How much procrastination is normal?

June 10, 2009 12:57 PM

How do I know if I'm working as hard as I should be, or if I'm slacking off too much?

Over the past year, as I've started work in a fairly prestigious academic setting, I've been experiencing a lot of anxiety that I'm not working hard enough or being productive enough. From what I understand, it's not an uncommon feeling for people when they're in a competitive culture where working five, ten, twenty extra hours (unpaid!) a week is encouraged.

I've felt like I can't possibly be working hard enough, even though my boss has been nothing but positive about my performance. She is a very busy, hard-working person herself and she doesn't see the amount of procrastination I do (although she's not absentee, either - I would say we have meetings about what I get up to 2-3 times a month). On the other hand, my best friend pointed out that *everyone* procrastinates *sometimes*. I found myself wondering... if everyone fools around a little now and then, how much is average? How much is ideal?

I haven't had much work experience before - I'm 25 - so I don't know what's normal even for me. I sometimes have days when I work without stopping but generally take at least an hour out of my 8-hour work day to fool around on the internet in various ways. If I am feeling very anxious about a particular project, I can procrastinate starting it by not working for an entire day or even two. Like, *nothing* done except maybe answering a few emails.

Is this normal? Totally beyond the pale? What has your experience been, and have you found that the amount of procrastination you do is a problem when it comes to succeeding in your work life?

posted by anonymous to work & money (16 comments total)

A day or two of doing nothing sounds a little on the long side. But having said that, I think working constantly isn't nearly as important as working diligently when it's important to do so. I bet you already know how to recognize those times. Just keep your eyes open and listen carefully to your boss's feedback.
posted by fritley at 1:02 PM on June 10

An hour or so a day of screwing off is nothing to worry about. When you get into the half day range, it is time to figure out just why you are doing that.

If you are feeling anxious about a particular project break it into small chunks so you can have a sense of accomplishment for that little part. For example, I build mathematical models for my company's customers. I break up the work into the list of sections I have to model, then solve them one at a time. It really helps to keep the entire project (which will last a few months) from being overwhelming.
posted by chiefthe at 1:02 PM on June 10

Welcome to the world of working as a white-collar office worker.
posted by Napierzaza at 1:03 PM on June 10 [10 favorites]

If you are getting all of your assigned tasks completed on time or (if possible) slightly ahead of schedule, all the while maintaining quality, you're working hard enough.

Anything else (any additional hours put in) is unproductive and is pure presenteeism.

Most competent bosses recognize how long a given task is going to take, and can also identify presenteeism. Spending more than 40 hours at work in a week can be a red flag to some bosses - at the least the bosses worth working for.

Personally, it's also important to balance work and play. There are a lot of successful, high-powered people who work just 40 hours a week, because they focus on being productive and achieving results.

Ultimately, career satisfaction must come from within. A boss is just a client with shit that has to get done. If you find that you have time to goof off and use the internet (aside from break time), why not work towards getting a job that really fascinates you?

Or, create meaningful, work-related mini-projects of your own at work to do when feeling bored.

I myself often work more than 40 hours a week. For one thing, I really start becoming productive late in the afternoon, at around three, and like to work until six getting stuff done. As well, I attend a lot of networking events in the evening. But I do this because I like to do it, not because I give a shit if someone else in the office is working late.

I work to please myself first.
posted by KokuRyu at 1:06 PM on June 10 [1 favorite]

I'm reminded of what may be an apocryphal story (or a mis-attributed one on my part) -- the CEO of an auto company was giving some executives a guided tour, and one of the executives noticed, as they passed an office, that the person in the office was doing nothing -- he was sitting with his feet up on his desk and staring out the window. When they got back to the CEO's office, the executive told the CEO what he saw.

The CEO responded that "four months ago that man had an idea that made this company five million dollars. When he got that idea, he was sitting in the exact position you saw him just now. Frankly, I'm happy to leave him to do exactly what he wants."

Sometimes "procrastinating" is part of the work process. You simply need to come away from your work for a minute and catch your breath. Not everyone needs to do that, mind, and only you can tell the difference between legitimate processing and "goofing off"; just saying that there is more than one way to work, and you may just function better in fits and starts. Your boss is happy with your productivity, so things sound like they're working alright to me, so why tamper with success?

If you're personally just feeling guilty, though, just keep a close eye on whether the quality of your work peters out if you're working longer, in case you really do work better in fits and starts like that. And if that is in fact the case after all, that you try working longer hours but the work quality goes down as a result, then hey, you've learned something about the way you operate, and that's always good.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:11 PM on June 10 [4 favorites]

Normal is for other people - what do your own standards tell you? Imagine you are the boss and your clone works for you. Suppose you actually pay, not must manage, your clone. You are aware of his/her effort and results. How would you honestly feel about paying him/her?
That.
posted by TruncatedTiller at 1:22 PM on June 10

I think it depends on what your goals are, both for this job and for your life in general.

