SIMPL #007 From One Piece to Shredding: A Tale of Procrastination and Problem Solving

Have you ever had a project at work, home, or school that you started months ago and thought, “I’ll finish this later”? Fast forward to the deadline creeping up, and suddenly you realize, “Why didn’t I start sooner?” You’re not alone. That feeling of rushing at the last minute is tied to a universal phenomenon: procrastination.

So, what is procrastination? It’s like telling your brain, “Let’s be super productive… just not right now.” I mean, during COVID, I had grand plans to learn a new language or even create a method to track the spread of the virus with data. But you know what I did instead? I decided that binge-watching One Piece—all thousand episodes—was more urgent!

Now don’t get me wrong, One Piece is incredible. I still watch every new episode. But after maybe 300 episodes, I realized I was running away from being productive. I was deep in procrastination territory. But hey, apple and google had already solved the COVID tracking problem, so I moved on.

This led me to my next “super productive” idea: learning guitar. Turns out, two of my closest friends played, and before I knew it, I found a hidden passion I’d left behind since childhood. Playing the guitar has since become one of my favorite hobbies—it’s humbling and challenges me in a way few things do. (And yes, I still make time for my bread-making experiments too.)

Procrastination at Its Best: The Room Remodeling Saga

This week, I witnessed procrastination in action. My wife and I are working on a room remodel—a project that started back in January. The plan was to renovate an old room, originally separated from the house to generate rental income for my grandmother’s care.

We hired a contractor to handle phase 1, with priority number one being the room’s electrical wiring (since it’s an old house, this was a must). We had a clear plan: demolish the old walls, redo the wiring, and then move through several phases—new floors, bathroom, lamps, windows, ceiling, and closet… yep, it’s a lot! But, as with any remodeling project, things don’t always go as planned.

But here’s where the real procrastination kicked in—the electrician. This guy was a master procrastinator. He’d come in, inspect the place, say, “I’ve got this,” and then disappear for a few days. When he finally showed up, the work was minimal. Weeks passed with little progress, and before we knew it, we were behind schedule. You know the saying, “a chain is never stronger than its weakest link”? Well, I’m typing this while blasting Amon Amarth, so maybe that’s where my head’s at!

As the deadline approached, the urgency hit, and suddenly the electrician was working overtime, trying to catch up. But of course, half of the work had to be redone because he missed the original specs. What a waste of time—and in continuous improvement, that’s exactly what we call it: waste.

Want to know more about Waste and how to tackle it, check out my article here. 

The Creative Power of Procrastination

So, guess what? Procrastinators are actually some of the most creative and clever people around—how do I know? Well, I’m one of them! Turns out, procrastination isn’t just a bad habit; it’s actually a key part of problem-solving. Studies show that when we procrastinate (just a bit, not too much), our brains keep working on the problem in the background, and that can lead to more innovative solutions. We think we’ve got the task under control and push it aside because it seems simple—until it’s crunch time!

Luckily, I’ve learned from experience and from working with some great planners. After plenty of all-nighters trying to fix what I’d put off, I’ve learned to manage my time better in my 40s. Now I plan for my procrastination, knowing when to give myself that little extra wiggle time to think things through.

The Takeaway: Manage the Procrastination Trap

So, what happened with our electrician? Simple. He looked at the project and thought, “I can handle this in a day.” He didn’t take notes, didn’t follow up, and by the time the deadline loomed, he realized his mistake. Now, he’s playing catch-up, redoing work that could’ve been done right the first time. Classic procrastination.

The lesson here? Procrastination isn’t inherently bad—if you manage it well. The key is balancing creativity and urgency. And if you’re like me, you’ll figure out how to harness the power of procrastination to come up with creative solutions… without the all-nighters.