Passionate Theme of the Day: Effective Procrastination

“Procrastination is not bad in itself. Do it right, and it’s a way to be more efficient and have more fun with what you’re working on.” ~ Chief Happiness Officer – Alexander Kjerulf

This post over at positivesharing.com got me thinking. Lately I have been bitten by the procrastination bug. Kinda like a flu-bug. Only less feverish and more damaging if not administered to properly.

Yes, the same Kam who on Oct. 24, posted about 69 Days of Focus & Commitment, (I’m calling myself out here folks!). The same Kam who likes to think she’s got it ALL together. To my chagrin, I stumbled upon an article that supports my illness!

The CHO outlines why if done correctly, procrastination can be a good thing. If we’re conscious about the fact that we’re in procrastination mode, and open to flowing with it, instead of guilt tripping or trying to overcome it too quickly, we can actually use procrastination as a tool for our success. Dig this:

“Sometimes you’re in the mood for task X and doing X is ridiculously easy and a lot of fun. Sometimes doing X feels worse than walking barefoot over burning-hot, acid-covered, broken glass and forcing yourself to do it anyway is a frustrating exercise in futility.”

Here are the CHO’s guidelines for effective procrastination:

1) Procrastinate without guilt
2) Procrastinate 100%
3) Choose to procrastinate
4) Ask yourself why you procrastinate
5) Take responsibility for why you procrastinate

I agree with Alex’s tips. If you’re going to go there, go BIG! It’s kinda how I deal with the funks. If you’re going to be funky…go deeper into your funkiness. Don’t try to avoid it. Don’t try to tell yourself you’re not funky when you are. But choose to be where you are, set a time limit for your visit to funksville and revel in it.

The CHO’s tips for effective procrastination are the same tips that can be applied to various different moods and states of BEing. Do you see how these tips may serve as a guide for more effective XY or Z? We can use this handy little list to better serve our lives in most any scenario.

For example, plug in the following words: Play, Love, Work, Exercise, Indulge, Flirt, Eat, and Shop. Use as a guide to quickly check in with ourselves and ask why it is that we do what we do. Make sense? Watch - it works: Are we PLAYING without guilt? Do we LOVE 100%? Are we choosing our WORK? Why do we EXERCISE? And finally, take responsibility for why we EAT.

I’m going to use the CHO’s list when asking myself why it is that I do what I do. What things are you doing effectively? How might this list help you BE more effective in all area’s of your life?

Procrastination’s not just for slackers,
Kam