The Miracle of Procrastination
If you're reading this sentence, there's a good chance you're putting off something more important you should be doing. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.
I came across Parkinson's Law while reading *Atomic Habits* by James Clear, which states that work expands to fill the time allotted. If we have a day to complete a project, it will take us a day. But given a week, that same project would demand far more time. During quarantine, I attempted to counter Parkinson's Law by giving myself artificial deadlines, which weren't very successful since missing them held no real consequences. I've heard some people who have promised payment to friends for every missed deadline, but I'm not ready to try that yet.
I discovered that we face two types of procrastination in our lives, positive and negative. Harmful procrastination occurs when we cancel plans with friends to start a paper on Friday, check social media frequently, and finish the paper Sunday night. Positive procrastination occurs when we live our lives Friday and Saturday, and get the writing done Sunday. In both cases, the student completed the paper, but they lived more of their life when they made they actively decided not to work on the paper.
I'm insecure by nature about deadlines. However, I've learned to challenge myself by asking, "what's the worst-case scenario if I don't get X done on time, and what am I missing out on by spending too much time on X." While studying abroad, I permitted myself to be a B student to open up unique experiences that were often far more educational than what I was learning in the classroom. Imagine my pleasure when I returned to the US and discovered my grades abroad were all pass/fail.
So, next time you have a deadline, experiment by putting it off and doing something else. You'll be amazed at how much time you'll have for the other things in life!
