Winds of Change.NET: Liberty. Discovery. Humanity. Victory.


Formal Affiliations

Anti-Idiotarian Manifesto
Euston Democratic Progressive Manifesto
Real Democracy for Iran!
Support Denamrk
Million Voices for Darfur
milblogs
Prev | List | Random | Next | Join
Powered by RingSurf!

e-Syndication

February 27, 2007

The Value Of Procrastination?

by Armed Liberal at February 27, 2007 6:32 AM

Kerry Dupont just pointed this Paul Graham essay out to me:

The most impressive people I know are all terrible procrastinators. So could it be that procrastination isn't always bad?

Most people who write about procrastination write about how to cure it. But this is, strictly speaking, impossible. There are an infinite number of things you could be doing. No matter what you work on, you're not working on everything else. So the question is not how to avoid procrastination, but how to procrastinate well.

I feel so much better...but is she trying to tell me something?


TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.windsofchange.net/windsopcentre-cms/trackback.cgi/7134

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference
"The Value Of Procrastination?"

Comments
#1 from tim at 1:42 pm on Feb 27, 2007

I’ve been meaning to embrace my procrastinating self but I keep putting it off.

#2 from inkgrrl at 3:21 pm on Feb 27, 2007

As I understand it, that's one of the causes of procrastination, at least in the GTD world. There's so much to do that there's never time to take a break or vacation, so why not take that break now? Of course, the way your brain works, that means you crank out the odd essay or two while putting off yard work.

#3 from mary at 3:51 pm on Feb 27, 2007

This sounds like it was written in honor of Quiznos' chef Jimmy.

#4 from Frieda at 6:14 pm on Feb 27, 2007

Ahhh! I needed to hear that and get validated...for years I have been labeled THE procrastinater. thanks! :-)

#5 from Alberich at 9:01 pm on Feb 27, 2007

The German General Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord famously said --

"I divide my officers into four classes; the clever, the lazy, the industrious, and the stupid. Each officer possesses at least two of these qualities. Those who are clever and industrious are fitted for the highest staff appointments. Use can be made of those who are stupid and lazy. The man who is clever and lazy however is for the very highest command; he has the temperament and nerves to deal with all situations. But whoever is stupid and industrious is a menace and must be removed immediately!" (my emphasis)

Food for thought.

#6 from Mycroft at 8:17 pm on Mar 01, 2007

It may be symptom rather than cause involved here. People who are very talented tend not to be challenged as strongly during their formative years, and are thus more likely to develop bad habits, like procrastination.

Thus, the more talented somebody is, the more likely they are to be a procrastinator. However, this doesn't mean that being a procrastinator will improve your talent level, or your output :)

Post a comment

Here are some quick tips for adding simple Textile formatting to your comments, though you can also use proper HTML tags:

*This* puts text in bold.

_This_ puts text in italics.

bq. This "bq." at the beginning of a paragraph, flush with the left hand side and with a space after it, is the code to indent one paragraph of text as a block quote.

To add a live URL, "Text to display":http://windsofchange.net/ (no spaces between) will show up as Text to display. Always use this for links - otherwise you will screw up the columns on our main blog page.

Finally, note that a constant onslaught of Trackback spams from auto-generated blogspot blogs has forced Winds to ban the blogspot.com domain from use in comments or trackbacks. If you host on blogspot, consider moving; otherwise, the complaints need to be directed at Google not us.










