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A home for multipotentialites!

How To Skirt Resistance and Become a “Productive Procrastinator”

When you make the decision to work on a project, your body screams NO- Anything but!By Emilie Wapnick

This is part of the Multi-Focus Maverick Series, a series about how to split up your time effectively so that you can focus on many things and still make progress on your goals.

**

I woke up this morning with one mission in mind: Today I’m working on my script.

I’m feeling pumped.

Ready.

Lets do this.

I sit down at my desk…

Suddenly, the last thing I want to do is work on my script.

In this moment, all of my other projects seem a million times more enticing. Writing my book? Blogging? Building that Portland Clue tournament website? Tweaking the design of my sidebar? Answering emails? (Yes, even answering emails sounds like a blast right now).

Has this happened to you?

The instant you make the decision to work on a project, your body screams NO- Anything but! It doesn’t matter how much fun the project seemed yesterday (or even five minutes ago). Once it’s time to get started, the resistance monster stomps right down on top of you.

It happens instantly, like a reflex. “I’m going to work on THIS project!” you declare. BAM! Sorry buddy, any other project is fine. But THIS project? Nope, if you try to work on this project, I grant you PAIN. MASSIVE, MASSIVE PAIN.

Dealing with resistance

Resistance never disappears. What you need to do is trick resistance into leaving you alone for a while– for just enough time to get your work done.

There are many ways to trick resistance. Sometimes brute force/plowing ahead in pain will get it to subside. Sometimes addressing a root fear behind the resistance solves the problem. Other times taking a break is the answer. Setting small goals and going nuts for five minutes is another option.

But for me, today, nothing is working.

Tricking your resistance by using that resistance

You’re a multipotentialite, right? This means that you probably have a bunch of projects on the go. It also means that, unlike the unfortunate specialists who are cursed with only one love, you have other options. Really good options. 

See, your version of procrastination isn’t (just) cleaning the apartment and watching 30 Rock DVDs. It’s also long term projects, new curiosities and various passion-fueled endeavors. Talk about a perk of being a scanner! There is some incredibly meaningful work you could be doing in the name of “procrastination”.

What if, instead of tricking resistance into leaving you alone to work on your “declared” project, you use your need to procrastinate as a way to make progress on something else?

The beauty of productive procrastination

Can you guess what I’m doing now? Am I working on my script, like I had declared I would upon rising this morning? Nope. I’m writing a blog post- my “assigned task”, not for today, but for tomorrow.

And do you know why I’m able to write this post right now? It’s because writing this post is something I shouldn’t be doing. I’m being bad. I’m not meeting goal for the day. Bad Emilie!

Except that I am doing important work… I needed to write a post eventually anyway. And if I had simply waited till tomorrow to write this post like I had originally planned, I guarantee you that tomorrow I’d be completely unable to write it. Interesting, right? It’s always a million times easier to do the things you shouldn’t be doing.

If you can frame work in your mind as “procrastination”, it’s much easier to do.

Apply this trick for yourself

The next time you have many projects on the go (i.e. any given day) pick one of them and make your day all about that project. Set a deadline. Announce to someone that you’ll be working reeeeally hard on this particular project.

If you manage to work on that project, that’s awesome! You win.

But if you can’t… If the resistance hits and the work just isn’t happening, be naughty. “Procrastinate” by working on one of your other projects. Tell yourself that you really shouldn’t be doing this right now… It’s bad, oh so bad, what you’re doing…

**

Update: the day after I wrote this, I woke up and pumped out my script outline in about 40 minutes. And since this post (my original project for the day) was already written, I took the day off, hung out with my awesome aunt and then built a meetup site for my Clue league. I feel like a productivity superhero!

Your Turn

Have you ever used procrastination to make you more productive?

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Published on July 18, 2011
creativity fear goals productivity resistance time management writing


Emilie Wapnick (she/they) is the founder and creative director at Puttylike and The Puttyverse, where she helps multipotentialites build lives and careers around ALL their interests. Unable to settle on one path herself, Emilie studied music, art, film production and law, graduating from the Law Faculty at McGill University. She is the author of the award-winning book, How to Be Everything (HarperCollins), and her TED talk has been viewed 8 million times. You can learn more about Emilie here.

