Procrastination [pro-cras-ti-na-tion, noun]

from the verb pro-cras-ti-nate /pro-kras-tuh-neyt, pruh-/
1. to defer action; delay: to procrastinate until an opportunity is lost.
2. to put off till another day or time; defer; delay.

Every writer knows this word all too well. It's what I'm doing right now. But is this a bad thing? I'm writing, which is what I want to do, so it must have some value to it. Practice makes perfect and all that, so I guess it can't be all that bad.

I came across an interesting essay by a gentlemen named Paul Graham. You can see the entire piece at his site (http://www.paulgraham.com/procrastination.html), but I want to show you the lead that really caught my eye:

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.

Procrastinate well. Now THAT'S a concept I can really relate to! Like the man says, you can't do everything all at the same time. Take my film Wings Across the Sahara. Here's a project I've worked on nearly 5 years. With no money coming in from sponsors, and a major medical issue thrown in for good measure, anyone's production timeline would be a bit long. (The old adage "Better, faster, cheaper - pick TWO" comes to mind here.)

In the meantime, I've been trying to make ends meet with other production work that comes along. Here's where I earn my bread and butter while the letters, calls, and e-mails go out in search of funding for the film. Can't really call this procrastinating, can I? Putting food on the table and a roof over my family's head qualifies as procrastinating well in my book!

Then there's my foray into screenwriting last year. I know my wife would absolutely disagree with me on this, but it's a different form of work in the same industry. It may or may not bring in any money, but I know the whole experience of learning the ins and outs of fictional film writing has been great for my storytelling skills. Documentaries are just stories structured from film shot without a pre-written script, so anything that helps me learn to build a better story definitely qualifies as procrastinating well. Is it taking away from the film or my ability to make a living? No. In fact, it's an educational tool that has already helped me restructure the film into a better story.

So many different things to do. As long as one is being moved forward while the others are not being adversely affected, I think a little procrastination done the right way is actually a good thing!

Just dont't take your eye off the road while you're changing lanes!