Structured Procrastination

01 May 20

laurirebar

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07 Jan 19

Yee Sian Ng

``. . . anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment." -- Robert Benchley, in Chips off the Old Benchley, 1949 I have been intending to write this essay for months.

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29 Feb 16

Jim McGee

A classic essay and a quite reasonable strategy for coping in world of too many possibilities

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18 Jan 16

matei

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“. . . anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.”
I am working on this essay as a way of not doing all of those things.
Procrastinators seldom do absolutely nothing; they do marginally useful things, like gardening or sharpening pencils or making a diagram of how they will reorganize their files when they get around to it
Because they are a way of not doing something more important
However, the procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely and important tasks, as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important
the procrastinator can even acquire, as I have, a reputation for getting a lot done.
In the evening, faced with papers to grade, lectures to prepare, committee work to be done, I would leave our cottage next to the dorm and go over to the lounge and play ping-pong with the residents, or talk over things with them in their rooms, or just sit there and read the paper.
Procrastinators often follow exactly the wrong tack. They try to minimize their commitments,
assuming that if they have only a few things to do, they will quit procrastinating and get them done.
But this goes contrary to the basic nature of the procrastinator and destroys his most important source of motivation.
The few tasks on his list will be by definition the most important, and the only way to avoid doing them will be to do nothing. This is a way to become a couch potato, not an effective human being.
I’ve somehow managed to get by with my strategy of waiting until the last possible moment so I feel an underwhelming sense of urgency to complete the task. However this either leads to poor workmanship, or I’m not motivated enough until it is too late.
I was a non-procrastinator before. I got stuff done before I even knew I was supposed to do it!..just kidding, but basically it’s true. I did everything, and then I had time left, so I did some more stuff, and still had time left. So I did even more stuff, more schedules, more things to get done, and so I had too much to do suddenly. That’s when I employed this approach, and it worked for quite a while, until I got so stressed out by constantly having things that need to be done, even if I knew that I’d put them there to get other stuff done, that I ended up with a burnout.
unless you don’t actually have THAT much to do, this just won’t work for long.
check out Mark Forster’s productivity systems like AutoFocus, SuperFocus, and Final Version. He has many other productivity systems. They are all based on structured procrastination

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29 Nov 15

astridt

They try to minimize their commitments, assuming that if they have only a few things to do, they will quit procrastinating and get them done. But this goes contrary to the basic nature of the procrastinator and destroys his most important source of motivation.

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03 Sep 15

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Structured Procrastination: the fine art of doing less, but in a structured way. Stanford professor John Perry explains the fine art of putting things off.

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Procrastinators often follow exactly the wrong tack. They try to minimize their commitments, assuming that if they have only a few things to do, they will quit procrastinating and get them done. But this goes contrary to the basic nature of the procrastinator and destroys his most important source of motivation. The few tasks on his list will be by definition the most important, and the only way to avoid doing them will be to do nothing. This is a way to become a couch potato, not an effective human being.

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13 Feb 15

hairuddin

1504hab-it

Structured Procrastination
However, the procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely and important tasks, as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important.
Structured procrastination means shaping the structure of the tasks one has to do in a way that exploits this fact. The list of tasks one has in mind will be ordered by importance. Tasks that seem most urgent and important are on top.

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16 Jan 15

osinisa

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07 Jan 15

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25 Nov 14

Gi No

"The observant reader may feel at this point that structured procrastination requires a certain amount of self-deception, since one is in effect constantly perpetrating a pyramid scheme on oneself. Exactly. One needs to be able to recognize and commit oneself to tasks with inflated importance and unreal deadlines, while making oneself feel that they are important and urgent. This is not a problem, because virtually all procrastinators have excellent self-deceptive skills also. And what could be more noble than using one character flaw to offset the bad effects of another?"

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05 Oct 14

Alexander Krutikov

The key idea is that procrastinating does not mean doing absolutely nothing.
However, the procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely and important tasks, as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important
Procrastinators often follow exactly the wrong tack. They try to minimize their commitments, assuming that if they have only a few things to do, they will quit procrastinating and get them done.
But this goes contrary to the basic nature of the procrastinator and destroys his most important source of motivation. The few tasks on his list will be by definition the most important, and the only way to avoid doing them will be to do nothing. This is a way to become a couch potato, not an effective human being.

