Purposeful Procrastination vs. Impulsive Idleness

​There’s this faulty notion in society that “you should NEVER ever procrastinate.” All this “Work hard” mantra infected  in our brains feeds us the idea that if you procrastinate, you’re a worthless bag of shit, as if successful people don’t ever, ever procrastinate. Ever.

Spoiler alert: Successful people do procrastinate. And they do it all the time. Every day in fact. 


That’s the secret nobody is talking about. Procrastination is a secret ingredient to success. You read that right. You, fellow procrastinator, have one of the quintessential skills necessary to obtain the success you desire, yet have been led to believe that you’re “too lazy” to actually make it.

Ya know, we’re told that putting off things is never a good idea and you should just get up and DO IT NOW! We’re told to stop holding off. Don’t hesitate. Act now. Quit your dilly dallying!

All these messages of “just do it” all to keep us in line as hardworking corporate slaves.

Well, it’s time for a truth bomb. Get ready for it…

Procrastination is not necessarily a bad thing and is actually a key part in the equation of effective time management.

If you procrastinate effectively, you manage your time effectively. It’s that simple. Time management is not about putting the right things in your schedule, it’s about taking out (and procrastinating) the wrong things. Time management comes down to knowing when to procrastinate and what for, not avoiding it entirely.




It’s not a question of IF you are going to procrastinate or not. You’re going to no matter what. It’s a matter of what are you going to procrastinate on.

You choose. You procrastinate with purpose. And that my friend doesn’t make you a worthless bag of shit at all. That makes you a PRO...crastinator.

When you deliberately procrastinate for a reason, there’s no need to be ashamed about it. Be proud of your decision to procrastinate on one thing (and do another).

You must lean on back, rationalize, think, and put off what needs to be put off.

So what needs to be put off? Well, that’s completely up to you. After all, laziness is all about doing what you want, when you want. I’m not here to tell you anything you “should” do. I wouldn’t make you should yourself. 

As long as you are aware of the decision you are making, what you are choosing to procrastinate on, then you are living a life of choice and freedom, rather than of obligation. That’s what you want to achieve.

Thinking to yourself:
“I wish I would’ve (blank) instead of (blank.)” is not true procrastination. That shows you’re allowing your emotions to control your decision-making process. It shows you’re acting on impulse.





Remove the guilt you feel about choosing to procrastinate your homework or whatever important project you have over choosing to procrastinate laying on on the couch playing video games instead.

Make the conscious choice. Procrastinate with purpose. And don’t whine about your decision either. Lay out  the pros and cons of what spending your time on a specific task has versus another, then make your choice accordingly.

Impulse is quick and reactionary. It’s not lazy at all.  Quite the opposite in fact. It’s part of that “just do it” mantra. Even if you do decide to lay on the couch right away -- that’s the thing -- you went and “just did it” right away instead of being slow and deliberate, like a sloth. Giving into your impulsive brain to do (or not do) something immediately is not the lazy way at all, even if the task is inherently quote on quote “lazy”, like binge-watching Netflix. The true lazy way is to take your slow ass time before jumping into a task and to do it with purpose.

You must take the slow n’ steady decision-making process. Ease on back. Otherwise, you “jump in” to doing something you don’t actually want to do and that’s where the guilt comes in. You know you want something but let impulse drive you into doing the complete opposite.

For example, you want to create your own website, but just somehow “wind up” scrolling through Instagram for hours instead. That’s where you went wrong.

I mean, to be clear, there’s nothing wrong with choosing to Instagram scroll for hours. In fact, there’s something amendable about making a decision and not giving a fuck about the consequences. That shows balls.

There is something wrong with letting your inner-child take control and acting impulsively on whatever those wishes are.




By doing something other than your original choice (in this case, to create a website), it’s not that you are being lazy, it’s that you’re being immature and quite frankly, stupid. It’s okay to not always be productive, and do the lazy thing; t’s not okay to always let thoughts “on a whim” have the final say in what you do or don’t do.

