A bilingual totally inconsequential avsporing

This, just like in the title of this post, is the way I think when I think in words; mostly in one language, and partly in another. In my exam period fueled craze at a loss for time and words I  become very aware of the constant derailings and sidesprangene my mind takes as I actively work against my tendency to grab my guitar or my sketchbook or the ideas running rampant about my head as I attempt to read about schmid factors, stress-strain diagrams, Burger's vectors and Greek letters while I at the same time dodge the procrastinating tendencies of a suddenly more active imagination.

This has led me to wanting to write this post in spite of my imminent exam (I'll be quick, and then get right back to studying, I promise!) as a continuation of an idea I had in September which I only noticed in action just now.

The concept is called proactive – or perhaps productive – procrastination. Imagine you have a vile task ahead of you. Something you truly dread, and merely thinking of starting it sends shudders down your spine. Now you know you should just get it over with, but as the awesome procrastinator you are, you stick with your notion that of course, you have enough time. You'll just do it later. This is where you are slightly off track. While actually doing it, of course, is the 'correct' course of action, where then would your motivation for other boring or shuddersome tasks come from?

What I'm suggesting is not a new concept. In fact, students have been using this technique for a long time. As a general rule during the exam period, students have cleaner apartments than any other time during the semester. This is because they are productively procrastinating: use any work you put off as motivation to do a slightly less monstrous task. After all, that means you don't have to finish that project just yet. If all goes as planned (and if, of course, you eventually finish what you were putting off in the first place), you will not only have a clean conscience, but you will also have clean clothes, a clean apartment, a new shiny blog post (tada!) and even more time on your hands for future procrastination!

Procrastinators unite!
You know, maybe tomorrow. Or next week or something.