Basically, “procrastination” during intellectual work is actually often not wasted time, but rather your mind taking the time to process the next step. For example, if I’m writing an essay, I might glance at a different browser tab while I’m in the middle of writing a particular sentence. But often this is actually *not* procrastination; rather it’s my mind stopping to think about the best way to continue that sentence. And this turns out to be a *better* way to work than trying to keep my focus completely on the essay!
Realizing this has changed my attention management from “try to eliminate distractions” to “try to find the kinds of distractions which don’t hijack your train of thought”. If I glance at a browser tab and get sucked into a two-hour argument, then that still damages my workflow. The key is to try to shift your pattern towards distractions like “staring into the distance for a moment”, so that you can take a brief pause without getting pulled into anything different.
I kept coming back to the Real Work about 1-20 minutes later. Mostly on the short end of that range. And then it didn’t feel like there was an obstacle to continuing anymore. I’d feel like I was holding a complete picture of what I was doing next and why in my head again. There’s a sense in which this didn’t feel like an interruption to Real Work I was doing.
While writing this, I find myself going blank every couple of sentences, staring out the window, half-watching music videos. Usually for less than a minute, and then I feel like I have the next thing to write. Does this read like it was written by someone who wasn’t paying attention?
The essay “Don’t Fight Your Default Mode Network” is probably the most useful piece of productivity advice that I’ve read in a while.
Basically, “procrastination” during intellectual work is actually often not wasted time, but rather your mind taking the time to process the next step. For example, if I’m writing an essay, I might glance at a different browser tab while I’m in the middle of writing a particular sentence. But often this is actually *not* procrastination; rather it’s my mind stopping to think about the best way to continue that sentence. And this turns out to be a *better* way to work than trying to keep my focus completely on the essay!
Realizing this has changed my attention management from “try to eliminate distractions” to “try to find the kinds of distractions which don’t hijack your train of thought”. If I glance at a browser tab and get sucked into a two-hour argument, then that still damages my workflow. The key is to try to shift your pattern towards distractions like “staring into the distance for a moment”, so that you can take a brief pause without getting pulled into anything different.