Ironically, you’re not procrastinating if you thought about how you should be cleaning your room the entire time you were watching movies, as another example. That shows you have absolutely no control over your laziness and instead it’s in control of you.

With great laziness, comes great responsibility. Being lazy does not make you irresponsible. Being reckless does. 

If you truly embrace your laziness, and learn to control it (control it, not eliminate it), you’re not about to go berserk binge-watching but to purposely procrastinate. 

Doing something you didn’t intend to do is reckless, not lazy. 

Think of a sloth. It moves slowly and deliberately, not quick and sporadic. Every muscle movement is in control. Every branch it grabs is done with purpose. Every leaf it eats  is chosen consciously.

That’s what you want to achieve on a mental level - the ability to procrastinate and mean it.




See, on the other hand, there is what I like to call ”Impulsive Idleness”. This is where you remain unproductive without even thinking about it, on impulse.

You do things sporadically, on a whim, just like that “go-getter” you never want to be. You act on that terrible recklessness we talked about. You’re Idle but lack any sort of direction or purpose in doing so. You lack any sort of calm stoic thoughtfulness and instead just rush into an unplanned action (or inaction for that matter).

Being able to consciously, deliberately, make (lazy) decisions, like a sloth climbing a tree, instead of impulsively “wind up” sitting around, is what separates the “crastinators” from the Pros.

You always have to Procrastinate something. It’s not a matter of avoiding Procrastination all together, (that would literally be impossible) but deciding what to procrastinate on and what not to, as well as when to do it.

See, even if you choose to do something productive, like say, writing a blog for your website, you’re still putting off doing the dishes or cleaning your room or the dozens of the other tasks on your to do list, or you’re even putting off leisure time and the necessary mental break you need to avoid burn out. 




You put one thing off so that you can do another. That’s how it works.  By saying “I’ll do it later” to one thing, you’re saying “I’ll do it now” to another.

You must consolidate and focus on the things that are important. Eliminate most of your to do list. Procrastinate most things and do the things that really matter, in order to level up and win achievements. You decide what matters. You construct the life you want to live. You...create your own character in this game called “real life”. The things you choose to spend your time on first and the ones you put off til later determine your IRL class.

No matter what, no matter how productive of a person you are, there’s always something you’re procrastinating. Always.

Unless you have a Time-Turner, you can’t possibly do everything on your to do list simultaneously. You’re going to have to pick what you’re going to procrastinate and put off ‘til later.

You can’t live a life without procrastinating at all. Instead, you choose what to procrastinate on. You are constantly making that decision. Constantly.

Every single moment of every single day you are procrastinating something.

When someone tells you to “stop procrastinating”, what they are really telling you is to “procrastinate the right things”. They’re telling you that you’re procrastinating the wrong things, the things that lead nowhere.

Tell them to shove it. And while to some extent, they have a point. That’s not what we’re focused right now. We’ll get there though...eventually.






I mean, the goal is to eventually choose the right things, to choose the productive path, to choose things that level you up...and that’s more easily achieved if you put yourself in the habit of Purposefully Procrastinating.

Say to yourself: I am choosing to procrastinate my work project so that I can catch up on my Netflix series, rather than just “wind up” doing that anyway.

Winding up doing something you never really intended to do, on the other hand, is complete recklessness and stupidity.  It’s Impulsive Idleness.

 Make a choice and stick to it. Procrastinate Purposefully. Don’t allow your inner-child to throw temper tantrums and make you do otherwise. If you want to do the lazy thing, realize what else you’re putting off and accept the consequences gracefully. Remain poised, unfazed.

Remember no matter how you swing it, you are putting off something in order to do something else. Every single thing you procrastinate has consequences for not doing right now. Likewise, every single thing you do right now has consequences for not procrastinating ‘til later.

If you want to sit on the couch all day, don’t complain or beat yourself about it. Be mature about it. Be slothful about it.

It’s what you spend your time “not doing” that counts. Procrastination is key to building productivity, contrary to popular belief.


Take it easy,

N8