How to Procrastinate Productively Like A Pro – 3 Minute Read

Does the feeling of not being productive hurt your self-esteem?

If it does, you’re in the right place because in this post I’ll tell you how to procrastinate productively. Take it from someone who has been doing it for years.

‘Productive’ and ‘procrastination’ might seem two very different terms for you. But once you finish reading, you would’ve mastered the art of procrastinating while getting tons of work done.

So let’s get started.

Here’s a video summary of the post:

Productive Procrastination refers to the art of doing less difficult (but important) tasks while procrastinating the more difficult tasks. 8-10 hours of productive procrastination can help you achieve more tasks than you would’ve by just procrastinating.

Everything we do can be classified into 3 levels.

Level 1 accounts for the most important and difficult tasks in your life. These tasks have an immediate effect and you’ll be more likely to procrastinate on them,

• Writing an assignment.
• Planning out your finances.
• Completing a job project.

Level 2

Level 2 consists of less urgent but important tasks. While these activities are important, they are not equally as important as Level 2.

The tasks are meant to be done when you’re not working on Level 1 tasks. When you’re working on Level 2 tasks, you’re still being productive.

• Cleaning the house.
• Answering emails.
• Going to the gym.

Level 3

This level consists of unproductive and less important activities. While they provide no value in your life, this is what we tend to spend most of our time.

• Spending time on social media.
• Watching TV.
• Spending idle time with friends.

Procrastinating doesn’t mean that you’re not doing anything. You’re still doing something, it’s just that they’re unimportant stuff.

We should be aiming to do somewhat important activities rather than wasting time on unimportant tasks.

How do we do that?

It’s easy, we make Level 3 activities impossible to do or make it a little harder to complete. We can just unplug the tv, hide our mobile, or switch off the Wi-Fi.

By doing this we’re left with Level 1 and Level 2 activities.

If you force yourself to do Level 1 tasks you may end up doing the Level 3 activities which you should never revert to.

Instead of doing that, you may essentially want to focus on Level two jobs. Doing these tasks will feel like a piece of cake compared to Level 3 ones which is a HUGE advantage.

So go for a walk, do some exercise, clean your rooms or make a to-do list. Do something that’s at least worth your time.

Studying was a daunting task for me. I used to procrastinate instead of actually finishing my portions.

At that time, I wasn’t aware of some study tips which I learned much later.

This is one of my biggest weaknesses.

When I first heard the idea of procrastinating productively, I used it to complete all the other tasks such as writing an assignment, reports, and projects.

It worked out for me so well that when the exam came near I had all the time in the world because all my other chores were already completed.

Other students who were unaware of this technique panicked as they had two things to deal with – exams and projects.

So was I procrastinating?

Yes!

But was I being productive?

Heck yeah!

Whenever you have some important things to attend to and you start procrastinating, don’t jump to Level 3. Try to make it difficult to get started in Level 3. Boredom will push you to Level 2 forcing you to be productive while procrastinating at the same time.

 I also have collected some tips to stay motivated while studying. Did you like the technique? Comment your answers below.