I am procrastinating on this article. The interview didn’t go like I expected, so now I don’t “have” the article. But, I have to produce something. So, rather than BS through it, I am procrastinating. I’ve been procrastinating all day. Really all weekend.

My old pastor once said there is no such thing as procrastinating. There is only a choice to do something other than what you’d said you’d do. I used to think that was profound, or at least empowering. Now I just think it’s annoying.

So, I sit down at my computer, steely-eyed with determination. I take a sip of coffee and arrange my cup at just the right angle. I strap in my headphones and cue up my peaceful piano music. I sit with my back straight, and take a deep breath. And then I…tweet. I don’t even mean to. But somehow I could never find the way to that empty Word file. Then I wrote a blog post. Then I checked my writer’s calendar and wrote an entirely new article that’s not due for two weeks. Then I looked at my notes for the dreaded article and forced myself to dive in. And so then I….answered an e-mail.

By the day’s end, I looked at my to-do list. Everything was crossed out but the overdue article…staring at me in clear black and white picas. But, I look at my “done” column and realize, that in my procrastination, I had a really productive day. I wrote two articles, three blog posts, cleaned out my inbox, and sent follow-up e-mails on three unresolved issues, resulting in one being resolved. But I never got that article done.

Maybe procrastination is a good thing. Maybe procrastination is what gets things done. I’ll get the article eventually. Just not today. And sometimes that’s how it works.