The Benefits of Procrastination
This was originally a guest post over at Cause You Gotta Have Faith, (she's awesome by the way, make sure you check her out) but today I'm recycling it for those of you who have had the opportunity to read it yet. :)
Let's start off with a confession: I put off writing this post until the last minute. But if you ask me, procrastination gets a bad rap. Granted, sometimes putting things off will get you into trouble, i.e. putting off your 20 page term paper until the night before it's due. (Wikipedia, bull crap, and fairy dust will only get you so far friends.) But for the most part, the disadvantages of procrastination have been vastly exaggerated by our high school teachers. There are some pretty solid arguments for practicing the art of procrastination a little more often in your lives. Here we go!
1. Sometimes jumping the gun, makes you look like an idiot.
I have been here more times than I would like to admit. It looks like a great deal, and if I don't buy/do/hear/touch it right now, I'll miss my chance. This is how I almost ended up with pretty purple work pants that don't go with anything - at all - in my wardrobe. They were on sale, super cheap, and only had one pair left in my size!
However, I put off buying them, and my wallet is still thanking me. Good crap, who needs purple work pants? No one. Procrastination saved the day.
2. Something better might come along.
I didn't spend my money on those pants. But I did find 2 cute swimsuits on sale at H&M later that made me really, really glad I didn't blow my extremely limited budget on purple work pants. Guess how much the swimsuits were? 3€!!! That my friends is a steal.
3. Time constraints make you realize what's really important.
When you've only got a few minutes left to get your guest post to Faith, you're probably going to cut all the bull crap. There's also a good chance that your post won't end up horribly long winded. Sometimes, when I write my posts in advance. I just keep going on and on. It's embarrassing. Then I edited it, and realize that I have more things to say.
4. You get to put off doing stuff that sucks, in order to do stuff you actually like.
Obviously. This is why you're procrastinating in the first place. Writing term papers sucks. Starting early and spending three weeks obsessing over the details is not going to make it anymore fun. You should probably hang out with your friends or go to the lake instead. This sounds like terrible advice, but let me explain. You' starting your paper early so that you have plenty of time to finish it
5. Sometimes the problem solves itself, without you making any effort at all.
Sadly, Time will not write your term paper for you. However, put yourself in this scenario. You've been asked/forced to participate in a community choir, and they tell everybody that they need to wear green clogs for the performance. One of two wonderful things could happen here, if you put off buying those clogs. Maybe the performance will be canceled at the last minute, and buying those ugly green clogs would have been a waste of money. Better yet, you'll just show up the day of the performance with no clogs, people will get over it, and they'll learn not to try to force you to join the community choir next year. Problem solved.
Let's start off with a confession: I put off writing this post until the last minute. But if you ask me, procrastination gets a bad rap. Granted, sometimes putting things off will get you into trouble, i.e. putting off your 20 page term paper until the night before it's due. (Wikipedia, bull crap, and fairy dust will only get you so far friends.) But for the most part, the disadvantages of procrastination have been vastly exaggerated by our high school teachers. There are some pretty solid arguments for practicing the art of procrastination a little more often in your lives. Here we go!
1. Sometimes jumping the gun, makes you look like an idiot.
I have been here more times than I would like to admit. It looks like a great deal, and if I don't buy/do/hear/touch it right now, I'll miss my chance. This is how I almost ended up with pretty purple work pants that don't go with anything - at all - in my wardrobe. They were on sale, super cheap, and only had one pair left in my size!
However, I put off buying them, and my wallet is still thanking me. Good crap, who needs purple work pants? No one. Procrastination saved the day.
2. Something better might come along.
I didn't spend my money on those pants. But I did find 2 cute swimsuits on sale at H&M later that made me really, really glad I didn't blow my extremely limited budget on purple work pants. Guess how much the swimsuits were? 3€!!! That my friends is a steal.
3. Time constraints make you realize what's really important.
When you've only got a few minutes left to get your guest post to Faith, you're probably going to cut all the bull crap. There's also a good chance that your post won't end up horribly long winded. Sometimes, when I write my posts in advance. I just keep going on and on. It's embarrassing. Then I edited it, and realize that I have more things to say.
4. You get to put off doing stuff that sucks, in order to do stuff you actually like.
Obviously. This is why you're procrastinating in the first place. Writing term papers sucks. Starting early and spending three weeks obsessing over the details is not going to make it anymore fun. You should probably hang out with your friends or go to the lake instead. This sounds like terrible advice, but let me explain. You' starting your paper early so that you have plenty of time to finish it
5. Sometimes the problem solves itself, without you making any effort at all.
Sadly, Time will not write your term paper for you. However, put yourself in this scenario. You've been asked/forced to participate in a community choir, and they tell everybody that they need to wear green clogs for the performance. One of two wonderful things could happen here, if you put off buying those clogs. Maybe the performance will be canceled at the last minute, and buying those ugly green clogs would have been a waste of money. Better yet, you'll just show up the day of the performance with no clogs, people will get over it, and they'll learn not to try to force you to join the community choir next year. Problem solved.
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