Silver Clipboard

Paul Graham on how to Procrastinate Well

Paul Graham, the founder of the Y Combinator and the king of start ups, has written an essay on procrastination. However, in usual Graham style he comes at the subject from an oblique angle, arguing that procrastination cannot be avoided, and must therefor be harnessed.

From his article:

Most people who write about procrastination write about how to cure it. But this is, strictly speaking, impossible. There are an infinite number of things you could be doing. No matter what you work on, you’re not working on everything else. So the question is not how to avoid procrastination, but how to procrastinate well.

There are three variants of procrastination, depending on what you do instead of working on something: you could work on (a) nothing, (b) something less important, or (c) something more important. That last type, I’d argue, is good procrastination.

[link to Paul Graham’s ‘Good and Bad Procrastination’]

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Header photograph by aussiegall

How to Avoid Extra Work Without Being a Bum

Office deadlines: miss them and, you’re in trouble. Beat them and you get extra work. What’s an employee to do?

Here’s one strategy: when given work on a deadline, do it as soon as possible but don’t hand it in until the deadline. This way you are free of the stress of the job, but won’t be given extra (and often unnecessary) work. For bonus points, hand it in on your way out the door the day before it’s due.

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Photograph by Michael mx5tx