Techrastination
Have I made up a new word? How do technology and procrastination go together?
Hacking with technology and procrastination may seem unrelated, but I believe that in tandem they paint an accurate picture of how lots of people, myself included, interact with technology in their free time.
When I am referring to hacking, I intend to convey the original meaning. Wikipedia1 phrases it quite nicely.
The act of engaging in activities (such as programming or other media) in a spirit of playfulness and exploration is termed hacking. However, the defining characteristic of a hacker is not the activities performed themselves (e.g. programming), but how it is done and whether it is exciting and meaningful.
The key words in the above segment are: playfulness, exploration, excitement, meaningfulness. I will come back to them shortly.
I guess most people are at least vaguely familiar with procrastination. Let’s not mention any definition containing the words laziness or carelessness. I prefer to keep it nice and neutral2.
The act of procrastinating; putting off or delaying or deferring an action to a later time.
And if you are interested in the actual etymology, it can get a little more fun3.
From Latin prōcrāstinātiō, from prōcrāstinō (“procrastinate”), from prō + crāstinus (“of tomorrow”), from crās (“tomorrow”).
What is techrastination then? I will try to give a definition of my own.
The act of procrastinating by focusing on the technology associated with an activity rather than focusing on the activity itself.
You may have an idea where I am going with this. I am gonna give some examples anyway.
The first one is quite relevant.
It’s when you spend hours upon hours tinkering with your blog, fixing the theme, checking the fonts, trying to perfect the alignment of CSS elements and the margins of your titles and subtitles, yet you are not working towards creating actual blog posts4.
It is also when you constantly rework your configuration files and scripts to increase your productivity, when you are not actually working on something that you need to be productive in.
Or when you are more interested in the technologies you are using – programming language, stack, tools – and you like to engage in heated arguments with people about them, instead of just focusing on the actual target at hand, whatever that may be.
It would be safe to assume that we can think of many more similar examples.
I admit I have been guilty of all these to a lesser or greater degree.
But, is guilty the right word? Should there be a negative tone when we are describing such activity? Shouldn’t we always try to be as productive as possible?
Not really.
Let’s go back to the key words of the hacking definition above.
Playfulness. Play is not just for kids. Having some amount of play in our lives is beneficial to our well-being. This matches my experience while hacking. When friends or family ask me how I find satisfaction from my computer projects, I usually respond that it feels like playing.
Exploration. It is said that repetition is the mother of learning, but I believe that exploration is an equally important part of knowledge acquisition. We don’t have to constantly innovate. But we must test the limits of our knowledge to expand it and savor its benefits in the form of personal and professional growth.
Excitement. Who involved with programming and technology in general has not felt immense satisfaction after completing a task? Or even without completing it. Completing the task is not even a requirement. Being in the flow comes with its own set of satisfying emotions. The actual end product does not hold all value. It may not even be that useful, if we were to strictly evaluate it. But this excitement is very important. It encourages further exploration that leads to more play that leads to more excitement.
Meaningfulness. Now we are entering tricky territory. So far I have argued that engaging in techrastinating activities can be useful without the need to find an actual meaning. That statement does not have to be betrayed. The actual meaning does not derive from the usefulness of an activity. It comes from the effect it has on the acting individual. If an activity satisfies us, then it is meaningful.
All this sounds extremely positive. What about the dark side? I would argue that the dark side is not strictly related to technology activities. Any activity can have a negative impact, when it is exercised without measure and it begins to affect other parts of our life (e.g. relationships or health). A general balance should always be maintained.
To sum it all up, hacking with your computer, or actively engaging with technology in general, does not need to have a purpose. The experience itself can be immensely rewarding and there are real benefits to be had, even if not immediately visible to the naked eye.
Whether the word sticks or not, if I had to give one piece of advice, it would be the following.
Do not worry about the outcome. Techrastinate.