Strategic procrastination

I like being strategically incompetent in some things. Like getting to inbox zero, or inbox organisation (categorizing emails into folders). Like keeping my desk neat and tidy.

These are the kind of work and tasks that are motion, not action. They keep you busy but doesn’t move the needle much, if at all.

Then a friend on Twitter introduced me to strategic procrastination, a sister of strategic incompetence.

With strategic incompetence, you say NO to doing something or developing skill in it.
With strategic procrastination, you’re NOT SURE about something, and put it off till it resolves itself, or it keeps coming back that you realise you got to do it.

I love that. It’s like my toolkit for ignoring motion and prioritising action had just doubled.

Essentially, any decision that’s reversible, or has low impact/consequences, costs little or nothing to get started or to maintain, doesn’t piss important stakeholders (e.g. customers, family) off, are good game for strategic procrastination.

Tasks and decisions that could be intentionally procrastinated on, like:

• deciding what’s the best name or domain for a new product
• having a logo for a new product
• replying to an enquiry which you’re unsure if it’s a warm lead
• replying to DMs and messages from folks asking to collaborate
• sorting and organising your note-taking system (notes that you don’t use much of)
• replying to Twitter trolls/haters
• engaging in divisive topics like politics
• reading books to prepare to be an entrepreneur

What else should I strategically procrastinate on?