Transcriber: Ivana Krivokuća Reviewer: Ivana Korom
It's early March and one of my classes
has just bestowed upon us the latest essay topic.
They tell us the essay is due in two weeks -
the Friday before spring break - but also conveniently add
that we're going to hand it in two days later, on Sunday,
if really necessary.
This last piece of information is both the gift and a curse
to a procrastinator like me.
Fast forward, it's the week before the essay is due.
As the week goes by, I gradually start to work.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday go past.
I generate a very rough outline,
basically a constellation of bullet points.
I knew our teachers and I started seeing kids
handing in their first and second drafts.
Really on top of their stuff.
And I wasn't even envious. I was more fascinated.
I would love to be like theoe kids, but every time I try to do work early,
I get distracted by more pressing matters.
Why work on my essay due in a week when I have a math test tomorrow?
Or a Game of Thrones marathon tonight.
I did do a bit of research, though, and I thought about my essay,
but I didn't quite write sentences.
Thursday comes along, I do nothing.
Friday, the due date, I have nothing to hand in.
Of course, I wait until Saturday and Sunday,
and mostly work on Sunday.
Apparently, the essay was due no later than 9 pm.
I submitted mine at 2.19 am in a scene of blazing glory.
Now, ignoring the frantic essay hysteria that swallowed my first week in a break,
I actually ended up writing one of my better papers.
And so much of every other paper I've written,
felt that I've worked best when I could feel the clock ticking.
This is a prime example of procrastination.
Procrastination is the action of postponing or delaying something.
My example wasn't totally destructive.
As I was putting off my work,
I was subconsciously consolidating material
and becoming more creative.
Now, it wasn't ideal procrastination and it was stress-inducing,
but it does have seedlings of a positive habit.
I belong to a big community of procrastinators.
According to one study,
20 percent of the population identifies as procrastinators.
And I identify the other 80 percent as liars.
(Laughter)
In some capacity, we all procrastinate.
But there's no reason to be ashamed of that,
because if you learn to do it the right way,
procrastination can be very helpful.
Now, when going down this road, we have the choice of two paths:
passive procrastination and active procrastination.
One will cause you to roll up into a ball, crying and tearing you hair out,
while the other will allow you to reach your unlocked potential.
The first is passive procrastination.
Passive procrastinators put off their work without a purpose.
They're paralyzed by worry and indecision.
They'd be overwhelmed by an upcoming task or simply can't get motivated,
so they revert to unproductive, easy activities.
Here's an example.
While procrastinating on writing an essay, you binge-watch Netflix.
Or you binge-eat, or you binge anything.
The examples are endless.
Most times, these people prefer to do things
that give them immediate pleasure
and set off the boring, daunting tasks ahead of them.
These people prefer to do things that will satisfy their needs in the short term,
but aren't thinking about the long term.
With that being said,
there is absolutely a time and place to do nothing,
just for relaxation sake.
But this is a slippery slope, and these people can't draw the line.
Making these mindless activities consume all of their time.
On the other end of the spectrum is active procrastination.
Active procrastinators prefer to work under pressure.
They make deliberate decisions to put off their work
so they can plan or investigate further
because they have other important matters to do in its place.
Here's an example.
While procrastinating on writing an essay, you study for your math test.
Or while procrastinating on your math test, you clean your room.
Although you push off something that's important,
the idea is that you're doing something equally,
if not more important, in its place.
This is based
on the sound psychological principle that anyone can do any amount of work,
provided it isn't the work they are supposed to be doing
at the moment.
In order to utilize active procrastination,
we must structure our work in a way that exploits this principle.
The best way to do this is to create a list of the tasks you need to do.
Either on paper or in your head, ranked in order of importance.
The most daunting task with clear deadlines will be on top,
but there will be also worthwhile ones to do at the bottom.
Here's an example of one of my lists.
Doing these lower items becomes a way of avoiding the ones higher up.
Using this approach, you can become much more productive.
This works because you're deceiving yourself
into doing work that you perceive as less important,
that in reality is usually just as meaningful.
Now that we know the two types of procrastinators,
the next step is understanding the full range of benefits that it offers.
Not only will you become a better person,
but your activities and your daily engagements
will also improve.
The first thing it does is makes you more creative.
While you procrastinate,
you're more likely to let your mind wander.
When doing this, you have a better chance of stumbling onto something unusual
and spotting the unexpected.
Even if you're not being active about it, when you procrastinate,
you have better chance of finding the thing
that you're genuinely interested in.
Take note of the things you do
when you push off a certain piece of work,
and your genuine interests will emerge.
Second, active procrastinators get more done.
If you have a task that you want to put off,
a good procrastinator will find other important things to do in its place.
They research on their project, or send the overdue e-mails for example,
but in the end,
your most important work always gets done.
One thing that you can do is do a hierarchy of tasks.
You write a list.
And essentially deceive yourself into doing more of your work.
Try this technique for a little bit and I guarantee you'll see results.
Third, procrastination leads to better decision making.
When a procrastinator delays making decision,
they are gathering information
and equipping themselves to make the best possible choice.
When doing this, you're more likely to have better outcomes.
To paraphrase philosopher John Perry,
"It is beneficial to utilize all your available time
before making important decisions,
so you can observe and process information about all available outcomes".
Sometimes, the best thing you can do is not make a snap decision,
but take advantage of all your available time.
The real problem with procrastination
is when we get angry at ourselves for doing it.
We all know the feeling.
You may feel shame or guilt,
which in turn leads you to procrastinate even further,
creating a vicious cycle.
If we get rid of the shame, the stigma behind procrastination,
we will be able to isolate the positive aspects of it
and overcome the negative ones.
The best thing we can do when approaching this topic
is to understand that conventional wisdom isn't necessarily correct here.
Procrastination can be harnessed for good.
This may not be a big problem for some of you,
but if you feel like procrastination is weighing you down,
I encourage you to change your perception of it
and strive to become an active procrastinator.
If we do this the right way,
procrastination can make us more productive than ever.
Thank you.
(Applause)