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  1. Ethan says

    July 18, 2011 at 9:53 am

    Great article, Emilie! I find it’s always important to learn to acknowledge when I’m procrastinating. That’s usually the first step to breaking out of mindless internet surfing.

    Reply
    • Emilie says

      July 18, 2011 at 10:49 pm

      Thanks, Ethan. Yeah, some forms of procrastination are definitely more useful than others. Mindless internet surfing definitely has its place though. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Morgan says

    July 18, 2011 at 10:31 am

    “Procrastinating by procrastinating”. I like it! And without even know it, I do that ALL the time.

    It’s like cleaning, I hate to clean the bathroom, so I’ll start by doing laundry or cleaning the kitchen, then by the time I’m done, I’m pumped to do some more cleaning so I say “eff it! I’ll just clean the bathroom!”

    Same concept with what you’re saying and it really works! I procrastinate by doing other projects all the time and it really gets me pumped for my other projects.

    Great stuff, Emilie!

    Reply
    • Emilie says

      July 18, 2011 at 10:51 pm

      Haha.. I had a roommate once who used to procrastinate by cleaning our apartment. I’d always know she had a paper due when I’d arrive home and find her scrubbing the insides of the fridge.

      Thanks for the comment, Morgan!

      Reply
  3. Natalie says

    July 18, 2011 at 10:35 am

    One of my favourite posts so far! Brilliant 🙂

    Reply
    • Emilie says

      July 18, 2011 at 10:51 pm

      Thanks, Natalie! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Rebecca Louder! says

    July 18, 2011 at 12:59 pm

    YOU’RE BLOWING MY MIND, EMILIE! Being productive as a form of procrastination? Get outta town! I think I have actually done this without realising it, back in my days as a staff journalist. As we all know, the office environment lends particularly well to procrastination, even a fun, metal-listening, beer-drinking office.

    This has helped put my day on track in so many ways.

    Reply
    • Emilie says

      July 18, 2011 at 10:53 pm

      Hah AWESOME! I love it.

      Thanks for making my day as well, Rebecca Louder! 😀

      Reply
  5. Juventud says

    July 18, 2011 at 2:02 pm

    The reason we procrastinate is because of impatience. We get impatient and our mind tells us that there is something more important which needs to be done. Here is when I trick my mind. I tell my mind, ‘no buddy i’ve got no other thing to do! And i should be doing this.’ This works for me 🙂

    Reply
    • Emilie says

      July 18, 2011 at 10:57 pm

      Interesting view. I think for me, my procrastination is linked more to fear than impatience. It’s much scarier for me to work on a big important project than it is to procrastinate.

      Thanks for sharing, Juventud. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Dyamond says

    July 18, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    Ah I love this! Such a great tip. I am so guilty of doing this. I love the idea of being “bad” and doing another project. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Emilie says

      July 18, 2011 at 10:57 pm

      Awesome, thanks! Let me know how it works for you. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Rhina says

    July 18, 2011 at 4:03 pm

    Love it, Emilie! I’m procrastinating on my work by reading and commenting. It’s a task I’m completing nonetheless. I read about the Renaissance soul, and it exactly wasn’t all relevant to me. I discovered your site, and it’s blowing my mind. Thanks for making the way for the rest of us.

    Reply
    • Emilie says

      July 20, 2011 at 12:57 am

      That’s FUNcrastination. Heh.

      Thanks Rhina! Welcome to the tribe. 🙂

      Reply
  8. Cara Stein says

    July 18, 2011 at 5:05 pm

    This is one of my favorite techniques. I call it procrastination optimization. Now everyone knows why I had such a clean toilet in grad school! 😉

    Reply
    • Emilie says

      July 18, 2011 at 11:00 pm

      Haha nice! Clean toilets are always a plus. I bet no one questioned that ‘quirk’ of yours… lol. And also see my reply to Morgan above, about my old roommate. 🙂

      Good trait to have. Heh.

