Summary

The article discusses strategies for becoming a productive procrastinator by focusing on high-impact tasks, breaking down work into smaller steps, and maintaining a clean work environment.

Abstract

"How To Be a Productive Procrastinator" suggests that true productivity is not about the quantity of tasks completed but the quality and impact of those tasks. The article introduces the Pareto Principle, which posits that 80% of outcomes stem from 20% of efforts, advocating for a focus on the most effective actions. It recommends breaking large tasks into manageable "baby steps" to reduce overwhelm and build momentum. The concept of "doing it in smaller chunks" with timely deadlines is presented as a method to balance productivity with the natural tendency to procrastinate. A tidy workspace is emphasized as crucial for minimizing distractions and fostering focus. Additionally, the article suggests journaling or meditating to declutter the mind, and it warns against multitasking, citing research that only 2% of people can do it effectively, advocating for a single-task approach to enhance efficiency and quality of work.

Opinions

The author believes that productivity is about the significance of tasks completed rather than the number.
Applying the Pareto Principle is seen as a key to maximizing time efficiency.
Breaking tasks into smaller steps is a psychological trick to make work seem more approachable and less daunting.
The author values a clean and organized workspace as a means to improve focus and reduce procrastination.
Journaling and meditation are endorsed as effective methods for clearing the mind and preparing for focused work.
Multitasking is heavily criticized, with the author asserting that it generally leads to decreased productivity and quality of output.

How To Be a Productive Procrastinator

Achieve more by doing less

“Productivity is not about getting more things done; it’s about getting the right things done.” — Michael Hyatt

Apply the Pareto Principle

The Pareto Principle states that 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes. In other words, in most situations, 20% of the input or activities are responsible for 80% of the output or results. For example, most of us wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time. In a business aspect, it is common for 20% of a company’s customers to produce 80% of the company’s revenue.

While the 80/20 rule applies most of the time, it is important to keep in mind that it is only an observation, not a universal law. Sometimes we may find the situation to be along the lines of 60/40 or even 90/10, nonetheless, the main point of the Pareto Principle still applies — the majority of the results come from the minority of the causes.

The inverse also applies, where 80% of the input will only result in 20% of the output.

Why should you apply the Pareto Principle to your everyday life?

The Pareto Principle allows you to maximize your time and use it efficiently. When applied correctly, it will help you achieve more by doing less, making you a productive procrastinator.

For instance, if your colleague spent more hours than you to complete the same task it just means that they were busy for longer, not that they were more productive.

The ultimate goal is to use your time efficiently so you can spend less time doing more. You can do this by focusing on quality and being productive instead of keeping yourself busy for hours and eventually not finishing the task.

Take baby steps

When faced with an important or large task we tend to feel overwhelmed, in turn shutting down our productivity.

If you turn a large task into multiple baby steps you can trick your brain into making that original task seem more approachable. Instead of feeling swamped with a huge workload, you will feel in power since you will be able to easily tackle each baby task.

Baby steps help you build momentum which allows you to eventually fall into a productive flow. By achieving those smaller goals and getting your work done will lead you to be fully invested in the big task you thought would keep being tomorrow’s problem.

Do it in smaller chunks

You can do both, procrastinate and be productive, simply by giving yourself a small amount of time to complete each step. For example, if you give yourself 30 minutes to tackle the first smaller task you are more likely to get in done than if you told yourself you had to complete the whole project in 3 hours.

By setting timely deadlines along your day you will be able to achieve more. If we use the example above, it will probably be a lot easier to accomplish 6 productive 30 minutes sessions in your day rather than trying to fit 3 hours all at once. Not to mention that you probably wouldn’t even want to start 3 hours of work, but 30 minutes definitely sounds doable!

Get tidying

Maybe what you need is a productive session of procrastination to begin your real productive workflow.

When trying to be productive it is important to have a clean and tidy working environment as it is less likely to provide distractions, therefore optimizing focus. Additionally, an organized working area will make you more inclined to sit down and start working.

My hands-down favorite way to productively procrastinate is to tidy my desk. Granted, I’m not actually getting my work done right away, but if tidying my workspace is what will lead me to be more productive then I will happily procrastinate.

Start to journal or meditate

Most of the time our biggest roadblock to living a more productive and efficient lifestyle is our minds. We tend to have a million tabs open in our brains and it is clogging our focus and ability to just sit down and get sh*t done.

Both journaling and meditation are great ways to help clear your mind. Even though you may be pushing aside your main focus of the day for a couple of minutes, you are doing so in a productive manner by giving yourself time to clear your brain so when the time comes to get your task done you can be fully invested and focused.

Achieve more by doing less

Multitasking is your worst enemy.

While most of us believe we are masters at multitasking, research suggests that only 2% of humans can multitask effectively. Unfortunately, the remainder 98% of us are only decreasing our productivity by trying to do so. While we think we are getting a lot more done at once, we are instead just quickly shifting focus from one task to another. Consequently, we take up more time than necessary for each task and end up not doing anything to the best of our ability.

The most efficient way to achieve more by doing less is to take on one task at a time, finish it, and then move on to the next. By doing so, you will get more done in a shorter amount of time with greater quality and efficiency.