Archives By Category
-FEATURES: 48 Ways to Wisdom (24)
-FEATURES: Diaries & Roundups (10)
-FEATURES: Military Transformation Uplink (12)
-FEATURES: New Energy Currents (20)
-FEATURES: Reader Highlights (2)
-FEATURES: Regional Briefings (166)
-FEATURES: Sufi Wisdom (158)
-FEATURES: The Bard's Breath (32)
-FEATURES: Winds of Discovery (6)
-FEATURES: Winds of War [WoT] (444)
4 HA: 4th-Gen Warfare (102)
4 HA: al-Qaeda (159)
4 HA: Crime, Organized (26)
4 HA: Evil Exists (110)
4 HA: Intelligence/Spycraft (100)
4 HA: Military (520)
4 HA: Nukes, Poisons, Germs (135)
4 HA: Statecraft (29)
4 HA: War on Terror articles (706)
Best Of... (179)
BIZ: Business & Organizations (130)
BIZ: Economics (95)
BIZ: Energy (70)
CIVIS (230)
CIVIS: Copyright Wars (25)
CIVIS: Drug Wars (18)
CIVIS: Edu-Kooks (76)
CIVIS: Free Societies (284)
CIVIS: Hall of Shame (162)
CIVIS: Hatred Rising (114)
CIVIS: Journalism & Media (396)
CIVIS: Spirit of America.NET (31)
CIVIS: War Within the West (309)
COLUMNISTS: M. Simon (13)
COLUMNISTS: Tarek Heggy (33)
GEO: Afghanistan (78)
GEO: Africa (101)
GEO: Asia (116)
GEO: Aussies & Kiwis (20)
GEO: Canada (68)
GEO: China (86)
GEO: Europe (176)
GEO: France (71)
GEO: India-Pakistan (112)
GEO: Iran (223)
GEO: Iraq (956)
GEO: Israel (245)
GEO: Koreas (64)
GEO: Latin America (63)
GEO: Middle East (254)
GEO: Russia (74)
GEO: Saudi Arabia (64)
GEO: Sudan (36)
GEO: U.K. (70)
GEO: U.N. (60)
GEO: U.S. of A (502)
HUMANITY (88)
HUMANITY: Art & Culture (157)
HUMANITY: Art - Music (32)
HUMANITY: Art - Poetry (6)
HUMANITY: Christianity (52)
HUMANITY: Heroes & Achievements (228)
HUMANITY: History (124)
HUMANITY: Islam (182)
HUMANITY: Judaism (136)
HUMANITY: Love (32)
HUMANITY: Philosophy (47)
HUMANITY: Spirituality & Religion (72)
HUMANITY: Zen & Buddhism (28)
Humour (194)
Misc. (42)
NET: Blogosphere (390)
NET: Cyber-Security (16)
NET: Grid Computing (3)
NET: Spam (24)
NET: The Internet (35)
NET: The Open Source Meme (17)
Personal (186)
SCI-TECH: Biotech & Medical (83)
SCI-TECH: Eco-tech (81)
SCI-TECH: Nanotech (27)
SCI-TECH: Science (111)
SCI-TECH: Space (75)
SCI-TECH: Technology (143)
SPORTS (45)
SPORTS: Baseball (75)
Trends (64)
USA: America Catch-all (19)
USA: Anti-Americanism (6)
USA: California Politics (4)
USA: Conservatives & GOP (31)
USA: Dem Party Renewal (70)
USA: Domestic Issues (50)
USA: Elections (83)
USA: Grand Strategy (15)
USA: Homeland Security (105)
VictoryPAC (3)
Winds of Change.NET (49)

Archives by Date
Winds Blogroll


Powered by:
LighTTPD web server
Ubuntu Linux
Movable Type
Hosted by Pixelgate
Support VictoryPAC
Recent Entries

Support Winds of Change.NET!


Your support & assistance is greatly appreciated, and makes a difference!
The Winds Crew:

Town Founder:
Joe Katzman
joe {at} windsofchange. net
Joe's Normblog Interview

Left-Hand Man:
Marc 'Armed Liberal' Danziger
armed {at} windsofchange. net
A.L.'s Normblog Interview

Other Winds Marshals
'AMac', aka. Marshal Festus (AMac@...)
Robin "Straight Shooter" Burk
'Cicero', aka. The Quiet Man (cicero@...)
David Blue (david.blue@...)
'Lewy14', aka. Marshal Leroy (lewy14@...)
'Nortius Maximus', aka. Big Tuna (nortius.maximus@...)

Other Regulars
'Callimachus' (callimachus@...)
'Demosophist' (demosophist@...)
Rev./Maj. Donald Sensing
'Molon Labe' (molon.labe@...)
'Neo Neo-Con'
Tarek Heggy (tarek@...)

Semi-Active:
Arthur Chrenkoff
'Gabriel Gonzalez' (in Paris)
Tim Oren (tim@...)
Trent Telenko (trent@...)

Posting Affiliates
Athena: Terrorism Unveiled
Chester: The Adventures of Chester
Dave Schuler: The Glittering Eye
Grim: Grim's Lair et. al. Joel Gaines [Russia]
Michael Totten
MILblogging.com: The MilBlogs directory
Murdoc [Military]
Situational Awareness team [Military]
Nathan Hamm [Central Asia]
Randy Paul [Latin America]
Robert Koehler [Koreas]
Robi Sen [India & S. Asia]
Nitin Pai [India & S. Asia]
Simon [China & E. Asia]
Yehudit: Kesher Talk

Regular Topic Briefings:
Andrew Olmsted [Iraq Weekly]
Joel Gaines [Iraq Weekly]
Security Watchtower [GWoT Mon.]
Peace Like A River [GWoT Mon.]
Colt [GWoT Thu.]
John Atkinson [Alternative Energy]
Peter Wolfgang [Alternative Energy]
Omri Ceren [Hatewatch]

Emeritus:
Adil Farooq (adil@...)
Celeste Bilby (celeste@...)
Dan Darling
Gary Farber (gary@...)
Hossein Derakhshan (hoder@...)
T.L. James (tljames@...)
Robin Burk (robin@...)


