Structured Procrastination: How It Works and When It Helps
John Perry's structured procrastination explained: use the urge to avoid one task to get others done, how to set up your list, and its limits.
What if you could use procrastination instead of fighting it? That’s the idea behind structured procrastination, a tongue-in-cheek but practical approach from Stanford philosopher John Perry.
Perry described it in a 1996 essay and later in his book The Art of Procrastination (2012). The idea: procrastinators rarely do nothing; they do other things instead. So arrange your tasks so that the “other things” are useful. This guide is part of our procrastination guides.
How structured procrastination works
- Keep a list of tasks. At the top, put a task that seems important and urgent, but isn’t actually as urgent as it looks.
- Lower on the list are tasks that do matter and are doable.
- While avoiding the top task, you do the others. You feel productive, and you are.
Perry’s point is that the top task works as a decoy: the urge to avoid it powers everything else.
Example
| List position | Task | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Top | ”Write the annual strategy document” (due in a month) | Avoided |
| 2 | Reply to three client emails | Done while avoiding the top task |
| 3 | Book the dentist | Done |
| 4 | Prepare slides for Thursday | Done |
| 5 | Clear the desk | Done |
When it works
- When you have many useful smaller tasks that need doing anyway.
- When the top task truly has slack in its deadline.
- When your procrastination is mild, and you mostly need momentum.
When it doesn’t
- When the avoided task is truly urgent. Eventually it has to be done. Structured procrastination can’t replace a plan for the big task.
- When “other tasks” are not useful, like scrolling or tidying the same drawer.
- When procrastination is driven by strong anxiety, depression or ADHD. Structured procrastination may not be enough; see ADHD procrastination and talk to a professional if needed.
Combine it with a plan for the big task
The best use of structured procrastination is alongside a real plan for the important task:
- Give the big task a start time, not just a deadline. See time blocking.
- Shrink its first step. See the two-minute rule.
- Start it alongside someone else so the start isn’t just your decision.
Disclosure: Cohorty publishes this journal. In Cohorty you can book a 30-minute session for the task you keep avoiding (“Strategy doc, outline only”) and start it alongside others, with no camera or chat. See how Cohorty sessions work.
For the full picture, see how to stop procrastinating.
Common questions
What is structured procrastination?
A strategy from philosopher John Perry: put a seemingly urgent task at the top of your list so that, while avoiding it, you complete other useful tasks.
Is structured procrastination a good idea?
It can help you get smaller useful tasks done, but it doesn’t replace a plan for truly important or urgent tasks.
What’s the difference between structured and productive procrastination?
They’re similar. Both involve doing useful tasks instead of the one you’re avoiding. Structured procrastination deliberately arranges your list to make that happen.
Who invented structured procrastination?
John Perry, a philosopher at Stanford, in a 1996 essay and later in his book The Art of Procrastination.
