Procrastivity: Productively Wasting Your Time

Procrastivity is procrastinating on a more important task by looking productive doing some other task. Have you ever decided to deep clean your kitchen when what you really need to do is finish a project with an impending deadline? You may have experienced productive procrastination, also known as procrastivity.

Getting The Wrong Things Done

“Procrastivity is avoiding a higher priority, more important task by doing some lower priority task, a chore or whatnot, but it's self defeating because then the more important task does not get done,” says Russell Ramsay.

Tasks that you are likely to focus on instead of your top priorities are usually familiar, have specific steps to complete the task, and have a more tangible way of measuring progress. You can look at a pile of dishes and know the steps it will take to get them cleared. You will also know when you’ve finished the task because there will be no dirty dishes left. Other priority tasks that you may be avoiding are less tangible and can be more vague. It feels more achievable to spend time doing the dishes than it may be to complete your priority task - such as filing your taxes. You don’t know how long it will take you to do your taxes, may be more fuzzy on the steps it will take, and may not get to have the same sense of completion that comes with a newly cleaned kitchen counter.

Avoidance As A Tool

The idea of beginning a challenging task is daunting. Sometimes we know we cannot just sit still or do something more fun when we have a to do list waiting. So, when our brain has a choice between being completely unproductive or productive on an easier task it is likely to take the option that feels less stressful in that moment. It is harder to feel guilty about time spent on the new pile of clean laundry than time spent scrolling on our phone. Yet, the priority task we needed to get done is still there waiting for us.

If our brain has to choose between doing nothing, doing a challenging priority task, or doing an easier lower priority task- it might take the easy way out and push off the hard task to future you.

How to Stop Procrastinating?

If your productive procrastination habit is coming from a strategy to avoid distress - your mind needs you to slow down long enough to acknowledge that putting off a task will cause you more stress down the road. Our minds are not great at acknowledging how much stress we send off to future us. Here are some steps to consider to start breaking the habit of procrastivity.

• What’s the point? Why is it important for me to get this high priority task done?

• If I were behaving like the person I want to be, what would they do next?

• If I put off this task then what do I gain? What do I lose?

• How can I break this task into smaller pieces? What is the next step in the recipe of getting this specific task done? Ex. Get the pen out of the drawer then get the notepad on the counter.

• When am I going to start the next step? What is my time boundary for getting started and getting finished?

Everyone’s brain is different and some brains have a much harder time figuring out how to prioritize tasks in a way that will make your life easier. Task management is a skill and without a good teacher it can be difficult (but not impossible) to pick up on your own. If you need more help learning how to ask yourself these questions and adjust your behavior patterns in the moment then please consider professional counseling services. Good counseling is more than just talking about your feelings. Counseling also includes developing the tools you need to make the changes you want.

References

Ramsay, R. (2020, July 16). Procrastivity (a.k.a. Sneaky Avoidance) and Adult ADHD Coping. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/rethinking-adult-adhd/202007/procrastivity-aka-sneaky-avoidance-and-adult-adhd-coping

Science Vs. (Host). (2025, April 17). ADHD: Do We All Have It? [Audio podcast episode]. In Science Vs. Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5P2Vs32gAK9XHeHL6a2g8g

Lombardo, E. (2017, March 7). 11 ways to overcome procrastination. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/better-than-perfect/201703/11-ways-to-overcome-procrastination