The problem: We normally think of procrastination as inherently bad. When we do it, we feel a sense of shame.

The solution: “Active” procrastination will actually make you more productive and happy. You should embrace it.

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It was two weeks until the marathon and I still didn’t have my ticket to Greece. Then it was two days, and I still hadn’t replaced my shoes. Then it was two hours and my bag wasn’t packed.

Despite all this I found a ticket, quit worrying about shoes, packed my bag without forgetting a thing, and had a great trip.

This article was created in much the same way, hurriedly put together at the 11th hour and published just before the deadline. Yet it’s done and I think it’s quite good, too.

Throughout life, there seems to be a number of things that fit into one of two categories:

1. Everyone says it’s good but, in fact, it’s bad.
2. Everyone says it’s bad but, in fact, it’s good.

Procrastination fits squarely into the second category. As a society, we’ve come to loathe it and we dedicate an incredible amount of time and money learning how to beat it. A quick search on Amazon for “procrastination” yields 1,546 results. As far as I can tell, none of them are about how to procrastinate more.

Procrastination has been our enemy for ages and, through thousands of years of battle, we’ve yet to defeat it.

But what if we’re waging war in the wrong place? What if procrastination is actually our ally instead of our enemy?