I’ve often felt that my tendency to procrastinate is holding me back in my creative and intellectual ambitions, especially when I see the varied achievements of other creatives around my age. But what if my procrastination is actually protecting me?

I find it really difficult to force myself to do things that I know I don’t want to do. This isn’t to say that I avoid hard work or discomfort or sustained attention—just that I have to think of the project that requires these things worthy and enjoyable in itself. External motivations just don’t mean all that much to me anymore.

And perhaps this inability to do things I don’t want to do at that particular moment is saving me from burnout, competitiveness, and overwork. If I am motivated to work on a project, I’ll do it. If I’m not, I won’t. I've learned that for me, willpower isn’t as effective a motivator as desire, and perhaps what I have thought of in the past as a procrastination problem is just an unwillingness to ignore my true desires. My projects are done when they are done: I work hard, but I won’t rush them.

(All this becomes a lot easier to remember when you also keep in mind that no is a synonym for not yet.)