Procrastination

How appropriate that Eileen Cook chose to write about procrastination! Procrastination is the 'chick's middle name. Seriously!

For anyone who was not paying attention, Eileen is the author of this very entertaining book: If y'all are looking for an entertaining read, this is your book:


So, without further ado (or procrastination). . .

Procrastination has a bad reputation. There are entire books devoted to learning to avoid it and no one wants to be accused of doing it. We’ve turned into a nation of priority setting list checkers. I’m all for getting things accomplished, but I think procrastination isn’t always such a bad thing. A sample of the random things I’ve done while avoiding working on my book include:

Realized my hair dryer vent was clogged with fuzz requiring my focused attention and a pair of tweezers;
Brushed my dog’s teeth;
Searched for random items on Ebay, including grilled cheese sandwiches with the Virgin Mary burned into the side; and
Endless random surfing of the internet where I learned fascinating facts like more people are killed yearly by falling vending machines than in shark attacks.

The best part of being a writer is that all of this procrastination counts as work. Instead of calling it procrastination, we call it “brainstorming” or “research.” This fact, along with the idea that the writer’s work uniform consists of yoga pants and a giant sweatshirt and makes writing an ideal job.

For me procrastination is part of the process, I can’t jump right into the story, I need to sneak up on it. If I go directly at the project it bolts. Some of my best ideas I’ve tripped over while doing something else. If more people embraced their inner procrastinator who knows what they might discover? Procrastination is the mind’s way of getting off the highway and taking the back roads. Ask yourself- on your last road trip where did you find the really interesting stuff? The highway may get you there quicker, but if getting there is supposed to be half of the fun, then you’re missing out. Let your brain take an off ramp once and awhile.

Put procrastination back on your to-do list. Give yourself permission to waste a little time. Who knows what will come from it- if nothing else your blow dryer may end up lint free and you’ll know to give the vending machine at your office the respect it deserves.