Creatives, don’t fight procrastination – turn it into your advantage

Do you tend to procrastinate when there’s work to be done? I believe many of us were taught that we shouldn’t do it, so we feel guilty when the work keeps piling up, and we do nothing about it. I’ve stumbled upon an interesting video which shows that procrastination isn’t necessarily bad. In fact, it might even be good for some creatives. Simon Cade from DSLR Guide shares some thoughts about how he deals with it, and if you recognize yourself, it might make you look at your procrastination from a new perspective.

I must admit I recognized myself in Simon’s video. I remembered all the times when my mom taught me that I shouldn’t leave my tasks for the eleventh hour. The truth is – I’ve never learned not to do things at the last minute. It is stressful and turns my life into a chaos, but somehow it makes me work faster and better, and be more focused.

Simon talks about the people who spread the work evenly across days or weeks, who have enough sleep and still manage to finish everything on time. I was taught to be that person, but I never became one. According to Simon (and I tend to agree), doing things in the last minute puts your brain in some kind of a “hyper-focused” mode, which can be good for creativity. And there’s one word that forces you to get the work done: deadline.

If you have a clearly set deadline, you’ll know that the work needs to be done by that time. Even if you procrastinate until the very day, when you enter the “panic-mode,” you will still get the work done. Simon points out that you should work out the deadline with the client even if they’re willing to give you all the time in the world. If you have the unlimited time, the chances are you’ll never finish the work. And trust me, I can relate to this. So, make sure to put a realistic deadline in your contract. This will push you and make sure you get everything done.

I found Simon’s video very interesting, and even motivating since I’m a procrastinator who often feels guilty about it. Although I’m not really a fond of being stressed (who is?), it seems I work best when I’m under pressure. If you are the same, maybe we should just embrace our procrastinating nature and draw the best out of the panic that emerges shortly before the deadline. It appears that, for some people, it just works this way.

Now tell me, how do you fight procrastination? Or you’ve embraced it and don’t fight it at all?

[How I Deal with Procrastination (AD) via No Film School]