Wait a Sec

Have you ever heard of strategic procrastination? Probably not, because I just made it up. Sometimes it’s good to put off to tomorrow what you have time to do today. You may have scheduled a whole day to start and finish a piece of writing, whether it is a business letter, a discussion section of a scientific paper or a protocol. But it is never a good idea to plan on finishing an important writing piece in one day. Instead, I practice strategic procrastination. I write as much as I can, and if the writing is going well, I will attempt to do some editing and re-writing. But then there is a time to stop, set it aside, and come back to it on another day. At that later date, sometimes I come across a sentence or phrase that I swear couldn’t have been written by me. Those darn writing gremlins struck yet again! And sometimes I identify a tone or underlying meaning that I didn’t intend, which can be down right embarrassing. So, go ahead and procrastinate! As long as you say you are being “strategic” you’re in the clear.