It’s been lingering on your to-do list for days.
You were going to get it done this morning.
Morning turned into afternoon.
Okay, right after this next task, you tell yourself.
And all the while… the guilt is building.
Stressful experiences like this make procrastination feel like a shameful failing. It’s a vice to avoid, a monster to defeat, the enemy of success.
Yet it seems to afflict us all. Many very successful and prolific creatives have been known to procrastinate – Steve Jobs, Frank Lloyd Wright, Margaret Atwood… the list goes on. Somehow, they still “managed” to get things done.
What if procrastination wasn’t an inherently bad trait? What if that urge to put things off was actually a driver of creativity?
More importantly, what’s the right way to procrastinate?
The Science of Procrastination and Creativity
Evidence suggests that procrastination, when done properly, can boost creative performance. Psychologists Jihae Shin and Adam Grant conducted several experiments on procrastination and creativity in the workplace. In one, they discovered that employees who engaged in a moderate level of procrastination performed better at tasks testing their creativity. In another, moderate procrastinators were rated as more creative by their managers.
Their hypothesis was built on the notion that when you do something other than the task at hand, you are giving your brain a chance to process the problem and make fresh connections in the background. This subconscious processing is more commonly known as incubation. It’s what leads to those “light bulb” moments when a solution or insight seems to appear out of nowhere while you’re doing something else.
Procrastination leaves room for daydreaming. Intentionally letting your mind wander opens the door to imagination and exploration, potentially leading to creative breakthroughs.
And by focusing on other things, you open yourself up to creative serendipity as you gather inspiration from the world around you. You never know when an experience or something new that you learn might give you a fresh angle. By not rushing into the execution phase of your task, you increase the likelihood of discovering useful insights when you’re still able to easily change direction.
How Much Procrastination Is Too Much?
For those of us hoping for a license to spend hours scrolling through Instagram or bingeing on that show, over-doing procrastination won’t lead to better creativity.
Shin and Grant found that the relationship between procrastination and creativity is an inverted U-curve. Those who procrastinated too little or too much didn’t see the creative benefits experienced by those who procrastinated a moderate amount.
Speaking to the Hidden Brain podcast about the findings, Adam Grant explains: “If you dive right in, you’re rushing ahead with your first idea as opposed to waiting for your best idea. If you wait till the last minute, you’re also rushing because you now have to implement your easiest idea as opposed to your best idea.”
The goal is to find a happy medium. Give yourself space to incubate with some serendipity, while leaving yourself the time to execute to expectations.
The Always Wrong Kind of Procrastination
It’s important to recognize that procrastination doesn’t help if you’re already disinterested in the task. As Grant explains: “It’s only if you’re interested in the problem and you’re putting it off because it’s hard or you haven’t figured it out yet that you do the subconscious processing that can be helpful with unlocking a solution.”
Procrastinating when you’re bored or uninspired by a topic won’t pay off (however tempting it is). It’s not to be confused with straight up avoidance.
For procrastination to be helpful, you have to already be genuinely interested in solving the problem. The irony that you’re far less likely to procrastinate under these circumstances isn’t lost on us!
How to Procrastinate the Right Way
Most of us don’t need any guidance on how to start procrastinating: it just happens. But if you want your procrastination to serve a creative purpose, then there are a few things to keep in mind.
Step 1: Lay a Foundation
It may help to think about procrastination in terms of Graham Wallas’ 4 part model of creative thinking:
- The creative process starts with preparation, where you think and ingest as much as you can about your challenge or task.
- Then it’s onto incubation, where you subconsciously mull it over.
- Next is illumination, where the creative breakthrough hits (or uncovers itself).
- Finally, there is verification, where you consider and refine your solution.
Preparation is essential to gain the benefits of procrastination. Short-changing on prep means you’re trying to incubate without the information you need. Your brain simply doesn’t have the right questions or ideas to work with. You have to lay the groundwork before you can leave it up to your subconscious.
To properly prepare, think about what it is you’re trying to achieve and why it matters. Do some brainstorming so that your brain has some options to analyze. Ask yourself some questions that you don’t have answers to yet.
Step 2: Strategically Select Your (Procrastination) Activity
Research indicates that pure rest isn’t necessarily good for incubation, and neither is throwing yourself into a different demanding task.
Find a task that’s just diverting enough to keep you focused but not so complex that it takes up all your mental resources. For example, a less cognitively demanding work task, like clearing out your emails.
Some other procrastination methods to consider:
- Switching from work mode to personal mode. If you lay the foundations for a creative project on a Friday afternoon and then spend your weekend on things you enjoy, you may find a fresh crop of ideas emerge on Monday.
- Something that builds your confidence. Try solving a puzzle or learning a new skill. Build creative confidence and momentum.
- Doing something playful. Play can be diverting without being all consuming and it also has other benefits for creativity.
- Going for a walk. A change of scenery may help to divert your conscious mind without taking up all your headspace. Gentle, repetitive exercise like walking is also believed to promote mind-wandering.
Step 3: Set a Start Time
To ensure you leave room for execution, make a firm resolution about when you’ll resume work on the task. Don’t wait for a light bulb moment to signal the end of your procrastination – the insights you’ve gained might not become obvious until you have the task in front of you once again.
Work backward from your deadline and see how much time you can grant yourself. And once your start time arrives, show procrastination the door – whether you feel ready or not.
Putting the Pro in Procrastination
Accepting procrastination as integral to giving your brain the space and freedom to subconsciously explore different options can result in more creative solutions.
As with any tool or framework, you need to know how to use procrastination strategically. You need to lay the groundwork, pick your activity wisely, and commit to resuming work with enough time to apply the new creative insights you’ve gained.
Now, go forth and procrastinate – the right way.
