3 examples of where procrastination leads you

On a merry dance that’s where. I’m very good at procrastination. In fact, I say I’m the world’s foremost practitioner on the subject (the procrastinator’s procrastinator if you will) which is why I’m so dependent on GTD, Personal Kanban et al to keep me honest. But, I can, on occasion, regress to my more natural, procrastinating state. One of my favourite procrastination techniques (see, I’m so good, I have techniques) is to devote serious time considering some seriously non-serious topics.

Seriously.

One: I think about the time when the 12-yr old me refused to swap a supermarket trolley for a French woman’s offer of a 10 Franc coin. I didn’t understand what she wanted (it would save us both time! Of course!) and walked away. I really should apologise for wasting her time but, to do so, I need to consider the probability and inherent difficulty in a) tracking her down and b) if she’d remember. It’s close to 0 I think but without more in-depth thought I can’t say for sure.

Two: (Note, this is the most insidious of the lot. I advise you to not do this). I calculate the number of years between my age (37) and someone else’s when they did something of interest.

Bruce Willis was only 33 when he made Die Hard? Gah! That was 4 years ago for me! What have I been doing?

Three: I wonder whether I could write one of those rubbish self-help books you-flick-through-at-the-book-shop-counter-only-to-shake-your-head-in-bafflement-at-the-cheek-of-it and, if so, the minimum number of pages I need to write. I’ve got a working title so I’m almost there: “The Power of Tomorrow Today”. I can see the printing presses going already!

I wouldn’t mind procrastination so much if it resulted in output of value. But, as the examples above quite clearly show, it rarely does. File it under ‘Avoid at all costs’ forthwith.