We've been getting in trouble for procrastinating since our earliest days in school. Teachers used tell us to get on our homework, our parents used to tell us to stop playing so many games, and eventually our earliest employers used to tell us to stop sleeping on the job (maybe not everybody!). Our tendencies to slack off from responsibility are indicative of our enjoyment of relaxing. In today's day and age, despite any troubles we might have, we largely have a stress free life. Food and shelter come easy, and if we had to we could go days drinking free tap water and eating our household leftovers.
Through most of our life we are constantly goaded into production by our teachers, family and workmates. We are conditioned to live life with an effective work ethic and responsible perspective. That said, it's easy for us to pass to buck and procrastinate every now and then; and why not? We are provided for. Rarely do we feel so stressed about food or money anymore that we cannot afford to laze around, read a book for too long, or watch too much TV. It may not be the healthiest thing we can do sometimes, but taking a break every now and then is worth it, as long as it is not the status quo.
Let's see why procrastinating isn't such a bad thing after all.
1. Give yourself some time to think
It's great if you love the work you do, and strive to do even more work when you're off, in the form of homework or having some hobbies. But if we get too caught up, then we don't have time to clear our thoughts out. Procrastinating is our chance to let ourselves free and let our mind be vulnerable to silly thoughts and the R&R it deserves.
2. Realize what your real priorities are
If our mind is too clouded, so is the way you order the things in your life. If you're procrastinating on something, perhaps it's not something that is particularly important to you. In that case, maybe taking a break from it is a good idea to relax the synapses and reflect on what is important in your life. This could be your Eureka moment when you decide to finally switch careers, or stumble upon a website or resource that gets you thinking about something else. If that's happened, then you've started something new and exciting, giving you something exciting to think about and maybe something new to prioritize.
3. Don't act quickly!
Procrastinating doesn't have to mean playing video games on your phone for two hours before doing the dishes. It could mean the difference between waiting a few seconds before going through a green light when a driver was still speeding through in the perpendicular direction. Procrastinating for a few seconds can mean the difference between making a natural decision that results in danger, or acting on the instinct of passion too quickly. This is how most arguments are started – by people acting with haste on their feelings rather than taking a moment to consider all the options.
4. Practice your intuition
While intuition is generally seen as your impulsive reaction to something, sometimes your intuition is in fact the result of long hours of practice and consideration. By all means, you did not become yourself overnight. Your intuition took years of fine tuning and practice to develop. While we are procrastinating, we are letting our unconscious mind loose to think, dream, imagine and shape our idle state. Maybe this is the leverage you need and maybe this is the time you need to tweak your intuition into a more perfect state for you.
5. Foster your creativity
It's easy to procrastinate on stressful things. There's a reason students are famous for leaving their work for "the night before," and as it looks, it pays off much of the time as well. During the time you are slacking off from tackling your chore, your mind is in fact developing and building ideas to bring to the project. You have not ignored it completely, and your brain is secretly teething and growing with ideas while you remain idle. Now suddenly, the deadline is approaching and by some act of God you are able to summon the power and substance to build a remarkable work of academia with time to spare. How did you do it? Just thank all that procrastinating.
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