Procrastination
Paul Graham has written an interesting article on procrastination. Graham postulates that
For the corporation, Graham labels office workers as Type-B procrastinators -- interrupt-driven people. They are the most dangerous type of people. They let errands consume their daily work lives instead of applying their time to real work. Think of the number of hours you've wasted on meetings that could have done without you. Think of the churn that ensues when the boss mentions that idea s/he has had. Type-B is worse when it's not acknowledged as procrastination, but rather, as work. Accomplishments are being made -- just the wrong ones.
Graham suggests that we all ask ourselves and those around us, the question Richard Hamming of Bell Labs used to ask:
Some related reading that Graham and his commenters referenced:
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.He contends that the last variant is actually good procrastination. Type-C is the procrastinator that puts off the "small stuff to work on big stuff." The small is the stuff that you will never be remembered for when you die -- it's the work that is nothing more than errands in your life. Of course, putting off some of the small stuff could have a material and emotional cost, and could lead to you paying a hefty price later on. However, Graham suggests that even putting off some of that small stuff and paying the price in order to work on the big stuff will put you further ahead at the end. You simply can't do it all. If you're working on the small stuff, it invariably means you're not working on other things. You only have so many hours. If you want to kill something great, remind yourself of all the errands that must be done first before you can start or really commit to the great thing.
For the corporation, Graham labels office workers as Type-B procrastinators -- interrupt-driven people. They are the most dangerous type of people. They let errands consume their daily work lives instead of applying their time to real work. Think of the number of hours you've wasted on meetings that could have done without you. Think of the churn that ensues when the boss mentions that idea s/he has had. Type-B is worse when it's not acknowledged as procrastination, but rather, as work. Accomplishments are being made -- just the wrong ones.
Graham suggests that we all ask ourselves and those around us, the question Richard Hamming of Bell Labs used to ask:
What's the best thing you could be working on, and why aren't you?
Some related reading that Graham and his commenters referenced:
- You and Your Research -- talk by Richard Hamming
- Thinking as a Hobby -- William Golding [PDF]
Procratinator B is a very dangerous form indeed. Most workers who are this type are the ones that probably spend an hour or two of their day messing with e-mail - either sending one, reading them, or waiting to receive one.
ReplyDeleteThey're work very hard at doing useless things.