The Perfectionist's Guide to Structured Procrastination

A thousand years ago, when I was in college, a friend asked me if I had started an extra-credit calculus project. I replied that I hadn’t. In frustration, she said, “Of course you haven’t..you are such a procrastinator.” Frankly, I was pretty incredulous. In my mind, procrastinators were the slackers…not the president’s list/double major people like me. So, I pretty much disregarded it. Then graduate school hit and I realized that I was a procrastinator…big time. I will never overcome my procrastinating tendencies…but I have figured out ways to manage it.

1.      1.  Understanding Myself

This is probably the most important of all of the steps. Before I could actively work on improving my procrastination, I first needed to understand WHY I was procrastinating. As it turns out, I’m a perfectionist. When a task presents itself, I envision being successful at it. I sell myself on how perfect it CAN be. The problem with perfectionists is that we have incredibly high self-standards. I do not believe that I have ever created something perfect, because I fundamentally believe that it is a physical impossibility. However, I am always aiming for it. It is a sort of dream-the-impossible-dream kind of thing. That amount of self-pressure would make even the best among us crack-and I am certainly not the best. So, my non-conscious solution to this self-induced stress is to procrastinate. After all, no one can create a perfect product when given a limited amount of time…right? Understanding this self-manipulated pattern was my first step to success.

2.      2.  Self-Manipulation

I am always going to have a problem with procrastination. My perfectionism will never go away. So, I have figured out ways to managing it. The first is self-manipulation. When I am presented with a task, I given myself two due dates-an early one and then the actual date that it is due. I mark my calendar and actively work towards the early due date. If I convince myself that the early due date IS the due date, I build in plenty of time for editing.

3.    3.  The list

Every week, I give myself a list of what needs to be accomplished for the week and I rank them based on importance. Similarly, I also do this for the day. So, when I know that I have a due date coming up and I want to do a less important task (because there are always more menial tasks to be completed) I get those out of the way.

 

As always, I love getting your thoughts! You can reach me at jdanner@peoplelease.com