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01 Oct 14

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07 Aug 14

David A. Hale

Light essays from Stanford professor of philosophy John Perry. This one describes how to make procrastination work in your favor. The trick is to put seemingly important things at the top of your to-do list, but give yourself plenty of good things to do until you get around to them.

http://john.jperry.net/
List of books by John Perry, including "Structured Procrastination".

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13 Jun 14

Michal Adda

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09 May 14

zinbielbear

Tasks that seem most urgent and important are on top. But there are also worthwhile tasks to perform lower down on the list. Doing these tasks becomes a way of not doing the things higher up on the list. With this sort of appropriate task structure, the procrastinator becomes a useful citizen.
In the evening, faced with papers to grade, lectures to prepare, committee work to be done, I would leave our cottage next to the dorm and go over to the lounge and play ping-pong with the residents, or talk over things with them in their rooms, or just sit there and read the paper. I got a reputation for being a terrific Resident Fellow, and one of the rare profs on campus who spent time with undergraduates and got to know them.
They try to minimize their commitments, assuming that if they have only a few things to do, they will quit procrastinating and get them done. But this goes contrary to the basic nature of the procrastinator and destroys his most important source of motivation. The few tasks on his list will be by definition the most important, and the only way to avoid doing them will be to do nothing. This is a way to become a couch potato, not an effective human being.
Not so important that at some point something that seems more important won't come along. Then I'll get to work on it.

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08 Apr 14

chrysty h

Procrastinators often follow exactly the wrong tack. They try to minimize their commitments, assuming that if they have only a few things to do, they will quit procrastinating and get them done. But this goes contrary to the basic nature of the procrastinator and destroys his most important source of motivation. The few tasks on his list will be by definition the most important, and the only way to avoid doing them will be to do nothing. This is a way to become a couch potato, not an effective human being.

07 Mar 14

Poko Ranger

Structured procrastination is the art of making this bad trait work for you
Procrastinators seldom do absolutely nothing; they do marginally useful things, like gardening or sharpening pencils or making a diagram of how they will reorganize their files when they get around to it

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Author practices jumping rope with seaweed while work awaits. (...)

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05 Oct 13

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``. . . anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment." -- Robert Benchley, in Chips off the Old Benchley, 1949
Structured procrastination means shaping the structure of the tasks one has to do in a way that exploits this fact. The list of tasks one has in mind will be ordered by importance. Tasks that seem most urgent and important are on top. But there are also worthwhile tasks to perform lower down on the list. Doing these tasks becomes a way of not doing the things higher up on the list. With this sort of appropriate task structure, the procrastinator becomes a useful citizen. Indeed, the procrastinator can even acquire, as I have, a reputation for getting a lot done.
Procrastinators often follow exactly the wrong tack. They try to minimize their commitments, assuming that if they have only a few things to do, they will quit procrastinating and get them done. But this goes contrary to the basic nature of the procrastinator and destroys his most important source of motivation. The few tasks on his list will be by definition the most important, and the only way to avoid doing them will be to do nothing. This is a way to become a couch potato, not an effective human being.
At this point you may be asking, "How about the important tasks at the top of the list, that one never does?" Admittedly, there is a potential problem here.

The trick is to pick the right sorts of projects for the top of the list. The ideal sorts of things have two characteristics, First, they seem to have clear deadlines (but really don't). Second, they seem awfully important (but really aren't). Luckily, life abounds with such tasks. In universities the vast majority of tasks fall into this category, and I'm sure the same is true for most other large institutions. Take for example the item right at the top of my list right now. This is finishing an essay for a volume in the philosophy of language. It was supposed to be done eleven months ago. I have accomplished an enormous number of important things as a way of not working on it. A couple of months ago, bothered by guilt, I wrote a letter to the editor saying how sorry I was to be so late and expressing my good intentions to get to work. Writing the letter was, of course, a way of not working on the article. It turned out that I really wasn't much further behind schedule than anyone else. And how important is this article anyway? Not so important that at some point something that seems more important won't come along. Then I'll get to work on it.

