Whenever I mention to someone that I'm a productive procrastinator, they always seem jealous, but just because it has the word productive in the name doesn't mean that it's always helpful.
As this semester comes to an end, I look at the number of things I still have to do, and I realize that I still have a lot to do, which only causes me to do anything other than the things that I should really be focusing on.
What is productive procrastination? For me, it's that I will work on the smallest, least important things in order to avoid the larger tasks that I need to do. So when I have a project or exam coming up, instead of working on those or studying when I should, I'll do a couple of small homework assignments that aren't as important, or maybe not due as soon.
I tell myself that I've accomplished things and don't need to work on my larger more time-consuming work.
Whenever others complain about not having anything done or not being ready for an exam, I chime in with how I also feel stressed. People look at me and tell me that I "at least have been working on things" even though those things that I'm working on aren't the ones that are super important. Just because I work on small things doesn't mean that I'm prepared for an exam.
One of the worst parts of being a productive procrastinator is that I'm also a stress cleaner. So not only do I try and avoid things by doing smaller assignments, but when I have a lot to do, I often have to stop myself from reorganizing my room, or focusing on one small part of my room to clean.
I don't think that my way is the best way to accomplish things because when finals, papers, and projects come due, I always wish that I would've started sooner or that I had more time before they needed to be done.
When it comes down to it, when I have big projects to do, I still don't work on them, I work on smaller, less important things.