Procrastination. The art of doing nothing. Well doing nothing until you absolutely have to do something – but we’ll leave the minor details.
It’s the things you do to avoid the other things that you actually should be doing, and we are all guilty of it. Whether you should be writing an assignment, revising for an exam, doing the washing up or simply making a phone call; each and every person in this world is victim of procrastination at some point in their life (or day). Granted, some adopt the task more commonly than others, but it’s something that plays with us all.
But what if I were to tell you that procrastination is good? It’s good to do something else, instead of what you should be doing? Now don’t slate it, but an American University Professor has conducted some research into the art of procrastination, and the results are there to please us all. According to these findings, procrastination should be addressed as the art of ‘managing delay’ and that is supposedly a good thing.
Managing delay is an important tool for human beings. It makes us happier, healthier and more successful when we are doing things on our own accord, rather than when we think we should be doing them. So whilst there is usually a deadline, a little procrastination here and there is no harm to anyone. But there is a little twist on this happy ever after (as always), the study also states that procrastination is only good for you when you are doing to right type of procrastination. There’s different types, you may say? Don’t worry, I’m on your wavelength too. As far as I was aware, anything that is not what I was meant to be doing is procrastination – but apparently not. Breathing and staring into space are thought to be a good form of delay as they give you the time to think and process the task that you should actually be undertaking. So maybe it’s time to ditch that share bag of Doritos that you just picked up!
Therefore, if you’re like me, sitting and thinking of something that you can do instead of that work you should be doing, then maybe you shouldn’t feel so bad about it. After all, I am writing this blog when I should be writing a 3000 word essay. Happy days!
Frank Partnoy is the American Professor. And if you’re interested, his book is conveniently called Wait: The Useful Art of Procastination.
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