goofing off

I would say that goofing off is something I am very good at. When you are trying to write the goofing off can feel very frustrating because you know you aren't "working". I've read about studies saying that the ratio of goofing off (or some other more scientific term) to working in creative jobs is very high. Does that mean that you have to be goofing off?

I think the stories about scientists who find solutions to hard problems when they are out taking a walk is fairly instructive. Nobody playing video-games in their mother's basement has ever found the answer to a tough scientific quandry, with the possible exception of someone who has worked hard for years on a problem and just happens to be playing xbox in their mother's basement.

These are not original sentiments, but I repeat them because they bear repeating. If you want to be productive then you need to do the work, but you also must be able to let up and let your subconcious mind work on problems while you are not conciously thinking about them.

It's hard to be clever when your nerves are frazzled and your mind is tired. That's how this applies to writing. Sometimes you just need to goof off.

Now if you'll pardon me I need to go do something useless.