Favorite Procrastinations

We all have them: those guilty pleasures, where the guilt is not in the pleasure, but in the knowledge that they’re simply delaying tactics. Delaying getting on with our passions, our lives.

Yes, I’m talking about procrastination.

I love productive procrastination, where in putting off one thing, I do another that’s hovered on the end of my to-do list for ages. Sometimes, I do chores to procrastinate on writing, but more often, I write to procrastinate on chores. Productive procrastination still leaves me feeling accomplished.

More often, procrastination is highly UNproductive, although reading and spending time with friends and family can fall on either side of the line.

Hours spent scrolling Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter and mindlessly refreshing my email embarrass me to admit to, when I have so much else to do. Webcomics are dangerous territory for me, because I will binge until I’ve caught up. Streaming video? Stick a fork in me; I’m done. At least those have commercial breaks (as I am too cheap to pay for subscriptions), during which I might scribble a few lines.

My kryptonite is Korean dramas. Some call them soap operas, but I see them more as mini-series. Each episode tends to be over an hour long, with phenomenal acting and storytelling, and they don’t have season after season. The stories actually reach a resolution, if they’re going to.

K-dramas also offer instant gratification — the whole series available RIGHT NOW. But I’ve watched enough of them to understand the time commitment involved, so I’ve gotten a lot pickier. Like a book, the concept has to grab me. Then I generally give it about 15 minutes for the first episode to grab me (they usually do). But if it has Lee Min-Ho or Ha Ji-Won, all bets are off. Seriously, I am just waiting for the day when those two are cast opposite each other in a fantasy/action story — just crossing my fingers that it will have a happy ending instead of a tragic one!

So these are some of the ways I procrastinate. Tell me about yours!