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30 Sep 13

Kyle Moore

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Structured Procrastination
The observant reader may feel at this point that structured procrastination requires a certain amount of self-deception, since one is in effect constantly perpetrating a pyramid scheme on oneself. E

13 May 13

marsanurti

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30 Apr 13

john lin

. . . anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.
I have been intending to write this essay for months.
Why am I finally doing it?
I finally found some uncommitted time? Wrong.
I have papers to grade, textbook orders to fill out, an NSF proposal to referee, dissertation drafts to read.
I am working on this essay as a way of not doing all of those things.
This is the essence of what I call structured procrastination
All procrastinators put off things they have to do.
Structured procrastination is the art of making this bad trait work for you.
The key idea is that procrastinating does not mean doing absolutely nothing.
Procrastinators seldom do absolutely nothing; they do marginally useful things
Why does the procrastinator do these things?
If all the procrastinator had left to do was to sharpen some pencils, no force on earth could get him do it.
they are a way of not doing something more important.
However, the procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely and important tasks,
as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important.
Structured procrastination means shaping the structure of the tasks one has to do in a way that exploits this fact.
tasks one has in mind will be ordered by importance.
But there are also worthwhile tasks to perform lower down on the list.
Doing these tasks becomes a way of not doing the things higher up on the list.
With this sort of appropriate task structure, the procrastinator becomes a useful citizen.
when my wife and I served as Resident Fellows in Soto House, a Stanford dormitory
I would leave our cottage next to the dorm and go over to the lounge and play ping-pong with the residents, or talk over things with them in their rooms
got a reputation for being a terrific Resident Fellow
What a set up: play ping pong as a way of not doing more important things, and get a reputation as Mr. Chips.
They try to minimize their commitments, assuming that if they have only a few things to do, they will quit procrastinating and get them done.
Procrastinators often follow exactly the wrong tack.
But this goes contrary to the basic nature of the procrastinator and destroys his most important source of motivation.
The few tasks on his list will be by definition the most important, and the only way to avoid doing them will be to do nothing.
not an effective human being.
"How about the important tasks at the top of the list, that one never does?"
there is a potential problem here.
trick is to pick the right sorts of projects for the top of the list.
ideal sorts of things have two characteristics
they seem to have clear deadlines (but really don't)
they seem awfully important (but really aren't)
In universities the vast majority of tasks fall into this category, and I'm sure the same is true for most other large institutions.
item right at the top of my list right now.
finishing an essay for a volume in the philosophy of language.
It was supposed to be done eleven months ago.
I have accomplished an enormous number of important things as a way of not working on it.
A couple of months ago, bothered by guilt, I wrote a letter to the editor saying how sorry I was to be so late and expressing my good intentions to get to work.
a way of not working on the article.
It turned out that I really wasn't much further behind schedule than anyone else.
how important is this article anyway?
I will teach a class on Epistemology.
Another example is book order forms.
The book order forms are already overdue at the book store.
I get almost daily reminders from the department secretary
This task is near the top of my list; it bothers me, and motivates me to do other useful but superficially less important things.
But in fact, the book store is plenty busy with forms already filed by non-procrastinators.
I just need to order popular well-known books from efficient publishers.
I will accept some other, apparently more important, task sometime between now and, say, August 1st.
Then my psyche will feel comfortable about filling out the order forms as a way of not doing this new task.
structured procrastination requires a certain amount of self-deception
one is in effect constantly perpetrating a pyramid scheme on oneself.
Exactly. One needs to be able to recognize and commit oneself to tasks with inflated importance and unreal deadlines, while making oneself feel that they are important and urgent.
not a problem, because virtually all procrastinators have excellent self-deceptive skills also

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29 Apr 13

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I am working on this essay as a way of not doing all of those things.
This is the essence of what I call structured procrastination, an amazing strategy I have discovered that converts procrastinators into effective human beings, respected and admired for all that they can accomplish and the good use they make of time.
The key idea is that procrastinating does not mean doing absolutely nothing. Procrastinators seldom do absolutely nothing; they do marginally useful things, like gardening or sharpening pencils or making a diagram of how they will reorganize their files when they get around to it.
Why does the procrastinator do these things? Because they are a way of not doing something more important.
However, the procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely and important tasks, as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important.
The list of tasks one has in mind will be ordered by importance. Tasks that seem most urgent and important are on top. But there are also worthwhile tasks to perform lower down on the list. Doing these tasks becomes a way of not doing the things higher up on the list.
Indeed, the procrastinator can even acquire, as I have, a reputation for getting a lot done.
What a set up: play ping pong as a way of not doing more important things, and get a reputation as Mr. Chips.
"How about the important tasks at the top of the list, that one never does?" Admittedly, there is a potential problem here.
The ideal sorts of things have two characteristics, First, they seem to have clear deadlines (but really don't). Second, they seem awfully important (but really aren't).
One needs to be able to recognize and commit oneself to tasks with inflated importance and unreal deadlines, while making oneself feel that they are important and urgent. This is not a problem, because virtually all procrastinators have excellent self-deceptive skills also. And what could be more noble than using one character flaw to offset the bad effects of another?

