Last night I dove deep down the rabbit hole of what I like to call “strategic procrastination“.

I had a large chunk of available time to work from home, which generally I relish, but after an incredibly busy couple of days, I recognized that the specific tasks I had hoped to accomplish required both focus and creativity, neither of which I felt I had the capacity to tap into.

So I went into strategic procrastination mode as an unconventional way to get myself back on track.

I snacked. A lot.
I laid down to rest.
I let go of linear time

I admit this has a strong similarity to toddler mode.

1. Snacks: My most satisfying snack was a grilled PB&J, cut into triangles not squares because it feels more fancy to me. (I’m pretty sure that’s going to be this winter‘s comfort food)

2. Rest: I didn’t plan to sleep, nor did I want to, but I did want to give my body the gift of lying on a soft bed and having permission to pause. (My 1 year-old nephew just started daycare last week and is currently learning the ropes of group nap time)

3. Linear Time: And then I let go of my usual routined schedule. This is really the key to strategic procrastination.
I didn’t do nothing. I allowed myself to NOT do the things that I didn’t want to do and asked myself what activities I DID want to do that felt like they matched my energy.

It looked like this:

Binge watching 3 episodes of Young Sheldon, which lead me to

Wanting tea, which lead me to

Doing the dishes, which lead me to

Paying a bill, which lead me to

Needed to activate a new credit card, which lead me to

Going through my mail to find said card, which lead me to

Finding a coloring book in the pile of papers, which lead me to

Coloring while watching the replay of a call I needed to catch up on, which lead me to

Having refilled my cup enough to complete one of the creative and focused tasks I’d been strategically procrastinating from in the first place, and accomplishing it in a way that flowed easily and required minimal effort.

That’s the power of strategic procrastination. It allows you to re-energize yourself BEFORE you get tired. To take care of and tend to you BEFORE you’re already burned out.

It allows you to tap into the 7 Types of Rest.

Whether you're in need of:

Physical Rest from health issues (which have been coming up for a lot of people right now, so if that's you, know your'e not alone)

Emotional Rest from intense feelings related to the last couple weeks and the current uncertainty of what comes next

or

Creative Rest from increased busyness at work or in life as we come up against the end of the year.