Productive Procrastination

For weeks, I’ve been dealing with productive procrastination. As a long-time practitioner of procrastination, I’m well aware I should remove distractions, silence my phone, focus on my big picture goals, acknowledge fear and resistance, and break my tasks into manageable steps.

What is my procrastination problem?

I am distracted. Not by video games or binge-worthy streaming series. I’m not distracted by the news or other hobbies. I’m not even delving into new story worlds. Okay, I am a little, but it’s under control (no new manuscripts).

What I’m distracted by is all the things I could do with and for my book. Or books. These are often the things I will need to do after the books are out.

Why is this procrastination a problem?

Here’s the thing: productive procrastination is still procrastination.

Most of the things I’d like to do with and for my book require I finish my book. However, instead of driving my book over the proverbial finish line, I’m delving into the things I could, or should, do to help my book succeed.

←This graphic captures the spiraling thought patterns I’ve had while working on my book description. You can imagine the rabbit holes I’ve fallen through while poking around. Each topic spurs interest in another topic, and so on.

So, while all of this future-focused thought will be useful, I’ve had to pull myself back on course a number of times. Here are strategies I’ve found useful to keep me focused.

Review Priorities

As I’ve caught myself poking into yet another rabbit hole, I’ve learned to center my focus by reviewing my writing-related priorities. My number one priority is to publish Book 1 on the schedule I set for myself at the beginning of the year. Before I let myself chase a line of inquiry, I ask, “Does this help me reach my number 1 priority?”

Prioritize Productive Procrastination Tasks

Sometimes, the line of inquiry leads to a task I will need to accomplish by my publication date. In these cases, I review my task list for time sensitivity. If accomplishing Task 3 requires the results of Task 2, there’s no point in chasing Task 3 until I’ve completed Task 2.

Park Your Productive Procrastinations

When I notice I’m spiraling through rabbit holes again, as they occur, I park the idea aka add them to my idea parking lot aka add them to the “Maybe-To-Do” list. I review my parked ideas periodically to evaluate if they’ve become more relevant to my project. Somehow, adding them to the list helps me remove them from my mental chaos.

Schedule Productive Procrastination Time

When you have a parked list of productive distractions, schedule time to use them! If I know I’m going to have downtime, I’ll schedule a block of play/explore/learn time to focus on them. I’ll also use them as rewards for completing necessary tasks.

Another way I’ve corralled my productive distractions is by enrolling in a class focused on the topic. Not only do I learn more about the topic, the structure of the course helps keep me from diving those rabbit holes. This month, I’m taking a beginning voice course to study audio and narration techniques, and a craft course on character development.

Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task. – William James

There are many things to learn and research along the independent publishing path, but by being strategic about how we approach productive procrastination, we can focus our creative energy on completing critical tasks instead of allowing our curiosity to derail our priorities. How do you handle your productive procrastinations?

Header Photo by Paico Oficial on Unsplash