Procrastinate When You Aren’t Clear
July 2nd, 2010
It’s officially summer, at least in the northern hemisphere, and for many of us there’s a sense that procrastination is a little more acceptable during the summer season. What I’d like you to know is that what you think of as procrastination is actually a better strategy more often than you think. In the article below I talk about one category of productive procrastination, or what I call “procrastivity”, the definition of which is “significantly enhanced productivity achieved through intelligently and creatively applying intentional procrastination”. The other categories of procrastivity are outlined in my book, Productive Procrastination - Make it Work For You, Not Against You (available at Procrastivity.com orAmazon.com). And to celebrate the season and the concept of procrastivity, I’m giving away a PDF copy of the book. See the article below for instructions on entering the drawing. At the beginning of August I’ll pull one winning name from the list of those that respond. Congratulations to Marié Julsing, of South Africa, winner of last month’s drawing. Marié won the “Where Has The Time Gone Worksheet”, part ofThe Procrastination Solutions Kit. For those of you who are following my doctoral study progress, I submitted my dissertation proposal and internal review board application to conduct my research - a big jump, in less than three weeks after I’d submitted my literature review. Keep your fingers crossed for me that my proposal will be accepted with minimal changes, please! Enough about me! How are you doing? Honestly, I’d love to hear from you. Is there a subject or question you have in the area of self-leadership, productivity, and effectiveness? Let me know - it may be featured in upcoming newsletters. Wishing you a fabulous July and, as always, optimal procrastivity, Kerul Kerul Kassel, Author of Productive Procrastination - Make It Work For You, Not Against You and the award-winning Stop Procrastinating Now - Five Radical Procrastination Strategies To Set You Free, both available at www.Procrastivity.com Procrastinate When You Aren’t Sure Below is an updated version of an article I wrote a few years ago about the wisdom of *not* taking action when you are fuzzy about what action to take. This month I’m offering a drawing in which a reader (randomly chosen from a list of those who request to be entered into the drawing simply by emailing me at Kerul@NewLeafSystems.com) will receive a PDF version of my book Productive Procrastination - Make it Work For You, Not Against You. The subject of this book is how to know when *not* doing something you think you “should” be doing is a better strategy than either kicking yourself for not taking action or doing something possibly misguided because you haven’t taken the time to allow the idea, the situation, your own mind or development to ripen . The book, btw, is available atAmazon.com . Here’s my advice: procrastinate when you aren’t sure. Wait… should you put something off just because you don’t have crystal clarity? Shouldn’t you be doing something - anything to create forward movement? Shouldn’t we at least feel guilty for procrastinating? Usually, the answer is no. Not all procrastination is created equal. Just because you’re not doing what looks like real action toward a decision or goal doesn’t mean that: a) no action is happening, or b) action is appropriate at this moment. Make no mistake - I do *NOT* mean that you should put off action if you are about to lose something you value, if there are outside (not just internal) forces or deadlines that you must comply with, or if others are sincerely being put at a disadvantage because of your lack of action. That would be irresponsible, insensitive, or inconsiderate, and that isn’t what I’m suggesting you do. I have led many workshops in which participants were involved in developing a more in-depth picture of what they wanted their futures to look like, including their business or career goals, financial profile, personal aspirations, relationships, home life, etc. Participants usually hope to leave with a clear and thorough idea of what was next for them. Despite the exercises and discussion in the workshop, it sometimes doesn’t happen during the workshop. There are certainly things you can do to help the process along, from discussing your ideas with colleagues, friends, or family (or a trained coach!), mind-mapping and journaling. More creative techniques include dream-boarding and meditating. Sometimes the most effective technique for defining your vision is to sit alone on a deserted beach or take a solitary hike in the woods. If you’ve played with those exercises and the vision is still vague, here’s my expert recommendation: wait. You read it right. Wait for the fuzziness to come into better focus. To take action simply for the sake of taking action when ideas for forward movement are not yet clear usually results in frustration or regret. Instead, focus on other goals and activities in the meantime. You never know, engaging in them instead might lead to meeting someone, reading something, hearing or seeing an idea, resource, or event that is the stimulus forward, that connects you to the next steps or removes the veil in front of what you’d like your future to look like. Sometimes waiting (what can feel like procrastinating) requires you to sit tight and be patient. It also requires faith and trust, as well as self-confidence; faith that the information you need will come to you in time, trust that you’re not missing opportunities or shooting yourself in the foot while you wait, and self-confidence that you’re not being stupid, woo-woo, lazy, or using bad judgment. It’s not effortless to sustain that patience in the face of those internal critics, but it is possible. As you experience more positive outcomes it will get easier. I’d love to hear about what you’ve waited for clarity about before you’ve taken action, and what your results were. Email me atkerul@newleafsystems.com. Want help with understanding and transforming the way you use your energy, attention, effort, time, and other resources? I have room for just 1 new client in July. Email or call right away if you’re interested. INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES “Life was always a matter of waiting for the right moment to act.” ~ Paulo Coelho ~ ““Between the wish and the thing life lies waiting.” ~ Author unknown ~ “Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience.” ~ Author unknown ~