Subscribe to Love Mondays newsletter updates via email »
LM: #261: Procrastilitarian
Procrastination can be useful, but not always.
Procrastination is defined by expectations. If you don’t have the expectation you should do something, you can’t procrastinate.
When you feel as if you’re procrastinating, that feeling only has utility if it leads to one of two outcomes.
WANT TO WRITE A BOOK?
Download your FREE copy of How to Write a Book »
(for a limited time)
One useful outcome is if it inspires you to take action. Either do the task, or stop doing some other task that prevents you.
The other useful outcome is if feeling you’re procrastinating causes you to reevaluate your expectations. Maybe what you expect to accomplish is unrealistic, given your current resources. So stop expecting to do the task, expect to do a smaller version of the task, or expect to do a task that will put you in a better position to accomplish the main task.
If you have an ongoing feeling that you’re procrastinating, and that feeling doesn’t inspire either action or reevaluation, feeling you’re procrastinating only serves as self-punishment.
Aphorism: “Success does not lie in sticking to things. It lies in picking the right thing to stick to and quitting the rest.” —Annie Duke
Book: Getting Things Done (Amazon) is such a timeless classic, I’m reading it once again more than 20 years later.
Best,
David
P.S. If you procrastinate on your dreams you’re suffering from aspiration procrastination.
