Good and Bad Procrastination

Paul Graham’s essay Good and Bad Procrastination argues that procrastination isn’t inherently harmful—it depends on what you’re avoiding.

Three Types

Procrastination varies based on what replaces work:

Doing nothing
Working on less important tasks
Tackling more important ones

“Good procrastination is avoiding errands to do real work.” The most accomplished people practice the third type, deferring mundane tasks to focus on significant projects.

Why Small Tasks Destroy Productivity

Errands—work with “zero chance of being mentioned in your obituary”—are deceptively dangerous. They fragment attention and interrupt deep work.

Interruptions don’t just consume time: “The cost of an interruption is not just the time it takes, but that it breaks the time on either side in half.”

The Hidden Threat

The real problem is unconscious procrastination disguised as productivity. People convince themselves they’re accomplishing things while avoiding their most important work through emails, cleaning, and errands.

Overcoming Procrastination

Ask Hamming’s famous questions:

What are the most important problems in your field?
Are you working on one of them?
Why not?

Work on ambitious projects you genuinely enjoy. Let “delight” pull you toward meaningful work rather than relying on guilt-driven scheduling.

My Takeaway

Procrastination isn’t the enemy. Procrastinating on the wrong things is. Deliberately procrastinate on errands to protect time for work that matters.