I truly enjoy blogging for Beyond the Elms. This position has allowed me to look back, to examine my career goals and career path, and writing about my experiences has been an extremely cathartic process for me. Though, I must confess, I may have one teeny-tiny ulterior motive for blogging. It in no way changes my relationship or commitment to the blog. Blogging just so happens to give me yet another outlet in which I can “productively procrastinate.”

Colloquially, procrastination is often regarded with disdain. It is a compulsive evil that keeps us from our daily, important business matters. When I actively procrastinate, I feel less motivated  and sluggish, reducing my capabilities to non-productive motions. Procrastination is generally seen as a time-waster, doing menial things that don’t amount to much actual progress and overall being a “lump”, as I call it.

…… LOOK I just did it! I turned away from this blog post for five seconds to check my email and, a half an hour later, I have written nothing…

Probably one of the most infamous, least effective ways of handling procrastination is to lessen the number of commitments you make. As any college student can tell you, this strategy is never a guarantee of productivity; it only makes it harder to close your computer and get to reading that book for class (YES, YOU!). Since you have given yourself fewer, more important responsibilities, you may now focus far more heavily on only those commitments, the stress from which you may need to relieve by procrastinating. This harmful process also messes up your natural motivation by only requiring the completion of purely essential tasks, which you then procrastinate from because of their overwhelming nature…and the self-perpetuating cycle continues.

As many Scripps students probably know, not many of us actively ignore more commitments. Scripps students are interested and concerned about many of the issues surrounding our society today and won’t give up those interests for a facade of productivity. However, the concept of procrastination may be able to help these busy bodies. Sure, the act of procrastinating distracts us from important work or responsibilities, but the desire to procrastinate can also be flipped on its head in beneficial ways.

……. DARN, I DID IT AGAIN!

Anyway, most people who procrastinate (the procrastinator) can usually be motivated to do difficult, timely, and required jobs, as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something that they consider to be more important. Productive procrastination means manipulating the hierarchy of the tasks the procrastinator has to do in a way that utilizes this idea. Tasks that seem most urgent and important are put at the top of the to-do list. But there are also worthwhile assignments and responsibilities to perform lower down on the list. Doing these “lower” tasks becomes a way of not doing the things higher up on the list, setting yourself up with more free time in the future that, in turn, can make you feel less stressed about completing your important tasks.

While this may be a bit self-deceptive at first, in my mind, there is nothing more fulfilling than turning a potentially negative character trait on its head in the name of organizational success.

NOW! Back to my midterm papers!