3 times when procrastination is the best option

Accomplishing tasks at their defined time is the often-recommended approach, but waiting for a better time to do the task is not that bad either.

An article by Jonh Rampton published on entrepreneur.com strongly advocates for procrastination as it benefits entrepreneurs and business owners.

Rampton quotes Adam Grant, author of Originals who notes that in Ancient Egypt procrastination was defined as “Waiting for the right time.”

Rampton adds that great thinkers and creators like the late Apple founder Steve Jobs embraced this idea.

He goes on to mention other successful people who are procrastinators like Leonardo Da Vinci, Frank Lloyd Wright, Thomas Jefferson, Bill Clinton, Mark Twain, Margaret Atwood and the Dalai Lama.

However, this does not mean that you should start putting everything off, waiting for a better time. You should discern between active procrastination and passive procrastination.

“Active procrastination means you realise that you are unduly delaying mowing the lawn or cleaning your closet, but you are doing something more valuable instead. Passive procrastination is just sitting around on your sofa not doing anything. That clearly is a problem.”

According to Rampton, passive procrastination can lead to stress and anxiety. When you finally come around to doing the task, you are unable to tackle it to your full ability and end up sitting in disorganisation.

Active procrastination is good because of three reasons. First, it gives people an energy boost. With the fear of a deadline approaching, one gathers up enough motivation to get the task done on time.

Second, it sparks creativity as it gives people the time to come up with better alternatives. Most procrastinators are perfectionists and want to do the work in the best way possible. 

Third, procrastination helps with focus, makes us work faster and makes everything else seem easier. When one is late, they avoid all forms of distraction to complete the task. The author says that you should not fight procrastination but use it for your benefit. This is possible through say making use of apps that automate tasks, organise your lists, eliminate distractions, and send you daily reminders.