Are you a virtuous procrastinator?
You know what you've got to do. Why are you doing something else?
Posted 06-11-24
I’m enrolled in a coaching certification course that requires reading a real-life, honest-to-goodness, physical textbook. It’s all very ‘Back to School’, but when you do what you love, studying the science and techniques behind it is actually interesting. (Who knew?)
Yesterday, my first day returning ‘to the office’ after a mini-vacation, I had a To-Do list about a mile long of urgent actions I needed to take to keep building my coaching business. Paying bills, writing a content plan, posting sagacious clichés on Instagram, etc. - the kinda stuff I need to be doing every day to ensure my business continues to be a business vs. an expensive and time-consuming hobby.
“But I also have to do my reading before class, right? I mean, that’s really the most ‘Urgent’ activity I need to complete, since class is tomorrow.” (Today)
And so I, diligently and responsibly, did my reading for today’s class, and put off my business-building activities for another day: GREAT JOB, Me.
But… here’s the thing: I have time to read in bed at night, and I have a few free hours in the morning before class - combined, they make up more than enough time to complete my class reading. I could’ve done the onerous work stuff first and still gotten my reading done after. I chose to prioritize reading not because it was what I needed to do, but because it was the easiest and most comfortable activity on my To-Do List.
Paying bills? Boring.
Writing a content plan? I don’t know where to start.
Promoting my brand on social media? Excruciatingly humiliating.
But, reading a textbook, highlighting with abandon, taking unnecessarily copious notes? Those I can do, with no fear or distaste, while still feeling good about myself for having ‘done the right thing.’
I did something that needed to be done, but it didn’t need to be done right then. I call this Virtuous Procrastination, and it’s among the most insidious forms of self-sabotage.
Most of us wish we procrastinated a lot less and realize its deleterious effect on our sense of self-worth and well-being. If we could only buckle down and do the hard work now, when it needs being done, we’d not only be more productive but also better able to enjoy our leisure time later, without the albatross of punted work hanging over us.
Some of our procrastination activities are obvious - binge-watching Netflix, doomscrolling social media, going far too deep in the tank to get Wordle in 3 guesses to beat Mom (Ed. note: too specific?) When we do these things instead of our work, it’s easy to see the cause and effect: “I could’ve gotten this done sooner if I’d exerted some self-discipline.”
Virtuous procrastination is especially dangerous because it’s not so obvious. It’s work that needs to be done - but not right now. Ever live in absolute squalor for months and months, then one day find yourself cleaning your room to the point where Gordon Ramsay would eat pâté off of any surface? By any chance did you have an odious task to complete that you were doing everything in your power to avoid?
Like me poring over my textbook, your sudden overwhelming desire to voraciously scrub the wainscoting seems like a good use of time, and this allows us not to get too upset with ourselves. Hey, this thing needed to be done, so I couldn’t do that other thing. Nothing could be done about it. What’s done is done. Done. Time for cocktails.
LIES! This is our sneaky, scaredy-cat brain perpetrating some of its finest trickeration. When you’re shirking the work by clicking ‘Next Episode’, you’re eventually gonna feel bad enough to take stock of your actions and seek to redirect your behavior. But when your method of playing hooky embeds itself in a seemingly necessary task, you can get caught up in feeling productive without ever actually getting anything done.
Avoid virtuous procrastination at all costs. Keep your eyes peeled for virtuous procrastination’s slithery tentacles tightening their grasp on your daily planner. Invest the time and effort to prioritize, and re-prioritize, your To-Do List (etc.) to ensure you are working on the most urgent and important activities first, ignoring the siren song of the bookcase longing to be organized by jacket color. Focus on what needs to be done now - and if you still really want to take care of those other tasks afterwards, well then you just might enjoy a little extra feeling of accomplishment come cocktail hour. (Ed. note: or Soft Seltzer Hour)
Subscribe to my Substack for more content like this, click here
I’m enrolled in a coaching certification course that requires reading a real-life, honest-to-goodness, physical textbook. It’s all very ‘Back to School’, but when you do what you love, studying the science and techniques behind it is actually interesting. (Who knew?)
Yesterday, my first day returning ‘to the office’ after a mini-vacation, I had a To-Do list about a mile long of urgent actions I needed to take to keep building my coaching business. Paying bills, writing a content plan, posting sagacious clichés on Instagram, etc. - the kinda stuff I need to be doing every day to ensure my business continues to be a business vs. an expensive and time-consuming hobby.
“But I also have to do my reading before class, right? I mean, that’s really the most ‘Urgent’ activity I need to complete, since class is tomorrow.” (Today)
And so I, diligently and responsibly, did my reading for today’s class, and put off my business-building activities for another day: GREAT JOB, Me.
But… here’s the thing: I have time to read in bed at night, and I have a few free hours in the morning before class - combined, they make up more than enough time to complete my class reading. I could’ve done the onerous work stuff first and still gotten my reading done after. I chose to prioritize reading not because it was what I needed to do, but because it was the easiest and most comfortable activity on my To-Do List.
Paying bills? Boring.
Writing a content plan? I don’t know where to start.
Promoting my brand on social media? Excruciatingly humiliating.
But, reading a textbook, highlighting with abandon, taking unnecessarily copious notes? Those I can do, with no fear or distaste, while still feeling good about myself for having ‘done the right thing.’
I did something that needed to be done, but it didn’t need to be done right then. I call this Virtuous Procrastination, and it’s among the most insidious forms of self-sabotage.
Most of us wish we procrastinated a lot less and realize its deleterious effect on our sense of self-worth and well-being. If we could only buckle down and do the hard work now, when it needs being done, we’d not only be more productive but also better able to enjoy our leisure time later, without the albatross of punted work hanging over us.
Some of our procrastination activities are obvious - binge-watching Netflix, doomscrolling social media, going far too deep in the tank to get Wordle in 3 guesses to beat Mom (Ed. note: too specific?) When we do these things instead of our work, it’s easy to see the cause and effect: “I could’ve gotten this done sooner if I’d exerted some self-discipline.”
Virtuous procrastination is especially dangerous because it’s not so obvious. It’s work that needs to be done - but not right now. Ever live in absolute squalor for months and months, then one day find yourself cleaning your room to the point where Gordon Ramsay would eat pâté off of any surface? By any chance did you have an odious task to complete that you were doing everything in your power to avoid?
Like me poring over my textbook, your sudden overwhelming desire to voraciously scrub the wainscoting seems like a good use of time, and this allows us not to get too upset with ourselves. Hey, this thing needed to be done, so I couldn’t do that other thing. Nothing could be done about it. What’s done is done. Done. Time for cocktails.
LIES! This is our sneaky, scaredy-cat brain perpetrating some of its finest trickeration. When you’re shirking the work by clicking ‘Next Episode’, you’re eventually gonna feel bad enough to take stock of your actions and seek to redirect your behavior. But when your method of playing hooky embeds itself in a seemingly necessary task, you can get caught up in feeling productive without ever actually getting anything done.
Avoid virtuous procrastination at all costs. Keep your eyes peeled for virtuous procrastination’s slithery tentacles tightening their grasp on your daily planner. Invest the time and effort to prioritize, and re-prioritize, your To-Do List (etc.) to ensure you are working on the most urgent and important activities first, ignoring the siren song of the bookcase longing to be organized by jacket color. Focus on what needs to be done now - and if you still really want to take care of those other tasks afterwards, well then you just might enjoy a little extra feeling of accomplishment come cocktail hour. (Ed. note: or Soft Seltzer Hour)
Subscribe to my Substack for more content like this, click here