Winds of Change.NET Blogkids & Affiliates

·
The Argus: covering Central Asia
· Canis Iratus: Glen Wishard
· Correct-Amundo: Tech & society
· Discarded Lies: Ev & Zorkie
· The Flying Kiwi: Donovan Janus
· The Glittering Eye: Dave Schuler
· Gumptionology: Nortius Maximus
· Hot Needle of Inquiry: 'Jinnderella'
· Laughing Wolf: C. Blake Powers
· Out The Mazoo: 'Mazoo'
· Power and Control: M. Simon
· Praktike's Place: 'Praktike'
· Random Probabilities: Robin Burk
· Siberian Light: covering Russia
· The Spirit of Man

· Good News From the Front
· WATCH/: covering the war on terror

Archives By Category
-FEATURES: 48 Ways to Wisdom (24)
-FEATURES: Diaries & Roundups (10)
-FEATURES: Military Transformation Uplink (12)
-FEATURES: New Energy Currents (20)
-FEATURES: Reader Highlights (2)
-FEATURES: Regional Briefings (166)
-FEATURES: Sufi Wisdom (158)
-FEATURES: The Bard's Breath (32)
-FEATURES: Winds of Discovery (6)
-FEATURES: Winds of War [WoT] (444)
4 HA: 4th-Gen Warfare (102)
4 HA: al-Qaeda (159)
4 HA: Crime, Organized (26)
4 HA: Evil Exists (110)
4 HA: Intelligence/Spycraft (100)
4 HA: Military (520)
4 HA: Nukes, Poisons, Germs (135)
4 HA: Statecraft (29)
4 HA: War on Terror articles (706)
Best Of... (179)
BIZ: Business & Organizations (130)
BIZ: Economics (95)
BIZ: Energy (70)
CIVIS (230)
CIVIS: Copyright Wars (25)
CIVIS: Drug Wars (18)
CIVIS: Edu-Kooks (76)
CIVIS: Free Societies (284)
CIVIS: Hall of Shame (162)
CIVIS: Hatred Rising (114)
CIVIS: Journalism & Media (396)
CIVIS: Spirit of America.NET (31)
CIVIS: War Within the West (309)
COLUMNISTS: M. Simon (13)
COLUMNISTS: Tarek Heggy (33)
GEO: Afghanistan (78)
GEO: Africa (101)
GEO: Asia (116)
GEO: Aussies & Kiwis (20)
GEO: Canada (68)
GEO: China (86)
GEO: Europe (176)
GEO: France (71)
GEO: India-Pakistan (112)
GEO: Iran (223)
GEO: Iraq (956)
GEO: Israel (245)
GEO: Koreas (64)
GEO: Latin America (63)
GEO: Middle East (254)
GEO: Russia (74)
GEO: Saudi Arabia (64)
GEO: Sudan (36)
GEO: U.K. (70)
GEO: U.N. (60)
GEO: U.S. of A (502)
HUMANITY (88)
HUMANITY: Art & Culture (157)
HUMANITY: Art - Music (32)
HUMANITY: Art - Poetry (6)
HUMANITY: Christianity (52)
HUMANITY: Heroes & Achievements (228)
HUMANITY: History (124)
HUMANITY: Islam (182)
HUMANITY: Judaism (136)
HUMANITY: Love (32)
HUMANITY: Philosophy (47)
HUMANITY: Spirituality & Religion (72)
HUMANITY: Zen & Buddhism (28)
Humour (194)
Misc. (42)
NET: Blogosphere (390)
NET: Cyber-Security (16)
NET: Grid Computing (3)
NET: Spam (24)
NET: The Internet (35)
NET: The Open Source Meme (17)
Personal (186)
SCI-TECH: Biotech & Medical (83)
SCI-TECH: Eco-tech (81)
SCI-TECH: Nanotech (27)
SCI-TECH: Science (111)
SCI-TECH: Space (75)
SCI-TECH: Technology (143)
SPORTS (45)
SPORTS: Baseball (75)
Trends (64)
USA: America Catch-all (19)
USA: Anti-Americanism (6)
USA: California Politics (4)
USA: Conservatives & GOP (31)
USA: Dem Party Renewal (70)
USA: Domestic Issues (50)
USA: Elections (83)
USA: Grand Strategy (15)
USA: Homeland Security (105)
VictoryPAC (3)
Winds of Change.NET (49)

Archives by Date
Winds Blogroll


Powered by:
LighTTPD web server
Ubuntu Linux
Movable Type
Hosted by Pixelgate