Procrastination can work creative wonders when you use it strategically. Procrastinating, we're told, is your productivity's arch-nemesis; but is this really the case?
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Leaving stuff to the last minute makes us more creative by forcing us to improvise. Would you have guessed that MLK's most famous line was the result of procrastination? MLK was set to give a speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom but didn't even start writing the speech until the night before.
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MLK's iconic "I have a dream" line was partially improvised - gospel singer Mahalia Jackson cried out during MLK's speech, "Tell them about the dream, Martin! Tell them about the dream!" MLK then abandoned his script and began to speak freely about his inspiring vision of the American future.
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MLK's speech is a great example of the Zeigarnik effect. The phenomenon, named after Russian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik, describes the way that our mind stays open to new ideas and insights, even after we attempt to finish a task and give up. Essentially, MLK's unfinished speech left room for his brain to come up with brilliant lines.
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Procrastination can lead to our best work, take Leonardo da Vinci who started the Mona Lisa in 1504, abandoned the project, to come back and finish it in 1519, 16 years later!