      Reply
  9. Shanna Mann says

    July 18, 2011 at 8:52 pm

    Ha! I do this all the time— but you perfectly articulate why it works so well— because it feels so good to be so bad!

    Reply
    • Emilie says

      July 18, 2011 at 11:00 pm

      Doesn’t it?! 🙂

      Reply
  10. Lex Mosgrove says

    July 18, 2011 at 11:21 pm

    That intro sounds too familiar for comfort. o.O

    Great ideas there – as usual – and very well timed, seeing how I intended to write my book and keep finding myself working on the comic instead. 🙂

    Reply
    • Emilie says

      July 18, 2011 at 11:46 pm

      Tee hee.. totally. I keep going back and forth between my book and my script. But that works. 🙂

      Nice to hear from you Lex. Glad to hear the comic’s coming along.

      Reply
  11. Jackie says

    July 19, 2011 at 12:11 am

    I always end up doing something other than my declaration for the day.
    Must be the rebel in me…I don’t even like being told by myself what to do!

    I literally did laugh out loud, coz I soooo identify 😉

    Reply
    • Emilie says

      July 19, 2011 at 12:50 am

      I know, right? That’s the big problem with to do lists and daily goals. Often just setting goals, makes it that much harder to do them.

      But yeah, using that knowledge to trick resistance is definitely the way to go. 🙂

      Reply
  12. JR Tschopp says

    July 19, 2011 at 2:59 am

    Wow, I’ve been doing this for years without realizing it (this week, I’ve been working on my novel like a mad man instead of reading submissions for the anthology I edit, or finishing the artwork I was commissioned to draw. Oops). Now that you’ve made me aware of it, I think I can use this power for good instead of… well, not evil, but “less good” maybe?

    Reply
    • Emilie says

      July 20, 2011 at 12:59 am

      Awesome! And yes, use the force, JR… 😉

      #propstomeformakingstarwarsreference

      Reply
      • JR Tschopp says

        July 20, 2011 at 6:53 am

        Bravo on slipping in the Star Wars there. Impressive. Most impressive 🙂

        Reply
  13. Franis Engel says

    July 20, 2011 at 2:57 pm

    “Try Not! Do, or Do NOT – there is no try” – I will always remember the cheer that went up in the theater the first time I heard that Yoda line…

    Yeah, I’ve been productively procrastinating since 1978. ;o) My other strategy is to tell myself I’m not doing to do this thing… I’m just “getting ready” in case I want to do it later! Then the act of preparing sucks me in.

    Have you heard of Mark Forster’s Autofocus list making routine? It feeds off the multi-talent desire to want to “keep my options open.”

    Reply
    • Emilie says

      July 21, 2011 at 2:46 am

      Haha more Star Wars…

      I love your “getting ready” tip. I use the “go crazy for 5 minutes only” approach sometimes, but yours sounds even better.

      I haven’t heard of Mark Forster. Thanks for the tip though, I’ll check him out.

      Reply
  14. Don McAllister says

    July 30, 2011 at 9:56 am

    I absolutely loved this post. The resistance is always out to sabatoge our plans. This is something more bloggers/creatives need to here. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Emilie says

      July 31, 2011 at 5:51 pm

      Thanks Don! Glad you enjoyed it.

      Reply
  15. Pridge says

    July 31, 2011 at 10:15 am

    ohhhh I think you just gave me hope!!! Actually as I read this I thought, “Now why didn’t I think of that before?” Thanks!!

    Reply
    • Emilie says

      July 31, 2011 at 5:51 pm

      Haha awesome, Pridge. 🙂

      Reply
  16. Bartjan says

    March 10, 2012 at 8:28 am

    Haha that’s awesome Emilie,

    Thanks for this wonderful trick 🙂

    [The question below got a bit long and only read it if you have time, since it might be slightly off-topic for you.]

