Another time when procrastination is potentially a good thing is when “warming up”. This could be when getting up in the morning and launching into the day, or when arriving at work and starting on the day’s tasks.

Some people can dive right into things - being alert and busy within minutes of waking up, or reaching their full speed and productivity within minutes of arriving at work. Others, like me, are simply not built to operate that way; we need more time to get mentally into gear, organise our thoughts, and build up to full productivity. For the latter type of people, trying to “hit the ground running” prematurely can be counterproductive, whereas we work much more effectively after a warm-up time, which others may view as procrastination. Both approaches may achieve the same end result, but in different ways.

An article at lifehack.org - Are You Just Getting Warmed Up by Tony Clark - explains the warming up type of procrastination well:

“I’m honestly not procrastinating in the traditional sense, but need some time to ramp up into my day. How do I know I’m not just slacking? Because when I jump right in, most of what I produce is crap. But if I give myself time to get warmed up - have some coffee, check some feeds, read some mail - when I do get to work, I’m way more productive. I’m also much more focused.”

He draws an analogy with warming up a car on a cold morning - scraping off the ice then leaving it to idle while the engine warms. This warm-up time improves the performance and the life of the car … and some people need this idling and warm-up time too! You just have to be careful to know whether your procrastination is the legitimate warm-up time you need to function at your best, or just slackness. We are all different, so only you can judge that.