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I have been intending to write this essay for months. Why am I finally doing it? Because I finally found some uncommitted time? Wrong. I have papers to grade, textbook orders to fill out, an NSF proposal to referee, dissertation drafts to read. I am working on this essay as a way of not doing all of those things. This is the essence of what I call structured procrastination, an amazing strategy I have discovered that converts procrastinators into effective human beings, respected and admired for all that they can accomplish and the good use they make of time. All procrastinators put off things they have to do. Structured procrastination is the art of making this bad trait work for you. The key idea is that procrastinating does not mean doing absolutely nothing. Procrastinators seldom do absolutely nothing; they do marginally useful things, like gardening or sharpening pencils or making a diagram of how they will reorganize their files when they get around to it. Why does the procrastinator do these things? Because they are a way of not doing something more important. If all the procrastinator had left to do was to sharpen some pencils, no force on earth could get him do it. However, the procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely and important tasks, as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important.

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Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he's supposed to do at that moment http://t.co/V8CgxjkM #procrastination

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``. . . anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment." -- Robert Benchley, in Chips off the Old Benchley, 1949

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If all the procrastinator had left to do was to sharpen some pencils, no force on earth could get him do it. However, the procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely and important tasks, as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important

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Procrastinators often follow exactly the wrong tack. They try to minimize their commitments, assuming that if they have only a few things to do, they will quit procrastinating and get them done. But this goes contrary to the basic nature of the procrastinator and destroys his most important source of motivation. The few tasks on his list will be by definition the most important, and the only way to avoid doing them will be to do nothing. This is a way to become a couch potato, not an effective human being.

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Structured Procrastination – an essay on procrastination as a form of perfectionism http://j.mp/kpBm5E More http://j.mp/efxVeA /HT @lilennox

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The key idea is that procrastinating does not mean doing absolutely nothing. Procrastinators seldom do absolutely nothing; they do marginally useful things, like gardening or sharpening pencils or making a diagram of how they will reorganize their files when they get around to it. Why does the procrastinator do these things? Because they are a way of not doing something more important. If all the procrastinator had left to do was to sharpen some pencils, no force on earth could get him do it. However, the procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely and important tasks, as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important.

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Structured Procrastination

Author practices jumping rope with seaweed while work awaits.

I have been intending to write this essay for months. Why am I finally doing it? Because I finally found some uncommitted time? Wrong. I have papers to grade, textbook orders to fill out, an NSF proposal to referee, dissertation drafts to read. I am working on this essay as a way of not doing all of those things. This is the essence of what I call structured procrastination, an amazing strategy I have discovered that converts procrastinators into effective human beings, respected and admired for all that they can accomplish and the good use they make of time. All procrastinators put off things they have to do. Structured procrastination is the art of making this bad trait work for you. The key idea is that procrastinating does not mean doing absolutely nothing. Procrastinators seldom do absolutely nothing; they do marginally useful things, like gardening or sharpening pencils or making a diagram of how they will reorganize their files when they get around to it. Why does the procrastinator do these things? Because they are a way of not doing something more important. If all the procrastinator had left to do was to sharpen some pencils, no force on earth could get him do it. However, the procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely and important tasks, as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important.
Structured procrastination means shaping the structure of the tasks one has to do in a way that exploits this fact. The list of tasks one has in mind will be ordered by importance. Tasks that seem most urgent and important are on top. But there are also worthwhile tasks to perform lower down on the list. Doing these tasks becomes a way of not doing the things higher up on the list. With this sort of appropriate task structure, the procrastinator becomes a useful citizen. Indeed, the procrastinator can even acquire, as I have, a reputation for getting a lot done.
The most perfect situation for structured procrastination that I ever had was when my wife and I served as Resident Fellows in Soto House, a Stanford dormitory. In the evening, faced with papers to grade, lectures to prepare, committee work to be done, I would leave our cottage next to the dorm and go over to the lounge and play ping-pong with the residents, or talk over things with them in their rooms, or just sit there and read the paper. I got a reputation for being a terrific Resident Fellow, and one of the rare profs on campus who spent time with undergraduates and got to know them. What a set up: play ping pong as a way of not doing more important things, and get a reputation as Mr. Chips.
Procrastinators often follow exactly the wrong tack. They try to minimize their commitments, assuming that if they have only a few things to do, they will quit procrastinating and get them done. But this goes contrary to the basic nature of the procrastinator and destroys his most important source of motivation. The few tasks on his list will be by definition the most important, and the only way to avoid doing them will be to do nothing. This is a way to become a couch potato, not an effective human being.

