To Procrastinate or Not to Procrastinate?

We’ve all heard the arguments before: lazier people are more creative, and oftentimes, wildly more successful (they have all the time in the world to waste which means they come up with some pretty radical ideas). But then again, that’s not to say that busy bees can’t be creative or successful either. Google’s head of marketing has over 20 meetings each day—she’s pretty darn busy and if you ask most anyone, rather successful, too. And we’re all guilty of procrastination. But is it really such a bad thing?

So then the question naturally becomes: to procrastinate or not to procrastinate? And while the choice is ultimately yours to make, here are a few reasons that lend a little positivity to each side of the coin.

To procrastinate:

1. It can make you more creative.

For some, procrastination can lead to a better outcome, causing you to think of more efficient solutions and more innovative ideas in order to avoid tedious or boring work.

2. It can lead to more important items.

You might put it off, but you’ll probably do something else in its place to justify your procrastination—something that is equally as important, if not more important.

3. It can reveal the missing ingredient.

Delaying doesn’t come out of nowhere. Chances are your mind is focused on the little details or maybe even the bigger picture. Sometimes you need to clear the fog before you can make something really shine.

Not to procrastinate:

1. It can actually take more time.

Many think procrastination uses more of your valuable time, decreasing brain function and causing the effects of sleep deprivation. Like mentioned before, your brain energy is spent stressing over what you aren’t doing and what you need to be doing.

2. It can use more energy.

When we don’t give our minds time to evaluate, plan and decompress, it takes away from our energy—ultimately affecting our work in negative ways. Putting items off until later will give us less time to decompress, as well as more time to stress over not doing something.

3. It can create bad habits.

If you procrastinate once and you’re successful at it, then you’ll probably do it over and over again until something negative happens. And don’t be naive… It will happen. It’s important to nip this habit in the bud. Once procrastination becomes a habit, it gets easier and easier to justify the negative consequences of it.

There are plenty of other pros and cons to each side, but the general rule of thumb is: as long as your work gets done, it doesn’t really matter how you got there. Everyone is different and works in different ways. If procrastination works for you, continue on. If you prefer being a busy bee, keep on buzzing.