Active procrastination: what it is and what it means

Active procrastination consists of consciously postponing a task to focus on more urgent priorities, with a defined alternative plan. It differs from passive procrastination because of the presence of awareness and control: the choice is deliberate and not driven by emotional avoidance. The technical term is used in the literature to separate strategic postponement from automatic avoidance. The operational boundary is the presence of a plan: when you postpone with a specified date and context, it is active procrastination; when you postpone without an explicit decision, it is avoidance.

Distinctive: consciously postponing a task
Distinctive: awareness and control
Essential: more urgent priorities
Essential: defined alternative plan
Constant: deliberate

Glossary

Active procrastination

Conscious, deliberate postponement of a task to focus on more urgent priorities, with a defined alternative plan — distinct from passive procrastination because of the presence of awareness and control.