The Productivity of Procrastination

Procrastination has a terrible reputation.

We are told to stop putting things off, tackle difficult tasks first, and get started as soon as possible. In most cases, that is pretty good advice.

But perhaps not always.

What if there are times when putting something off actually helps us produce better work?

There is an important distinction between avoiding something because we do not want to do it and deliberately giving an idea or problem some time to develop.

Imagine you have been asked to develop a new proposal. You could immediately sit down, open a blank document, and start writing. Or you could spend 20 minutes thinking about the problem, make a few notes, and then leave it alone for a while.

While you are doing something else, your mind may still be working on it.

Researchers Jihae Shin and Adam Grant explored this idea in research published in the Academy of Management Journal. They found that moderate procrastination could contribute to greater creativity under certain conditions. People who delayed somewhat generated more creative ideas than those who started immediately or delayed excessively.

The key word is moderate.

Waiting until 10:00 p.m. to begin a presentation you are delivering at 8:00 the next morning probably isn't a creativity strategy. That is simply procrastination.

But intentionally creating some space between starting a problem and finishing it can be different.

There is even a name for what can happen during that space: incubation.

You introduce your brain to a problem, step away from it, and return later. During that time, you may make connections you did not see initially. A conversation triggers an idea.

Something you read suddenly seems relevant. Or the solution simply becomes clearer.

This suggests an interesting alternative to our usual approach to productivity.

Perhaps we don't always need to finish something simply because we have started it.

For work requiring creativity, judgment, or problem-solving, try starting earlier but finishing later. Review the challenge. Think about it. Write down a few initial ideas. Then deliberately put it aside.

Go to another task. Take a walk. Sleep on it.

Then come back.

Of course, not every task benefits from incubation. There is probably little creative advantage in waiting two days to complete an expense report. Routine work is often best handled efficiently and moved off your list.

The skill is recognizing the difference.

At Priority Management, we encourage people to make intentional decisions about their time rather than simply reacting to what is in front of them. Sometimes that means getting started immediately.

But occasionally, the more productive decision might be to start, stop, and let your thinking catch up.

Maybe the problem isn't procrastination.

Maybe it's knowing when to procrastinate.