Structured Procrastination (1995)

Structured Procrastination as Lived Experience

• Many commenters say they independently discovered similar patterns: using one “important” task to motivate progress on other tasks, or keeping many parallel projects so there’s always something to “procrastinate onto.”
• People describe finishing side projects, open-source libraries, personal skills (e.g., music, writing) largely as a byproduct of avoiding other work.
• Several note that having only one important task is disastrous: they stall completely and feel burned out, whereas a messy stack of tasks often makes them highly productive overall.

ADHD, Diagnosis, and Medication

• A major thread ties chronic procrastination to ADHD, emphasizing it as a neurobiological spectrum condition rather than a pure “willpower” problem.
• Many report that stimulants dramatically improve their ability to start and follow through on tasks, though effects are time-limited.
• There is debate about long-term medication: some fear dependence and side effects; others compare meds to “glasses for your brain” and stress that shame and moralizing around stimulants are harmful.
• Several people procrastinate even on seeking diagnosis; others say diagnosis plus therapy/meds was life-changing.

Benefits and Risks of the Technique

• Fans see structured procrastination as a way to turn avoidance into output: if you will procrastinate anyway, at least channel it into meaningful secondary work.
• Critics argue it can entrench avoidant coping, especially when top-priority tasks truly matter; some doubt you can really “fake” what’s important to your own brain.
• One commenter describes a brilliant colleague who adopted this as personal philosophy and became highly disruptive, constantly abandoning critical work.

Workplace Fit and Management

• Some workers thrive when allowed to roam across murky, ill-defined areas; rigid prioritization and micromanagement destroy their productivity.
• Others note large organizations optimize for measurable, linear work and often mis-handle people who function best via structured procrastination.

Deeper Causes and Alternatives

• Several see procrastination rooted in anxiety, shame, and fear of judgment rather than laziness; therapy and emotional work are described as more durable solutions than “systems.”
• Others frame procrastination as the brain pushing back against meaningless or ill-framed tasks.

Tools and Practical Tactics

• Techniques mentioned include: breaking big tasks into tiny subtasks, keeping long-lived multi-project lists, leveraging “busy periods” to get more done, and exploiting social pressure.
• Some ADHD commenters use large language models as assistants to chunk tasks, plan steps, reduce activation energy, and keep context across many threads.