Everyone knows the knows the bad side of procrastination. Being a part of this technological wonderland takes quite the toll on our attention span, and as a result, we have a lot of trouble getting out work done. But does anyone ever stop to think of how procrastination benefits you? What if putting off that project for another day or two actually helps you accomplish other tasks in your life?

Author Mary W. Walters has an entire blog dedicated to the defense and attack against procrastination. And after reading some of stories and quotes, it is very clear that both sides of procrastination are seen from different people.

[blockquote author=”Mary W. Walters”]Interestingly, two articles I’ve read on the subject of time management and procrastination in the past two days have presented two almost completely opposite perspectives on the merits of my behaviour. One suggests that if I want to improve my work (my writing, in this case), I need to force deadlines into my writing life just like the ones that exist in the rest of my life. I need to put pressure on myself that will leave me no time for procrastination. The other says that if I don’t take my time — wallow, drag my feet, as my inclination urges me to do — my writing is going to suffer.[/blockquote]

Pros

1. Sometimes putting off an important task gives you extra time to gain experience and knowledge of the subject.

When you procrastinate on an important task, you open the door for different moments in your day to potentially teach you something, pertaining to that certain task, that you wouldn’t have known otherwise. These little bits of info can sometimes stack up and really assist you in the eventual completion of your task.

2. You shorten the time of your anxiety, caused by the task.

I can relate to this one almost everyday of my life. When I need to complete a large or important class, I put it off until a day or two before it needs to be completed. Now although some people may not agree with this, it does have a benefit. When you work on a task, in small pieces, over a long period of time, the anxiety caused by that can build up on it self and really take a toll on you. But if you prolong the task and do the entire thing in a short period of time, then the anxiety you experience only lasts a fraction of the time, and the end product is the same. ‘

3. Procrastinating can help you avoid a poor decision.

I also can attest to this advantage of procrastination. We live in a time where instant gratification is something that everyone knows. We can have food made within minutes and handed right to us without leaving our cars, we can listen to music at anytime and anywhere, and we can purchase items online immediately after thinking about getting them. But sometimes you put off these decisions, and in the end it can help you. My experience in this would be my choice in tattoos. Freshman year I had an awful idea for a tattoo design, and if I wouldn’t have put off going to a shop and actually getting it done, I would have had a monstrosity on my skin for the rest of my life. And on a more regular basis this effects my purchases. I think to buy something and just sort of put it off until I’m not doing something, and I always forget to get it, and I’m glad I didn’t.

Cons

1. Your work builds up.

This is the most obvious downfall of procrastination. If you don’t do your work when you have the time, and when you know you should be doing it, then it will slowly pile up on itself making it harder for yourself in the end.

2. The anxiety you experience doing an entire project in one night, may be too much.

For some people, like myself, saving that project for the last day might be much easier on yourself stress-wise. But on the other end of the scale, some people may see this lack of time alarming and overwhelming. This enormous amount of stress may send your body into a “fight or flight” sort of state, and could cause your body to release a lot of adrenaline and other stress hormones, making it even harder to complete the task before you.

3. Procrastination leaves no room for mistakes.

This last point is pretty self explanatory. If you choose to save that project for the last day, then any sort of problem you face will have to be solved, IMMEDIATELY. You don’t have the convenience of excess time when you choose to procrastinate.

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This video below also shows several examples of how procrastination has its benefits, and how it also has it’s downfalls.

If you choose to postpone the task that we both know you need to do, at least try to make a positive experience out of it. If you just CAN NOT sit down and finish that project, then hang out with friends, have fun, learn something new, just don’t sit there doing nothing. Procrastination can cause you to crash and burn, or you can use it to broaden your creativity and imagination when completing late tasks. It’s up to you to choose which route you want to go, and only you know how you and your body can handle the different experiences within the process of procrastination.