4 Situations When Procrastination Beats Bold Action You are way ahead when you learn to recognize the right time to put things off for a little while longer.
By Paula Rizzo Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Many people find it odd that I'm a productivity expert, as well as a huge procrastinator. Personally, I think the two go hand in hand. I have to be more organized to stop my procrastinator side from taking over. But procrastination isn't always bad. There are times when it can be beneficial to leave something until the last minute.
Here are some tasks you can push to the bottom of your to do list:
1. Creative writing.
I find when it comes to writing an article or a post for my blog at ListProducer.com -- the more time I have the longer it will take. Writing is one of those tasks that expands to fill any time you set aside for it. When I have an entire day to write a post, I always struggle to come up with the perfect first line. But if I wait until later in the day, it forces me to just write and that usually gets the creative juices flowing. Just make sure to leave enough time for an edit.
Related: 8 Ways Successful People Beat Procrastination
2. Making tough, personal choices.
I've heard that when you can't decide on something you should toss a coin in the air. It's not to decide for you, but because the second the coin takes flight you'll realize what you really wanted. When we have the time to sit with a difficult decision, we can second guess our gut. While you can still take time early on to think things through, waiting until the last minute to actually decide will allow you to be more instinctive.
Related: 7 Questions That Cure Terminal Procrastination
3. When working with others.
Don't you hate it when you've just finished making changes to a project and then a client suddenly turns around and decides they want something completely different? In any business process you can expect to go through a couple of changes. But if the client keeps hopping back and forth it might be a good idea to wait for them to figure out when they really want.
Related: 5 Ways to Battle Procrastination
4. Saying sorry.
Some mistakes require immediate reconciliation, but in a situation where you may have made the wrong move with a client, hurt a friend's feelings or got into an argument with a loved one, take a day before you apologize. Even if you realize you messed up right away, waiting will take the emotion out of the situation and allow you to reflect in an unbiased way. The more able you are to see from the other person's perspective, the more genuine your apology is likely to be.
