Brain Food #451

What is procrastination?

Daily Brain Food.

Thoughts of the day

Productivity has been a popular, though controversial topic lately. People appear to be under pressure to be productive, with all this time that should now be ‘free’ for them to use. Some succeed. Others despair at their lack of efficiency.

There may be, perhaps, another way to look at the ‘productivity pressure’ that many are currently feeling. Someone’s procrastination could be someone else’s productivity. Someone’s hobby could be someone else’s profession. Jack Kerouac played fantasy sports. Emily Dickinson baked. Sylvia Plath was a beekeeper. Were these activities a waste of time? Or a necessary part of spending it, giving the mind some rest, and a different challenge to think about?

The truth is that free time is an illusion. Time is what it is, and it will always be occupied by something. The real question is not whether that ‘something’ carries any meaning at all, but how to appreciate what purpose it may serve. To put the collective shame aside, and see every day for what it is.

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