The way we see it, there are always benefits and drawbacks to any decision we make, and productive procrastination is no exception. Especially because you are still getting things done, just maybe not in the order that you had originally wanted them to happen. 

Productively procrastinating can help you improve your creativity and problem solving skills. Being able to step away from a big project and focus on something else, even if it’s just organizing files on your desktop or networking with a fellow employee, can give your brain the breathing room it needs. A recent case study discovered that motivating employees to take breaks improved productivity scores by 21%. Many times, just stepping away from your big project can enhance your overall creativity and problem-solving skills, which are so readily needed to get a big project done.

Productively procrastinating can help you prioritize what you need to do. Having a big to-do list is… overwhelming, to say the least. The never-ending hamster wheel and miles-long to-do list can sometimes seem unbearable to tackle. However, do you know the feeling of satisfaction you get when you cross something off your to-do list? That’s how productive procrastination can help you. It doesn’t mean that you aren’t tackling items on your to-do list. It just means you are prioritizing smaller projects instead of headfirst tackling the biggest one—and that’s okay. Productive procrastination is another method of prioritizing your tasks.