Procrastination means delaying your actions. Everyone does it. It’s not all about laziness. Some things just always get in the way of a productive day. Sometimes it is your kids, spouses or other relationships. Sometimes there is a chore or an illness. And sometimes you just feel stuck, blocked or tired. So you feel like doing anything but working.

Yes, the Internet is full of articles on how to beat procrastination. But the truth is, we all always procrastinate, one way or the other, whether we can help it or not. It is human nature. I am pretty sure sometimes the motivation is wonderfully great that delaying doesn’t even cross your mind.Take Jake Gyllenhaal for instance. Does it look like he procrastinated when it came to muscling up for his leading role in Prince of Persia? But then again he received an extra 2 million dollars just to build the muscles. Give me that money and see if I ever procrastinate when it comes to dieting…

Below, Jake Gyllenhall as Prince of Persia.

But hey, for us the regular folk, the motivations and the payouts aren’t always great. So instead of getting depressed and feeling guilty about all the hours and minutes taken from your work, take all those moments and turn them into something useful.

Taking Advantage of Procrastionation: 7 Tips for Writers

1) Movies. Movies are a great method of relaxation. And everyone loves a good movie, right? So lay back and watch it. Enjoy the film and write about what you think about it afterwards. Put it on your blog. Turn it into a research idea. Make that movie count for both fun and some bucks.

2) Music. Almost anyone has a favorite genre. And music is something that is integrated into in our lives and we can create many topics revolving around music. Write about it.

3) Diet breaching and procrastination. Yes, you had sworn you’d never eat that much. But you were upset or happy. Maybe you were just hungry and lazy. Fine. Go ahead. Write about it.

Diets never lose popularity. If you can manage a nice a little angle with some edge, you can query fitness magazines. You can post it on your blog if it is a related topic.

You can even review a diet book you were supposed to follow. Post it to wherever you feel appropriate. In fact, why not make some money with it? Register to Amazon’s associates program and get the link for that book. Place the link in your review.

Now, you have a second income possibility and another reason to promote that article. If it is an e-book, go and look around Clickbank. See how it is doing. And while you are at it, you might decide to write about those books, see which ones you are tempted to try. And then…That’s right. Then you write about it.

4) Out with friends: One of the most popular procrastination method of all times. While you are already out and away from your computers and notepads, just let go, recharge and come back.

5) Hour-long phone conversations with your friends. I suspect this happens more to women than men. Your friends might call to rant about their relationships or just spill their guts about their newest crush. And right there, you just got some nice material for posts on relationships and dating. We all have experience and go through some annoying yet hilarious phases in our lives. I am not saying you write the conversation down as it is and expose your friends. But you might very well use it as an inspiration point. You might not go overbroad as Sex and The City’s Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and base a whole column about it, but you can count those hours as brainstorming sessions and get something out for you.

6) Magazines. Whether you like fun lifestyle magazines or stuff about your hobbies or industries, blindly going from one page to another, why don’t you pay more attention to the headlines? The editor’s note? The masthead? The topics? What got your attention the most?

You never know, you might (and should) try to pitch that magazine someday. Even if you don’t, it is an excellent resource to keep in mind when it comes to take notes on how to grab attention and make more sales.

7) Books. There is quite nothing like a page-turner. Books that make it impossible for you to put it down don’t come out that often. So, don’t put it down.

But keep a (mental) note on what parts you like the most. You can choose to review this book, or you might want to study what made it into a seller. Also look at the publisher. After all, you might have a book manuscript belonging to a similar genre. And now you know at least one other publisher who might see that genre as relevant.

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You see, any procrastination method is not to be feared but to be enjoyed and taken advantage of. This way you will have to worry less about your productivity levels. This attitude might even seriously prevent your writer’s block.

But of course if you procrastinate all the time, there is no way you can benefit from it.