The Joys of Putting Things Off

Procrastination, or the slow path to clarity.

It would be fair to say I have a long-standing, well-developed relationship with procrastination. Some might even say I’ve turned it into a careful craft from artful repetition. I’ve spent years putting things off—not casually, but with a kind of quiet conviction. It’s not something I’m proud of exactly, but I’ve come to see that delay has its own intelligence, its own rhythm. And over time, I’ve learned to listen to it.

I’ve been putting things off since childhood. But it was only in my professional life that I turned it into something useful. In advertising, I often dreaded the thinking process. It’s lonely, it’s tedious, and it usually involves overstaying your welcome in the capital of clichés. It’s the part I hated the most.

But time and again, on the morning of the deadline, with absolutely nothing to show the night before, I’d wake up with a good idea. Not just serviceable—genuinely good.

At first, I was puzzled. But then it clicked. Something was working beneath the surface. The subconscious. I wasn’t consciously trying, but something in me was quietly chewing on the problem while I was ‘doing nothing.’

Eventually, this became my method. I left things alone. I endured the panic (which wasn’t easy), but I didn’t force anything. And somehow, the ideas would always come. Oddly enough, this approach led me to become one of the more successful copywriters in the country.

This same subconscious wisdom made an appearance in my personal life too—most memorably, in the area of online shopping. Like many, I went through a phase of impulsive buying. I bought things I didn’t need, often didn’t even like. Then, one day, I decided to sleep on a purchase instead of clicking ‘Buy’

The next morning, all the emotions tied to the item had dissolved. I could see clearly. Did I really need another pair of jeans? Not really. Did I love them? No. Why was I even considering it? I didn’t know.

I didn’t buy them—and more importantly, I broke the spell. I understood something about myself: when you give emotion enough time to cool, your decisions become clearer.

There’s a name for this: emotional cooling. And in creativity, they call it incubation—the quiet phase where you step away from a problem and let time do its work. Both are powered by the subconscious, which often arrives at better conclusions than your conscious mind can.

These days, when I face a decision—big or small—if there’s room to delay it, I do. Not out of laziness, but to give time for the emotions to drain out of my system. Once they settle, I can see the choice for what it really is. Not through the lens of urgency, desire, or fear, but through something closer to logic. Or at least something sober.

To see anything objectively is a gift. To react objectively—without being yanked around by your emotions—is an even greater one. The good news is: both are possible. Anyone can cultivate them. You just have to give yourself time.

Put it off. Not forever. Just long enough that your feelings lose their hold. That moment of detachment—that’s where clarity lives.

Of course, like any skill, it takes practice. Especially if you’re someone who hates putting things off. But maybe that’s the irony. Sometimes, to get to a good habit, you just have to pass through what looks like a bad one.