Most of my small business clients pay me to help them develop sales and marketing strategies, and also to keep them accountable. Generally, I help people STOP procrastinating and get past blocks. But recently I realized that sometimes procrastination is a predictable part of the creation process.
My small business clients frequently hire me to do some kind of business writing for them, in addition to my consulting services. When I took an objective look at my creative process, I realized that I produce much better content in a shorter time if I factor in time to putter around or ruminate.
Basically, to procrastinate. It has gotten to the point where I will actually add this processing time into a project timeline.
So while I am walking or doing yoga or cooking (generally looking like I am procrastinating), in fact a lot of progress is being made behind the scenes! When I finally sit down to write, the words literally pour out of me and good content is created very quickly.
I then walk away and do something else and come back to edit the copy later. Stepping away might be the most productive thing I could do at this point.
Adding these two breaks in my creative process has made my work life better and my clients happier. Usually clients accept the first or second draft of my copy. My writing quality and client satisfaction have skyrocketed because I have learned to respect my creative process.
I have a client who goes through a similar process and needs time to “do nothing” – but he also adds in waiting until the project is almost due to start on it so he feels like he is in a pressure cooker. He was a former reporter so that kind of time-crunched deadline is comfortable and familiar. The work he produces is generally excellent, which acts as positive reinforcement for his habit.
However, this is a combination of both good and bad procrastination, in my opinion. We are working together to get him out of the habit of waiting until the last minute. It’s not great for his stress level or blood pressure.
I urge you to take an objective look at your creative process so you can make it easier for yourself to produce your best work and accurately assess the time you need to do it. If planned procrastination is part of your process, acknowledge it and factor it into the timeline.
