PROCRASTINATION HELPS INDIVIDUALS GET CREATIVE
December 2017
It’s 1 a.m., and you haven’t started the science project that’s due tomorrow. Not again, you think to yourself.
This is the scenario that many high schoolers face. According to the American Psychological Association, over 70 percent of students procrastinate, potentially leading to poor performance, decreased well-being, and reduced life achievements.
However, a new study shows that there might be more to procrastination than its negative stereotypes.
Adam Grant, author and psychology professor at the Wharton School, argues that while delaying until the last minute might not be ideal for productivity, it can help stimulate creativity.
“Our first ideas, after all, are usually our most conventional. When you procrastinate, you’re more likely to let your mind wander. That gives you a better chance of stumbling onto the unusual and spotting unexpected patterns,” said Grant.
Natsuko Nozaki, a senior, has experienced this effect.
“The best essays I’ve written are probably the ones I procrastinated on because of the intense concentration and the ‘spark of creativity’ that comes out of the blue. And if something unexpected comes up, I approach it more calmly because I would have done it at the last minute too,” said Nozaki.
If there’s a procrastinator, there’s a “pre-crastinator” — someone who, instead of leaving work up until the last minute, has the tendency to get work done as soon as possible, which might not leave room for creativity. But being early and the opposite of a procrastinator might not necessarily be good, according to a study by Psychology Science.
“As a ‘precrastinator’ you could be able to spend more time on tasks, which could be a waste of time. But when you procrastinate, since you have a short amount of time to get tasks done, you look for ways to shorten tasks or take the easy way out,” said Julia Tu, a senior.
Alyssa Higdon, a junior, has experienced the benefits of procrastination.
“Procrastination is, in a way, project management. Instead of jumping right in without really thinking about the topic at hand, you can let the topic sink in and have time to come up with new ideas. Rather than starting right away, only the easy ideas come right to your head,” said Higdon.
According to Psychology Today, creativity isn’t the only benefit. Waiting to finish a task can help with prioritizing and eliminating unnecessary tasks and assisting in getting work done.
Higdon said, “When I start my work right away, I plan and end up going on a million tangents. But when I procrastinate, all the ideas come at once, and they’re all somehow preorganized to use at my own device.”
While procrastination may have benefits like creativity, there’s a difference between the procrastination that supports creativity and the destructive type of procrastination.
Nozaki said, “The negatives of procrastination, though, are that people might not take you seriously or rely on you as much. For studying, memorization never really works, and if other people are involved in a group project, you definitely can’t procrastinate because it’ll affect them.”
Many students have found various ways to manage the negative aspects of procrastination, whether it be making a schedule or prioritizing certain tasks over others.
“I make a schedule of what I have to do and split up the work so I know how much to do each day. But I usually end up doing it all on the same day,” said Tara Najafi, a senior. “I think procrastination causes unnecessary stress, and most people don’t start earlier because they might not be motivated or interested.”
To take advantage of this type of procrastination, Grant and other psychologists offer advice, such as “imagining yourself failing spectacularly so that the ensuing anxiety can motivate you to get started on the work,” as well as “lowering expectations for what counts as progress.”
Despite what this study shows, others argue that the benefits of procrastination would depend on the type of situation.
“The type of procrastination that stimulates creativity isn’t practical for high schoolers. First, we don’t need that much creativity to do well on our projects. Second, our lives are stressful enough -- why put off something if you’re able to get it done now?” said Julia Tu, a senior.
While there is still research to be done on the benefits and negatives of procrastination, it has been shown that there may be more to procrastination than there was previously was thought to be.
This is the scenario that many high schoolers face. According to the American Psychological Association, over 70 percent of students procrastinate, potentially leading to poor performance, decreased well-being, and reduced life achievements.
However, a new study shows that there might be more to procrastination than its negative stereotypes.
Adam Grant, author and psychology professor at the Wharton School, argues that while delaying until the last minute might not be ideal for productivity, it can help stimulate creativity.
“Our first ideas, after all, are usually our most conventional. When you procrastinate, you’re more likely to let your mind wander. That gives you a better chance of stumbling onto the unusual and spotting unexpected patterns,” said Grant.
Natsuko Nozaki, a senior, has experienced this effect.
“The best essays I’ve written are probably the ones I procrastinated on because of the intense concentration and the ‘spark of creativity’ that comes out of the blue. And if something unexpected comes up, I approach it more calmly because I would have done it at the last minute too,” said Nozaki.
If there’s a procrastinator, there’s a “pre-crastinator” — someone who, instead of leaving work up until the last minute, has the tendency to get work done as soon as possible, which might not leave room for creativity. But being early and the opposite of a procrastinator might not necessarily be good, according to a study by Psychology Science.
“As a ‘precrastinator’ you could be able to spend more time on tasks, which could be a waste of time. But when you procrastinate, since you have a short amount of time to get tasks done, you look for ways to shorten tasks or take the easy way out,” said Julia Tu, a senior.
Alyssa Higdon, a junior, has experienced the benefits of procrastination.
“Procrastination is, in a way, project management. Instead of jumping right in without really thinking about the topic at hand, you can let the topic sink in and have time to come up with new ideas. Rather than starting right away, only the easy ideas come right to your head,” said Higdon.
According to Psychology Today, creativity isn’t the only benefit. Waiting to finish a task can help with prioritizing and eliminating unnecessary tasks and assisting in getting work done.
Higdon said, “When I start my work right away, I plan and end up going on a million tangents. But when I procrastinate, all the ideas come at once, and they’re all somehow preorganized to use at my own device.”
While procrastination may have benefits like creativity, there’s a difference between the procrastination that supports creativity and the destructive type of procrastination.
Nozaki said, “The negatives of procrastination, though, are that people might not take you seriously or rely on you as much. For studying, memorization never really works, and if other people are involved in a group project, you definitely can’t procrastinate because it’ll affect them.”
Many students have found various ways to manage the negative aspects of procrastination, whether it be making a schedule or prioritizing certain tasks over others.
“I make a schedule of what I have to do and split up the work so I know how much to do each day. But I usually end up doing it all on the same day,” said Tara Najafi, a senior. “I think procrastination causes unnecessary stress, and most people don’t start earlier because they might not be motivated or interested.”
To take advantage of this type of procrastination, Grant and other psychologists offer advice, such as “imagining yourself failing spectacularly so that the ensuing anxiety can motivate you to get started on the work,” as well as “lowering expectations for what counts as progress.”
Despite what this study shows, others argue that the benefits of procrastination would depend on the type of situation.
“The type of procrastination that stimulates creativity isn’t practical for high schoolers. First, we don’t need that much creativity to do well on our projects. Second, our lives are stressful enough -- why put off something if you’re able to get it done now?” said Julia Tu, a senior.
While there is still research to be done on the benefits and negatives of procrastination, it has been shown that there may be more to procrastination than there was previously was thought to be.