It’s time to reframe procrastination

By Katherine Lewis

As a lifelong procrastinator and a coach whose clients are often lamenting their own tendencies to also defer and delay, I think it’s time to adopt a new perspective on procrastination.  

It’s time to reframe procrastination.

Lately, I have had an uptick in coaching clients who describe themselves as “procrastinators” and really want help in “fixing” that. I empathize. I also share that negative voice that says:

“What are you waiting for? Just do it already!,” or “You always save things until the last minute.” “Other people do their work on time and in advance.”

Objectively though, when I look at these executives who bemoan their procrastination, a more successful, respected and effective group you’d be hard-pressed to find. In fact, in most cases, they are viewed by their colleagues as “well organized,” “structured” and “highly effective.” So maybe procrastination is working better than they realize? Perhaps there is nothing to “fix?”

It should be noted that if you are someone who is consistently missing deadlines and letting your team down, then procrastination is something you need to work on. But for everyone else, what if we didn’t call it “procrastination,” but instead reframed it as “I do my best thinking and produce my best results when I feel the pressure of a looming deadline?” And, we could add to that, “By waiting until the last minute, I use my time most efficiently.”  

Rather than struggle to change a behavior that doesn’t seem to be preventing them from doing good work, let’s applaud it. The only drawback for those who procrastinate is the self-flagellation that goes along with it. That we can fix. 

Not long ago, I was working with a fellow coach on a team coaching engagement. She and I had never worked together on a project, but we knew each other pretty well. Three weeks before the team session, she calls me and says, “Shall we write the agenda for the upcoming team session?” I am floored. It’s three weeks away! Who works that far in advance? Ahh, the non-procrastinators! This is good for me, I think, I need someone like this to get me to do things further ahead of time and not wait until the last minute. So, with all my best intentions, I work with her on the agenda. It’s hard and I have to say it doesn’t feel like my best work, but I did it.

Now it’s two days before the team session and I am reviewing the agenda and, well, there’s a lot I want to change. In fact, I think I can really improve on it. So, I make the changes and send the revised agenda to my colleague. She loves it. The session is a big success. And, I realize no matter I how hard I try, this is how I do my best work.

So, my fellow procrastinators, next time you are berating yourself for putting something off, try a reframe, something along the lines of this: “I’ve worked this way my whole life and I have produced great work. This is me at my best. It will get done. It always does.”  And save yourself the stress of negative self-talk.