Procrastination: The Freelancer’s Path to Success… Eventually.

​​In the past few days (…weeks), procrastination has become my overly familiar bedfellow. So-much-so that I had to write an article about it.

Growing up, the traditional school curriculum treated procrastination as a sign of weakness. It was considered counterproductive, “you’re not going to get anywhere if you allow procrastination to get the better of you”. Not the best motivation for kids like me, who used every single procrastination tactic known to mankind to avoid answering a GCSE coursework question on how Shakespeare uses dramatic irony in Othello to engage with his audience.

Now that I’m older (and somewhat wiser) I’ve learnt that procrastination is not something I can just switch on and off. It’s a familiar face that has simply become a part of my life. So I’ve got to deal with it.

I’ve just re-watched a Tim Urban Ted Talk about procrastination, Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator. – the video would occasionally do the rounds on LinkedIn and it had recently been pushed to me again. The general consensus is that procrastination manifests in us all and we should think harder about what we’re really procrastinating on, before we run out of time.

Or, you could just do what I do and dive head first into a rabbit hole about what procrastination is, how I can beat it and ultimately, it might just lead to a fully-written article.

Wait but Why?

Did you know that Tim Urban has a hilarious blog site called Wait but Why? I did. You know why I know? Because… procrastination.

In one of his posts, Tim Urban introduces a diagram he calls The Procrastination Matrix. It’s derived from The Eisenhower Matrix – a diagram named after a master in productivity, President Dwight Eisenhower:

You can read more about it in Urban’s blog post, but the idea is that for one to be productive, one must remain in quadrant 1 and quadrant 2 of The Eisenhower Matrix. Avoiding Q4 at all costs.

In fact, The Eisenhower Matrix is further simplified with the introduction of a D-word in each quadrant:

As Tim Urban so profoundly pointed out, “that’s fantastic for Dwight fucking Eisenhower. But you know what Dwight clearly didn’t have in his bald head? An all-powerful Instant Gratification Monkey” (The Instant Gratification Monkey being the procrastinator living inside your head that keeps you from getting shit done). 

Tim Urban had taken the concept of the Eisenhower Matrix and turned it into a Procrastinator’s Matrix:

Tim Urban refers to the Q4 as ‘The Dark Playground’, a spot most frequented by the masters of procrastination. In the Dark Playground, you may be met with the dopamine-triggering social media apps, that new Netflix documentary everyone’s been talking about or the insatiable need to find out what your primary school friends have been up to (thank you, Facebook). You’ll even find the occasional witty and relatable Ted Talk video in the Dark Playground.

Now, Tim goes on to explain that we have a Future You that you can rely on to do all the important things. But with procrastination running the show, I continued on in my journey down the rabbit hole.

How I Manage My Relationship with Procrastination as a Freelance Copywriter

As a freelance copywriter who sets her own schedule, I’ve had to figure out how to coexist with procrastination. After living with myself for so many years, I’d like to think I have a pretty good understanding of how I function. Since procrastination plays a particularly large role in my life, I’ve learned to work with it rather than fight it. I do this by adjusting my habits so I can still get things done.

One thing I’ve noticed is that procrastination isn’t a constant presence. It doesn’t hover over me every hour of every day. Instead, it lies dormant for a week (or, if I’m lucky, two), and then, without warning, it makes a grand, extravagant entrance. Bye-bye, concentration. Bon voyage, to-do list. That’s when you’ll find me having a whale of a time with my friends down at the Dark Playground.

How I Structure My Work to Outsmart Procrastination

To keep myself on track, I always have a master to-do list, kind of like the Eisenhower Matrix. At the top are priority tasks, usually things that need to be finished by the end of the week (give or take). The list is then broken down by levels of importance and deadlines.

Each day, I create a smaller to-do list based on the big one. Of course, priority tasks stay at the top, but instead of dumping an entire project into Monday’s list, I break it into bite-sized pieces. For example, if I need to write an article, Monday is for research, Tuesday for the first draft, Wednesday for revisions, and so on. This way, tasks feel less overwhelming and more manageable.

My daily to-dos also include the necessary but lack-luster life admin such as; going to the gym, doing a supermarket run, booking that long-overdue optician’s appointment. Sometimes, I even create a timetable to feel more structured. But let’s be honest, time is just a concept… right?

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Turning Procrastination into Productivity

When procrastination strikes, that’s when the proverbial shit hits the fan. But instead of spiraling into stress and guilt, I’ve found ways to make those moments useful. Sure, I may not get any work done during these “procrastination visits,” but at least I can channel my energy into something constructive.

• I remove social media from my phone. Yes, I can still access TikTok on my laptop, but somehow, it just doesn’t hit the same. So when I feel the urge to doom scroll, I turn to Substack instead. Guilt-free doom scrolling.
• I deep clean my house. Just last week, I gave my living room a deep clean and found about €5 in change wedged down the sides of the sofa. So, you could say I monetise my procrastination.
• I level up my fitness routine. Just call me Arnie.
• I take the dog on extended city walks. She is not a fan of my procrastination. After one too many detours, she just wants to sleep in peace while I tap away at my computer.

So for the dog’s sake, I guess I’ll get back to work.

About the Author

Heather has been in the word-game for a while now, working in a number of different industries, adopting an array of brand TOVs and following numerous different writing styles. Heather works with businesses that are socially and environmentally conscious, helping them connect with like-minded audiences, both locally in Barcelona and internationally. In recent years, Heather has placed greater emphasis on photography and art direction, which effortlessly blends with copywriting. After all, what complements words better than a powerful image to enhance your narrative?