The Momentum Monthly November Newsletter

Dec 03, 2025 |
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The Momentum Canvas™ Monthly

November 2025 | Strategic Procrastination
Not everything needs to be done right now. That proposal feedback sitting in your inbox? Those formatting tweaks calling your name? Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is deliberately not do them—yet. Welcome to the paradox of strategic procrastination. 

⏰ The Counterintuitive Truth About Productive Delay

After defending my proposal, my committee gave me several revision suggestions for my literature review and methodology chapters. My instinct was to immediately tackle these revisions before moving forward. After all, shouldn't I perfect the foundation before building on it?

But then I realized something: I hadn't collected my data yet. I hadn't done my analysis. I hadn't written my findings or discussion chapters. How could I know which revisions were truly necessary until I saw the complete picture?

The Common Trap: Many people believe that delaying any task is procrastination, and procrastination is always bad. This binary thinking creates guilt about strategic delays and pressure to perfect everything immediately.

The Better Approach: Some dissertation tasks actively improve with strategic waiting. The key is distinguishing between productive delay and harmful avoidance.

🎯 The Strategic Delay Method

Strategic procrastination means intentionally postponing certain tasks because completing them later will produce better results with less effort.

Here are some tasks that actually benefit from delay:

Proposal Defense Revisions

  • Wait until after data collection and analysis
  • See which revisions matter in the context of your full dissertation
  • Complete only the minimum revisions necessary
  • Maintain forward momentum instead of getting stuck perfecting early chapters
Action Item: If you have proposal revisions waiting, list them and mark which ones require seeing your full results first

Draft Polishing

  • After completing a draft that is 75% done, resist the urge to immediately polish it
  • Share it with your accountability partner
  • Begin drafting the next chapter
  • Let the previous draft "percolate" while you wait for feedback
  • Return to polish with fresh eyes and incorporate feedback
Action Item: If you have a completed draft, send it for feedback TODAY and start the next section

Formatting Perfection

  • Citation styles, margin adjustments, figure placements—they can all wait
  • Format only when: content is finalized, you're in low creative energy mode, and you've completed all substantive writing
Action Item: Create a "formatting parking lot" for noting issues to fix later—then ignore them until the right time

By strategically delaying certain areas, you can maintain forward momentum and ultimately finish faster.

📊 The 3-Day Rule: When Delay Becomes Avoidance

Strategic procrastination involves working on other dissertation tasks, while avoidance means not working on your dissertation at all. 

✅ Strategic Procrastination Looks Like:

Day 1: "I'm not feeling capable of drafting new content today, so I'll revise the section I wrote last week"
Day 2: "Still not ready to draft, but I can organize my literature notes and update my progress tracker"
Day 3: "Today I can outline the next section, even if I don't draft it"

In each case, you're making dissertation progress—just not on the most cognitively demanding tasks.

❌ Avoidance Looks Like:

Day 1: "I'll work on my dissertation tomorrow when I'm more motivated"
Day 2: "I need to organize my desk/download articles/update my software first"
Day 3: "Maybe I should rethink my entire approach..."

The Trigger Point: If you've gone 3 or more days without writing anything dissertation-related, you've likely crossed from strategic delay into avoidance.

What to Do When You Hit the 3-Day Mark:

Return to Building Block 4: Break it Down of The Momentum Canvas method. Usually, avoidance signals that your next task feels too big. Break it into a smaller, more manageable piece—even just outlining a single 2-4 page subsection—to restart your momentum.

✓ November Strategic Procrastination Checklist

🎯 This Month's Focus: Your Strategic Delay System

November Goal: Learn to distinguish between productive delay and harmful avoidance in your own dissertation work.

Some tasks improve with strategic waiting. Others need to be broken down into smaller pieces. The key is knowing which is which.

This Month's Process:

  • Week 1: Identify tasks that would genuinely benefit from strategic delay ✓
  • Week 2: Implement the 3-Day Rule—track what dissertation work you do each day ✓
  • Week 3: Practice strategic delay—deliberately postpone one task that would benefit from percolating time ✓
  • Week 4: Review your patterns—where did strategic delay help? Where did you slip into avoidance? ✓

📚 This Month's Resource

Podcast: "The Real Reason You Procrastinate" (WorkLife with Adam Grant) - This talk explores how procrastination often stems from perfectionism and anxiety rather than laziness—insights that are particularly relevant for dissertation writers who might avoid tasks not because they're unmotivated, but because they care too much about doing them perfectly.

Remember: Not everything needs to be done right now. Some tasks genuinely improve with strategic waiting, while others need to be broken down into smaller pieces. The key is honest self-assessment: Are you strategically delaying because the task will be easier or better later? Or are you avoiding because the task feels too hard right now? Learning to distinguish between these two—and responding appropriately to each—might be one of the most valuable skills you develop during your dissertation journey.

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