In his 2012 book, “Wait: The Art and Science of Delay, “ Frank Partnoy says that in most situations we should take more time than we do. In fact, the longer the better. We should delay any decision until the last possible instant. If we have a year we should wait 364 days.
Embrace Procrastination
Partnoy, professor of Law and finance at the University of San Diego School of Law, is one of the world’s leading experts on the complexities of modern finance and financial market regulation.
Partnoy is a self-proclaimed procrastinator.
His take on procrastination fascinates me because I constantly put myself down for procrastinating. For example, when I decided to do a blog post on procrastination I started researching it and as always I got sidetracked, ended up reading two or three seemingly unrelated books, and sat staring at a computer screen crammed with random URLs.
Partnoy argues that we should embrace procrastination. He points out that the Greeks and Romans generally regarded procrastination very highly. In an interview with Smithsonian he said their “wisest leaders embraced procrastination and would basically sit around and think and not do anything unless they absolutely had to.”
He says procrastination is just a universal state of being for humans. We always have more things to do than we can possibly do. So “the question is not whether we are procrastinating, it is whether we are procrastinating well.”
“I call it thinking.”
Active or good procrastination is when you don’t mow the lawn or other chores, but you are doing something that is more valuable instead. Passive or bad procrastination is when you are just sitting around on your sofa and doing nothing.
But Aaron Sorkin, creator of “The West Wing” would say in response to the sitting around doing nothing, “You call it procrastination, I call it thinking.”
Adam Grant, Wharton professor and author of “Give and Take” and “The Originals” says great innovators procrastinate. Your first ideas are usually your most conventional. When you procrastinate you allow your mind to wander. Then you stumble onto the unusual and spot unexpected patterns.
That somewhat vindicates my wandering mind. I come up with my best insights when I put things aside and let them ferment. Sorkin concludes that creativity can happen not in spite of procrastination, but because of it.
Bit by Bit
You can over procrastinate, though, and never get anything done. With my writing, at some point I need to sit down and compose my blog. I can always come back to it and revise. But the key is to sit down with the blank page and start. Bit by bit. If you get something done you are moving forward.
Do something no matter how little.
Creativity comes by allowing the project to marinate. Add enough of the right ingredients, let it sit, and ideas begin to rise to the surface. The process is not a recipe, though. It is not entirely conscious. You allow the brain to do its own thing. With a bit of prodding the three-pound gelatinous blob will usually come through.
Albeit more often than not at a relatively glazier pace.
So I usually work on several projects at once, reading, listening to audio books, and researching the internet. But the projects in some way are all related so ideas and concepts feed off each other. And there is enough to choose from so each day I end up at least doing something.
Little by little. Bit by bit.
Every so often I get into flow, motivated to keep going.
Eventually I complete a blog post.
Then I begin again.
So it goes.
And thanks for your patience.
Self-help books that help:
Total Self-Renewal through Attention Therapies and Open Focus
The Open-Focus Brain: Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mind and Body
