5 Ways to Successfully Procrastinate.

Let's cut to the chase: procrastination is godawful and mighty difficult to overcome. So, here's the solution: we don't overcome it—we use procrastination to our advantage.

Here's how:

Take a break. Seriously.

Taking breaks between periods of focus is an idea often tossed around—yet, when a paper is due in a few looming hours, taking a break isn't the first thing that comes to mind. However, there is a substantial backing to the idea besides that of maintaining focus or avoiding burnout. We take breaks because it allows for incubation.

Incubation is a psychology term used to describe the unconscious processing of problems that lead to insight that we are unable to muster up when actively considering a problem. Now, I'm not big on psychology, but incubation does explain why we have sudden moment of insight towards a problem while doing tasks unrelated to said problem. So, when it comes down to it, taking a break—whether that be pillaging the pantry at one in the morning, playing a round or two of some iPhone video game, or taking a shower—does help!

Workout—even if it's just a few jumping jacks.

I don't care if it's a mile run, a round of pushups on a messy carpet floor, or a quick walk around the block. Blood moving gets the mind moving and, well, it's good for your body, especially if what you're procrastinating on involves sitting motionless in some uncomfortable chair for hours on end.

Use Active Procrastination

Active procrastination is something that chronic procrastinators do all the time, we often just don't realize it. It happens when we focus on a minor, but valuable, task instead of focusing on the task at hand. This can help us be productive even when we are procrastinating, which is certainly better than whittling time away by doing mindless, distracting tasks (also known as passive procrastination, or better yet, the "bad" type of procrastination). So, if you want to avoid something, avoid it by doing something slightly better—it works out in the long run!

Use Passive Preparation

Ok—imagine this. You're laying in bed, something big is due tomorrow, and you haven't started. You don't plan on starting until tomorrow, either, so there's nothing more you can do... unless! Simply starting to think about the project—roughly plan out what you're going to write, say, create, etc. This takes out a surprisingly portion of the project while you don't do much of any work. By the time you actually begin working on the task, you will find it goes by quicker as the planning aspect is already done. Further, it's a way to calm nerves before actively working on the aforementioned task at hand.

Use Deadlines as Motivation

This should be used with the consideration that some people work poorly under pressure. If you're one of these people, please do not wait until the hour before to crack open your computer and start an assignment. However, if you find that your best work comes when you're in a blind panic when your adrenaline is pumping, then this could (cautiously) be for you! Use deadline-associated panic to help you complete smaller tasks efficiently by setting a time side before a deadline to work on it.

In the end,

I'm not going to sit here on my fun little school computer, type out this list that insists that procrastination can be used beneficially, and pretend that procrastination is a good, or even a mediocre, habit. We should not strive for procrastination. Yet, procrastination is one hell of a habit to break. I'm a chronic procrastinator and I don't plan on fixing it; these are some habits that help me make due. And, at the end of the day, if the quality of work is unaffected, then the process doesn't matter. So, if you are going to procrastinate, then procrastinate with purpose and determination, and may all your deadlines pass peacefully.