Sometimes I make deals with myself:

“Okay, self, you can take 10 minutes to delay your pending duties, but then you have to get right to it.”

“Very well,” I say to myself, “10 minutes.  Will do.”

Now the special purpose behind granting 10 minutes is that it’s an awkward amount of time: too little time to start on any work or project (or game) that would clearly take more time (and thus feed my procrastination), but also too much time to just sit around and do nothing.  So what to do with those 10 minutes?  You could use the time to be productive (if you’re the productive procrastinator type) and do something like: take out the trash, brush your teeth, take a shower, clip your nails, sweep the floor, eat an airplane-sized packet of peanuts.  However, I usually choose to use my 10 minutes to be non-productive.

By far, the most frequent use of those 10 minutes lately is to play “Xplorers” (aka “Settlers of Catan”) or “Toulouse” (aka “Carcassonne”) over at AsoBrain.com.  Now, I don’t play against humans.  While more challenging, playing against humans takes much longer.  Instead I play against three computer opponents.  Games take about 10 minutes.  Perfect.  Go give it a shot.  Just remember, when your game is over, you get back down to work: you made a deal with yourself.

8 Responses to “The 10 Minute Procrastinator”