Okay, maybe not your best friend, but you can be on speaking terms with it.  After all, procrastination isn’t one of the seven deadly sins (trust me, I checked).

If you’re in the midst of NaNoWriMo right now, putting off writing might be one of the last things on your mind.  Or it might be dangling seductively in front of you.  The good news is you can actually make procrastination productive if you play your cards right (assuming card games are one way you shirk).

Agatha Christie once said she worked out many plots while washing dishes.  While it’s doubtful Dame Agatha used household chores to elude her next murder, her comment illustrates how goofing off can become a good thing (although getting those cobwebs out of your corners is also useful).

Whether you go wrestle with the dog, take a walk, take a bubble bath, or just go stick your head in the sand somewhere, time away from the keyboard can give your imagination a chance to cook up something really good while it’s not under pressure (not that I have anything against pressure cookers).  Sometimes your brain needs a reboot, and doing something else for a while can help.

So there’s no need to kick yourself if you skip out once in a while.  It’s possible you’ll be able to return to your writing with more enthusiasm.  If not, at least you’ve had your playtime and getting back to the perspiration part won’t feel so defeating.

Time for me to get back to my game of solitaire….