    A question that arises in my case – it’s a really basic one but IMO an important one, is how to keep track of all your projects/priorities. I notice that it makes a huge difference for me what kind of media I use for that. Right now it’s two mini whiteboards (about Letter size) for my top 2 priorities, and a ‘quadrant 2’ planning scheme for all my lesser important stuff.

    I’m still missing a good thing to keep track of all my backburner stuff, and when I go GTD style on that stuff it gets so crowded and overwhelming that I just never open that list again 🙂

    The key for me seems to be to keep it simple enough so that it doesn’t become overwhelming (my little whiteboards to a GREAT job at that, and they’re higly recommended), but I still need something to keep track of the bigger picture.

    Feel free to reply if you have any opinion or tips on it!

    All the best from Holland and keep on rocking your multipotential life! 🙂

    Bartjan

    Reply
  17. Kaylee says

    August 23, 2012 at 6:32 pm

    Awesome! I’m gonna try this tomorrow morning, when I’ll undoubtedly whine about writing a blog post..

    Reply
  18. Willi M says

    January 13, 2013 at 1:44 pm

    Woot! Another great blog about using procrastination to be productive. Nice job. In my blog, I talked about how “delaying” has always been a part of time management. Well, hello! That’s the definition of procrastination! It should never be considered a dirty word. Like ever. 🙂

    Reply
  19. Rebekka. says

    March 12, 2013 at 12:20 pm

    Hi Emilie,

    first: great website [or person? ;)], I’m so glad having stumbled across this one!!

    I know the ‘art of procrastination’ you describe above as ‘structured procrastination’, and I came across years ago on this website http://www.structuredprocrastination.com – now I am even wearing a shirt out of their spreadshirt-shop ;)!

    I will follow you. Regards from Germany!

    Reply
  20. Ray Lardie says

    August 6, 2013 at 10:24 pm

    I use this trick all the time! It’s one of the only reasons I didn’t fall apart during undergrad– can’t write that paper right now? Procrastinate by doing Japanese homework. Dread studying kanji for the quiz? Do thesis research. Rinse and repeat.

    Reply
  21. Linda says

    September 2, 2014 at 4:02 am

    I totally love this reframe … she says having spent the day working on every project except the one she was supposed to work on. 😀

    Reply
  22. Ashley Ching says

    June 29, 2015 at 11:37 pm

    Interesting, this is definitely a new take for dealing with a common problem. Although I don’t think this method works for me personally, I’d like to try being a productive procrastinator in the times I need motivation.

    Reply
  23. Tracy says

    October 3, 2015 at 2:39 pm

    This site is unreal. I love it. I love YOU. Now to schedule time to sit down and tell you about myself…Hahah.

    Reply
  24. Athene says

    October 22, 2015 at 1:16 pm

    I actually stumbled on this technique when I was in high school 20+ years ago. I would make a To Do list with the most important thing at the top, and proceed to get everything else on the list done first. If I insisted on working on my most important thing first, I would be lucky if I was able to start on that one thing. Once I figured out how I tick, I started using it to my advantage. It’s been working brilliantly ever since. I’m so glad to hear I’m not the only person to use this trick or this term.

    Reply
  25. Liisa says

    March 8, 2016 at 1:48 pm

    Had I not procrastinated today and followed a long string of links from one interesting article to another, I would not have seen your TED talk, would not have looked you up on the Internet and would not have signed up for the Puttytribe waiting list. It took the whole day but it was worth it, I’m sure.

    Reply
    • Emilie says

      March 8, 2016 at 3:24 pm

      🙂 !

      Reply
  26. Alejandro says

    May 30, 2016 at 12:26 pm

    New here! Great post. The way I get around procrastination is to work on the same topic but from a different perspective. For example, I have to re-write a paper (I’m in academia) on a particularly subject, say psychology. When sitting down and write it up is not happening, then try consuming information on the same topic. Read blogs or other papers about it, scan through book you like on the topic, surf around websites that are related. That way, the mind’s default mode remains in “psychology” mode, allowing you to make connections and get in the flow easier. And of course, if the flow kicks in, forget everything else, turn your phone off and start writing!

    Reply

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