Then, in each area notice if you actually know what to do next. I consider simple procrastination as  knowing what to do and not doing it. This is different from not knowing what to do, a common problem when you’re at the beginning of a creative project or stuck somewhere in the middle. Here the next best step is to develop the vision, to strengthen the pull of what you’re trying to create. If you just keep pushing yourself, treating this as “just procrastination”, such a self-punishing approach will most likely trigger rebellion. Pushing may help to get the laundry done, but it usually just generates more self-criticism when the vision isn’t there yet.

So let’s assume there are times when you do know what to do, but you keep saying, “Okay, sure, in a minute.”  There are 3 prime reasons for this simple form of procrastination.

1. You may have a history of being stopped cold when you hit major snags. You probably need more skills for solving stuck points (e.g. reversible trial actions, backup plans, trying out solutions in another medium or on a smaller scale). One strategy that is excellent for foreseeing problems and creating ways to handle them is called  “defensive pessimism.” See Energy Management below.

2. Your focus has shifted to fears about the piece going public and you’re in a fine stew of picturing being grandiosely successful or a crashing flop. Anxiety about failure or success moves you into the fight/flight/freeze zone of anxiety and procrastination is one form of freezing. Once you notice you’ve slipped into making movies in your head about the future, you can choose to turn off the projector and get back to creating.

3. The work is not at a very inspiring point, and you’ve developed the true procrastinator’s habit of avoiding necessary, if not exciting, work by delaying. Here, learning a new habit of “now” is possible. Not more complicated than training your dog. Catching your devious self-talk, telling yourself “NO”, taking yourself by the leash to the task which you most likely will enjoy, once you get into it.

II. Energy Management: Translations from the Psych Research Lab, the Board Room and the Shrink’s Couch  
Julia Norem. The Positive Power of Negative Thinking.  2001.
The author is a social psychologist who summarizes several decades of research on how defensive pessimists are just as effective as strategic optimists; for years the optimists have gotten way more ink in the research and the popular press as having better lives. She describes how defensive pessimism is a very workable strategy for those who have anxiety about some area of their life. They successfully use mental rehearsal of worst case scenarios to handle challenges.

One common area where defensive pessimism helps is in overcoming shyness, which affects many artists when it comes to showing their work. Rehearsing worst case scenarios is used to identify specific trouble spots and solutions that can be practiced ahead of time and in small steps. One warning to defensive pessimists is that they need not do their dire rehearsing out loud since telling others all the details of worst case scenarios is not necessary and is only likely to cause others to think you’re not capable or just a drag

Her research shows that both defensive pessimists and strategic optimists do well, but in different ways. The strategic optimists tend to have less anxiety to start with and avoid negatives to keep their anxiety levels low while the defensive pessimists use mental rehearsal to reduce initial anxiety.  The optimist does better in big picture approaches and where confidence is important (monoprints) while the defensive pessimist does better where attention to detail and having backup plans are important (carving rare ivory).

III. Friends in Print: When you feel like reading

Tracy, Brian. Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time. 2001. A simply written collection of well-know ideas from successful business people. The main theme is to do the hardest, most important task (frog) first thing every day. Number 16 is Practice Creative Procrastination; it reminds us that some perfectly good ideas of ours never do need to be carried out.

Hoff, Benjamin. 1983. The Tao of Pooh
Here is an antidote to all this anti-procrastination blather. Follow Eeyore, Piglet and Pooh to see how procrastination can lead to some wonderful places. Note that this is a humor book, not the last word on Taoism.

Lively, Lynn. The Procrastinator’s Guide to Success. 1999. Very straight-forward journey through the perils and cures of procrastination by one of the few authors that does not go off into goal-setting, time management, or other motivational difficulties. Her beginner’s check-list (Chapter 5) could help unjam your gears.

IV. Creative Links.
www.ucalgary.ca/~steel/procrastinus Easy to use gathering of research, theories, and quotes by professor Piers Steel, whose own theory on procrastination emphasizes decision making. He includes links to fun sites where you can join procrastination societies, test yourself to see if you’d fit in, and find ways to procrastinate more.

VI. Newsletter Info
E-mail changes. To change your e-mail address, subscribe, or unsubscribe please e-mail connect@dianereardon.com. If you use a spam filter, please add this e-mail address to your list of approved senders. This material is included on the breakTHROUGH Creativity Coaching website (www.dianereardon.com). All material is copyrighted ©, 31 January 2005, Diane Reardon. All rights reserved. Visit the website for back issues and details on scheduling a complimentary one-hour coaching session.