Make: Technology on Your Time Volume 25

MAKING TROUBLE

BY SAUL GRIFFITH

The Art of Productive Procrastination

About four times a year I seem to be able to concentrate well for eight hours in a row — in fact, about 48 hours in a row — and I just let it happen. I don’t know when it will occur or why, but it’s typically when some manic inspiration strikes.

The rest of the time, I am rarely, if ever, doing what I should be doing. I’ve never been able to go straight down the to-do list, to the chagrin of friends and co-workers, yet still everything ends up getting done, and a little more. Since that seems to be the way I’m wired, I have found some simple ways to productively procrastinate. Here’s what works for me; maybe it will work for you.

I gave up on trying to do exactly what I was ...