Are you one of those people who says, "I work best under pressure," or "I am most creative under pressure?"
Sometimes the statement "I work best under pressure" really means, "I procrastinate until something is almost due, then I'm forced to do it, and usually it turns out pretty well."
A Harvard Study conducted by Professor Theresa Amabile suggests that may not be the case for most people. But I think it's worth considering a few aspects of working under pressure and how we can make procrastination work for us:
* The idea that your subconscious mind can be working on one thing while your conscious mind is working on something else has been confirmed. Creativity experts say that this germination period is an important part of the process. However, it only works if you plant the seed first. In other words, if you make yourself aware of what is required and then put it aside, your subconscious mind has something to work with; if you totally ignore the task from the start, you're just in denial.
* If your procrastination doesn't have any negative consequences, you're probably doing a good job of assesing when it's time to get started. If it ain't broken, don't fix it.
* If you know that you could do better if you started earlier, try dipping into the task and doing little bit of it as you go along. For some people, procrastination is about not wanting to finish a task, so you can still put that off until the last minute, but when you get to that point you'll find that you've actually done most of the work already.
* Because procrastinators often like the excitement of putting things off, try playing "to-do list roulette." Make a list of three things you could do today (including at least one task that relates to getting done the thing you're supposed to be doing instead of procrastinating). Write each one on a separate index card, turn them over, shuffle them until you have no idea which one is which, select one, turn it over, and do that task. The element of chance may give you the adrenaline you crave, and the odds are that you'll be on task for at least one-third of the time.
I think the key is not to see procrastination as an either/or thing: either I do things perfectly according to a other people's idea of a totally rational schedule, or I procrastinate. Rather, treat it as a process that can be managed in order to give you the best results based on your own personality and preferences.
More enjoyable ways to find your best ways of working are covered in my downloadable book, " "Time Management for Writers: Right-Brain Secrets for Being More Productive," available at www.timetowrite.com.
