reading article and blogs, that’s
researching new tools and methods AND it’s some life admin too. It’s teaching
myself touch-typing (although that in turn is getting thoroughly procrastinated right now).
And at times it’s telling myself I have to complete a section, or work to a
time before I check again on Surrey’s latest doomed attempt to win a four-day
game.
How do you overcome the urge to waste your own time?
More of Tom Gauld’s
excellent cartoons here: http://myjetpack.tumblr.com/
