Structured Procrastination
John Perry
Structured procrastination is a technique where procrastinators do less important tasks to avoid tackling more urgent ones. By organizing tasks in a way that makes less important ones seem appealing, procrastinators can still accomplish a lot. This method allows them to feel productive while avoiding the stress of more significant deadlines.
28 Jul 2024
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.
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.