Productive Procrastination Phenomenon

We’ve all experienced it. Consider this — you’ve got a complex feature implementation due, with an unclear timeline and/or vague nature of task, Instead of diving in, you find yourself cleaning up old code, completing pending docs or researching an API that’s irrelevant to the current priority. Welcome to the world of Productive Procrastination.

Productive Procrastination phenomenon

Productive procrastination is the act of intentionally delaying a primary task by engaging in other activities that may not seem urgent but can still contribute positively to productivity. It’s the fine line between procrastination and purposeful diversion that can sometimes yield productive results which adds overall value in some ways in your work. There’s a big difference between procrastination and productive procrastination.

Why Developers Productively Procrastinate?

In tech world, productive procrastination doesn’t mean mindlessly browsing web or watch YouTube. It’s more of doing other work while avoiding primary task. But why do we do this? Let’s understand Psychology behind it:

• Anxiety Management: Engaging in easier or more enjoyable tasks helps alleviate the anxiety associated with the main task.

• Illusion of Productivity: Completing minor or less priority tasks like refactoring code, updating docs or setting up dev environment give us a sense of accomplishment, even though you’re dodging the actual one.

• Decision Fatigue: This hit me hard. Our brain is over-smart, trust me it is ! When it senses fear of failure and knows it’s quite complex, big one, it finds excuse to opt for simpler decisions which gives temporary escape. FYI, I do this often, on Fridays 🤫 

Procrastination isn’t Always Bad

There’s a hidden benefit to delaying tasks. When developers put off a primary task and instead of something secondary (which still add value to the overall work they do) - it often results in renewed focus, fresh insights and creative way to solve the problems.

Basically you’re resting your brain to reset which is a big productivity hack. Count things like skill sharpening, holistic improvements on things you have been avoiding due to priority tasks or just not interesting, prevent burnout and balanced way of approaching things.

At its core, productive procrastination is a fascinating phenomenon. It teaches us that productivity isn’t always about linear progress.

When it becomes Problematic

Since you’re procrastinating in some way, it definitely has its downsides if not stay aware of the situation. While productive procrastination can lead to better results, there’s a thin line (it got very thin in today’s world) between useful delays and simply avoiding responsibility. You’re still accountable completing those (both Primary and Secondary work). The key difference is your intent.

If you continuously drifting into tasks with no value to dodge the hard work, or thinking to do at last moment let’s say end of sprint, this procrastination becomes just that. Only Procrastination. Do I need to mention Unproductive !?

These are the signs, you’re stepping into harmful zone:

• Missed Deadlines: Focusing on other tasks leading to falling behind on critical priorities.

• Regular Spill-Over: Since you’re not tackling those daunting tasks in sprint and always spill over to next one.

• Seeking busy work: You keep seeking busy work to avoid the primary task.

• Loss of Focus: Constantly switching between tasks fragmenting your attention and reducing overall productivity. Remember, Context Switching is expensive.

Leverage Productivity Procrastination - Make a way

1. Task Prioritization: Use techniques like The Eisenhower Matrix to clearly define what’s urgent and important. It helps to you decide what to take when and what to leave.

2.  Switch Contexts, Not Focus: Make a conscious decision on your procrastination time for predefined, useful task which adds value to your work, instead of losing focus by drifting into social media or unproductive distractions.

3. Let Curiosity Guide You: When you’re feeling blocked, let curiosity take the lead. Allow yourself to dig into a related problem that sparks interest and this might just unlock the primary challenge.

4. Don’t Procrastinate: You don’t always want to procrastinate on what’s there with high priority. Instead take regular breaks. Use Pomodoro Technique, which helps with productivity and focus.

Final Thoughts

As William James said, “Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.” Productive procrastination offers a curious escape from this fatigue. It’s not about avoiding work altogether, but about giving your brain the room to breathe while also being productive with other tasks which add overall value.

In this newsletter, Am I suggesting to procrastinate? Big NO. Am I suggesting to productive procrastinate? Absolutely, Not. Am I suggesting to not procrastinate at all? Again, No.

What I’m suggesting is, to stay aware of this Phenomenon. Stay aware of situations to distinguish when you’re (unproductively) procrastinating, productively procrastinating and not procrastinating and shape your approach accordingly.

What's your experience with productive procrastination? Have you ever made a significant breakthrough while avoiding your main task? Share your stories in the comments and join the conversation on LinkedIn and 𝕏 

And if you find this newsletter useful and you want to contribute to sustain and evolve it, please think to "buy a coffee" 

Thanks for reading,
Kelvin
TechParadox.dev