Before you start your work for the day, or begin another session, is there anything you routinely do just before you begin?

A routine, a habit, a ritual?

Maybe you always sit down with a fresh cup of your favorite hot beverage. Maybe you put on headphones and listen to your favorite jam. Maybe you assemble your notes or review what you wrote the day before.

You might like to check your calendar and task list, clear your email inbox, or dash off some instructions to your assistant, to clear your mind of those tasks so you can work on things that require more focus.

Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit, said a “getting to work” ritual makes getting started easier and makes procrastination less likely, even if that ritual has nothing to do with the work itself.

Surfing the web, playing a video game, reading a few pages in a novel—a starting ritual could be anything that puts you in a good mood.

“When people talk about procrastination,” Duhigg said, “what they’re usually talking about is the first step. In general, if people can habitualize that first step, it makes it a lot easier.”

It seems it’s not so much what you do, it’s that you do something that signals your brain it’s time to get to work.

Researchers tell us that not only can a starting ritual help you start, it can also help you perform better. No doubt that has a lot to do with being in a good mood.

Whether you call it getting warmed up, clearing the morning cobwebs from your brain, or having a bit of fun before you dive into the challenges of the day, a getting started ritual makes a lot of sense.

Before I wrote this, I played Words With Friends for 5 minutes, scrolled through my YouTube feed and bookmarked some videos to watch later, and got some coffee.

I don’t know if it helped me get started, but it sure put me in a good mood. Yeah, it was probably the coffee.

Mark Twain said, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” Brian Tracy expanded on this idea in his popular book, “Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time.”

For Tracy, your “frog” isn’t necessarily the worst task of your day or something you may be avoiding. It’s the task that’s likely to have the biggest positive impact on your life.

Get that done and no matter what else you do or fail to do that day, you will have accomplished something important. 

We’re also encouraged to do our most important task(s) early in the day because that’s when we tend to have more energy. It turns out, this may not be simply because we are more rested in the morning. 

According to a new study, our bodies are more capable of producing the stress hormone cortisol in the early hours of the day, making us better able to handle the stress associated with difficult or important tasks. 

Researchers acknowledge that we are all different and we should consider what works best for us, but if you don’t consider yourself a morning person, you may want to experiment with your schedule to make sure. 

You might find that, like me, “first thing” in the morning isn’t your best and most productive time of the day, but getting your most important work done before lunch makes for a very productive day.

I use Evernote  to manage my tasks

Procrastination has become a four-letter word, hasn’t it? Those who admonish us not to “put off ’til tomorrow what you can do today,” are are accusing us of being lazy if we’re not Johnny or Janie on the spot.

Oh, the pain.

“You cannot plow a field by turning it over in your mind,” we’re told. Victor Kiam (the electric razor king), said, “Procrastination is opportunity’s assassin.” Honest Abe reminded us that, “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”

So, am I committing blasphemy when I ask if procrastination is really that bad?

When I’m under the gun with a deadline (or an ultimatum), I tend to get a lot of work done in a very short period of time. That’s being productive, isn’t it?

And, counter-intuitive though it may seem, the work I do when pressed for time is often of higher quality. 

How about you? 

If we are built this way, does that mean that we should sometimes procrastinate on purpose?

It sounds like that’s exactly what I’m saying.  

“If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would get done,” said author Rita Mae Brown.

On the other hand, having more time to do research, make decisions, or edit and polish our work product are not only advisable, they’re essential. 

Let’s face it, when there’s an impending deadline, it’s easy to cut corners that shouldn’t be cut. We’ might choose the first thing we see simply because we’re running out of time. 

And hey, have you ever paid too much for something because you didn’t allow yourself enough time to shop?

So no, procrastinating on purpose isn’t always the way to go. 

Sometimes, we should start a project immediately. Sometimes, we should let it cool before we dive in. Sometimes, we should start part of it right away and leave other parts for later. 

How do you know what to do?

There are no rules. No checklist. Or at least, there shouldn’t be. Let your gut tell you what’s best.

My point is, we shouldn’t be rigid in how we do everything, nor should we beat ourselves up when we break “the rules”. 

Point of order: when you’re late to court, you might not want to tell the judge about your flexible schedule.  I’m just saying.