Procrastination that Pays

Read any article on how to overcome procrastination and it will inevitably include the advice to 'do the thing you're putting off first.'  I'd love to know how many procrastinators EVER actually do this.  Telling a procrastinator to do the thing they're avoiding first is like telling someone with arachnophobia to pick up a tarantula - it's just not going to happen!

I was thinking about this the other day as I raced to meet a looming deadline, giving myself a hard time for not having started the task days, if not weeks ago.  Surely that would have been so much more sensible?

And then I reconsidered.  There's a reason why procrastinators leave things to the last minute.  Deadlines are wonderfully motivating. When we have no other choice, the adrenaline kicks in and we set to our task with energy and determination and will, in most cases, get it done.  I was enjoying the rush of doing things at the last minute; I was highly focused and determined and I got lots done in a very short space of time. I sometimes wonder what's actually more stressful: the act of leaving things to the 11th hour or giving ourselves a tough time for doing so?  

I know it goes against all the received wisdom out there, but my question is: what's wrong with the strategy of working to tight deadlines?  Maybe the sensible thing to do is to Plan to Procrastinate? 

I accept that there are dangers inherent in this strategy. What if you have a really important deadline and your plan to tackle the job at the last minute is foiled by an unexpected illness or family emergency?  Equally, it's true that living on adrenaline isn't healthy.  But how would it be if we accepted that that's the way we naturally do things and stop beating ourselves up for it?  How might that change things?

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