If this is "just a job", and you want to get a feel for the particular industry, want to do something till you go back to school, or want something that provides a comfortable work/life balance, then it sounds like you have nothing to worry about. Just continue to do the work given to you in a professional manner.

But if this is your dream job, or will lead you down the path you love and want to pursue, by all means work harder! (E.g. If you're working in a law firm and are passionate about being the next supreme court justice, you had better work your ass off).

The goal is to let your passion and interest drive your career. The reality is that every job will have aspects to it you dislike. Just work on finding a balance between your sanity and your career goals that you are comfortable with.
posted by HabeasCorpus at 1:23 PM on June 10 [1 favorite]

[Oops, fat-fingered the 'Post' button. Meant to add:]

That said, everyone gets a mind block once in a while where we can't get out of own way. Are you concerned about about slacking off week in, week out? Or thrashing for a day or two while you find your way or let an outside situation run its course?
posted by TruncatedTiller at 1:27 PM on June 10

If you're getting things done promptly, properly, and making the boss happy and looking good to their bosses, you're fine.

(I always feel like I'm slacking at work, but my boss loves everything I do, so I try to not worry about it too much.)
posted by sperose at 1:57 PM on June 10

If anyone in any kind of knowledge-based mental work (ie not manual labor, and not customer-facing jobs) tells you they do more than about five truly valuable, productive hours of work in any 24-hour period, they're lying. Or they're confusing real work with rest periods, disguised as work - sitting in the back of a meeting, doodling, or chatting on the phone with a client, etc. Of course the challenge is to do those five hours efficiently, so that you can do other stuff in your downtime.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 2:40 PM on June 10 [1 favorite]

Economists will tell you that hours spent at work are an input, not an output. In other words, your work should not be judged by how many hours you are working. The output -- the work product -- is what matters.

At my consulting firm, things go in cycles. For the first 3 months of this year, we were slow... but now everyone's working overtime to get things done in time. It really depends. A lot of times, the work will fill the time allotted to it. So if you've been given a week to do something that really just takes a day, you may be able to slack. Some industries and companies build a lot of slack into their timelines, which means they may not be as productive as they could be. On the other hand, we're all able to be a lot more productive now than we were 15 years ago before the internet was so widely available. Some companies and managers are still working under the old assumptions of how long things take!
posted by acridrabbit at 6:59 PM on June 10

I sometimes have days when I work without stopping but generally take at least an hour out of my 8-hour work day to fool around on the internet in various ways. If I am feeling very anxious about a particular project, I can procrastinate starting it by not working for an entire day or even two.

This sounds normal to me. I.e. it sounds like other people I know with similar job descriptions, myself included.
posted by Beardman at 7:20 PM on June 10

From what you're saying, I wouldn't worry so much about how much you're goofing off but why. Reading the Web for an hour during a low energy time probably isn't a big deal. But putting off the start of a project because you feel anxious sounds to me like a bad habit to get into. When you feel anxious, it might be useful to think about why you feel anxious, or try to break down the big project into smaller tasks, or whatever.

Another thing to think about is what you do when you procrastinate. For me, after I read the Web for a bit, it's kind of jarring to get back to work. OTOH, if I decide to walk around the block instead, then I often feel motivated to work when I get back.

To do thinking work well, you have to know, and to some extent shape, your thinking habits.
posted by sesquipedalian at 9:55 PM on June 10

Here are Paul Graham's thoughts on procrastination.
posted by leigh1 at 4:25 AM on June 11

This is why I left a job where I had to bill hours while doing intellectual work. With that kind of work, I would have a burst of inspiration (usually while not working) and would quickly commit the inspiration to paper. That would take five minutes. I would then spend a little time revising the idea, tinkering with presentation, etc. Quality work product would be ready in a few hours, but the actual intellectual energy expended would be great and leave me feeling like I could not handle a second intellectual challenge for awhile. I would need a breather. Sometimes that breather would be the rest of the day, even if the first project was finished by lunch time. Obviously, when you bill by the hour rather than by results, that is not good for the bottom line. However, everyone was always impressed with my work product.

My point is that you may not be procrastinating at all. You may just be doing what you need to do to produce quality work. If you don't bill by the hour, no one should care how long it takes.
posted by crLLC at 2:48 PM on June 11

I hope it's normal, because that's what I'm like.

When I know I need to overcome this, I make lists of tasks and break them down into the tiniest steps so instead of putting the whole thing off for a whole day just because it's hard to start on something so big. This way you feel accomplished as you're getting little things done. You might still procrastinate, but if it's a 5 minute task, you'll only procrastinate for 2 minutes and then do it and get it over with. If you think of it as a day-long project it's easier to say, well, I won't finish it all today, so let me start tomorrow, and then you'll have wasted the whole day.
posted by KateHasQuestions at 5:03 PM on June 11