Most people who know me would not ever guess that I am a procrastinator, but I’m not your typical procrastinator. I often have more projects to accomplish than I have time to get them all done. The way that I manage this in my brain, is that I work on what I think is the most important or the project with the nearest deadline. Oftentimes I will have a project that I am trying to figure out how to accomplish, but I have other deadlines that need to be met. So as I’m working on one project I’m thinking through and planning other projects, kind of like a parallel workflow in my brain. Some of my best ideas and epiphanies have come from this process I call this productive procrastination. In many situations this type of thinking has generated AHA moments, usually because of something that’s happening on the project I’m actively working on. This technique has allowed me to think outside of the box on many projects, and come up with solutions that I probably never would have thought of by focusing singularly on that issue or project.
Doing yard work and other physical tasks have often allowed me time to think through complex issues with projects. It doesn’t take a lot of brain cells to rake leaves or mow the grass, which allows more time for focusing on other more complex issues. With my current health issues, doing physical tasks is no longer my go to method of thinking through projects. Instead now I perform other tasks like, writing a new blog post, editing some images to go on the website, or doing Internet research on new ideas. What I have found is that many of the projects I work on have both similarities and very specific issues that need to be resolved. While researching, the solution to one problem might inadvertently lead to the discovery of how to approach an entirely different project.
I never have just one thing going on in my brain or projects that I need to get done. Many of my past coworkers and supervisors have told me that the more I have on my plate, the more efficient I become in getting everything accomplished. Having worked as a contracted website designer and developer, I often had multiple websites that I would work on in a day, week or month. This allowed me to perform common tasks but at the same time do something special or unique to learn a new trick to add to my toolbox for each project. These incremental improvements and new techniques, kept me moving forward and always engaging projects with a positive attitude and willingness to learn something that would be valuable in the future.
A core idea behind what I consider to be a successful career as an Internet services professional, Is that taking action Is required even if you don’t know exactly how to start. There are always simple breakdown methods, that can be used to break up a large and complex projects, into smaller tasks that you do know how to do, allowing you to get the ball rolling immediately. A great example of this is taking on a website project that you don’t know exactly how to accomplish. Understanding the basics of what is required, you can research and deploy a solution that meets your customer’s expectations. There are so many projects that I have worked on and accepted as contract work, when I didn’t know how to meet the customer’s need at the time we started the project. In those types of situations, I would always make it a point to do as much research and non-billable work hours as required, to ensure I met expectations. In my personal business and as a motto for my day job, I have a slogan that goes like this: “ahead of schedule, below budget and exceeding all expectations”. The combined strategies of just starting and taking action along with productive procrastination are powerful combination!
In the past I’ve often had great ideas that I haven’t taken action on. Many of those were because of life events, or someone else not finding the same value in the idea that I had. Sometimes it’s just not the right timing or there are limitations, either financial or physical, that prevents the exploration of a new way of thinking. Also, there have been many times when I felt like I needed permission or concurrence with other people to validate my ideas and prompt me into action. In those cases, I have allowed the idea to rest for a while and think about them in more of a long term approach… “if I ever have the time, or if money is not a constraint, I’ll get to that project.” That mindset has definitely changed over the last year!! My new way of thinking of projects is that I don’t need anybody’s permission, and there are no limitations that I can’t overcome to accomplish my goals. I think this stems from my acceptance of the health conditions I am experiencing now, and I don’t have time for someone else to put limitations on what I think I can do and accomplish. So my new attitude toward making things happen, quite literally is ”Shut Up and DO IT!”
To be 100% honest I’m being a productive procrastinator RIGHT NOW as I write this article. In the back of my mind, I’m thinking through all the parts of a business plan I’ve been working on. More to come on those plans and ideas. Also a shout out to my Bro, Anthony who gave me the idea to write this article.