At this point you may be asking, "How about the important tasks at the top of the list, that one never does?" Admittedly, there is a potential problem here.

The trick is to pick the right sorts of projects for the top of the list. The ideal sorts of things have two characteristics, First, they seem to have clear deadlines (but really don't). Second, they seem awfully important (but really aren't). Luckily, life abounds with such tasks. In universities the vast majority of tasks fall into this category, and I'm sure the same is true for most other large institutions. Take for example the item right at the top of my list right now. This is finishing an essay for a volume in the philosophy of language. It was supposed to be done eleven months ago. I have accomplished an enormous number of important things as a way of not working on it. A couple of months ago, bothered by guilt, I wrote a letter to the editor saying how sorry I was to be so late and expressing my good intentions to get to work. Writing the letter was, of course, a way of not working on the article. It turned out that I really wasn't much further behind schedule than anyone else. And how important is this article anyway? Not so important that at some point something that seems more important won't come along. Then I'll get to work on it.
Another example is book order forms. I write this in June. In October, I will teach a class on Epistemology. The book order forms are already overdue at the book store. It is easy to take this as an important task with a pressing deadline (for you non-procrastinators, I will observe that deadlines really start to press a week or two after they pass.) I get almost daily reminders from the department secretary, students sometimes ask me what we will be reading, and the unfilled order form sits right in the middle of my desk, right under the wrapping from the sandwich I ate last Wednesday. This task is near the top of my list; it bothers me, and motivates me to do other useful but superficially less important things. But in fact, the book store is plenty busy with forms already filed by non-procrastinators. I can get mine in mid-Summer and things will be fine. I just need to order popular well-known books from efficient publishers. I will accept some other, apparently more important, task sometime between now and, say, August 1st. Then my psyche will feel comfortable about filling out the order forms as a way of not doing this new task.
The observant reader may feel at this point that structured procrastination requires a certain amount of self-deception, since one is in effect constantly perpetrating a pyramid scheme on oneself. Exactly. One needs to be able to recognize and commit oneself to tasks with inflated importance and unreal deadlines, while making oneself feel that they are important and urgent. This is not a problem, because virtually all procrastinators have excellent self-deceptive skills also. And what could be more noble than using one character flaw to offset the bad effects of another?



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The observant reader may feel at this point that structured procrastination requires a certain amount of self-deception, since one is in effect constantly perpetrating a pyramid scheme on oneself. Exactly. One needs to be able to recognize and commit ones

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13 Jan 11

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This is the essence of what I call structured procrastination, an amazing strategy I have discovered that converts procrastinators into effective human beings, respected and admired for all that they can accomplish and the good use they make of time.
Procrastinators seldom do absolutely nothing; they do marginally useful things, like gardening or sharpening pencils or making a diagram of how they will reorganize their files when they get around to it.
. However, the procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely and important tasks, as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important.
he ideal sorts of things have two characteristics, First, they seem to have clear deadlines (but really don't). Second, they seem awfully important (but really aren't).
The trick is to pick the right sorts of projects for the top of the list. T
One needs to be able to recognize and commit oneself to tasks with inflated importance and unreal deadlines, while making oneself feel that they are important and urgent. This is not a problem, because virtually all procrastinators have excellent self-deceptive skills also.