Michele Woodward Master Certified Coach, MBTI

People certainly beat themselves up for procrastinating. Well, when they get around to it, they beat themselves up.

But what if procrastinating wasn't that bad? Just think: what if procrastination could actually be good for you?

Example
One: You procrastinate about buying that house you toured with your
spouse. And three months later, the price has dropped significantly so
you buy it at a great savings.

Example Two: You procrastinate
about writing that report the boss talked about. And the day before
it's due, information comes out that changes the entire strategy --
making your report irrelevant.

Example Three: You procrastinate
about having that difficult conversation with your co-worker, only to
have her come in and apologize -- and accept responsibility for her
actions.

Sure, you could come up with plenty of examples where
procrastination can hurt you, like ignoring those stabbing sharp pains
on your lower right side ("It's probably just gas, not appendicitis")
and ending up with emergency surgery. Granted.

But when you take a look at why you're procrastinating, you can determine whether it's the right thing to do or not.

When
you evaluate The Why, you need to consider how you feel about the
decision or task at hand. So, sit with it for a minute. How would it
feel to own that house? Scary? Too expensive? Is that why you're
procrastinating? In this case, procrastination is sending you
information -- this house is overpriced. Yay, procrastination!

Sometimes
procrastination is a sign that we really don't want to do something.
This happens when someone else forces their will on you -- remember
when your mother ordered you to clean your room, even though it looked
fine to you? When you feel you have no control, you might procrastinate
in a slightly passive-aggressive way ("I don't wanna, and I'm not
gonna") until you provoke a fight that unleashes all your fury and
anger. Cue the slamming door portion of the program.

But you
might also procrastinate because you need time to collect your thoughts
and make your plans. Planning People may appear to be "last-minute"
when they've really been working out the problem in their head for some
time. This is the way I write, as a matter of fact. I compose in my
noggin all week, then sit down to write in one fell swoop.

Seems to work.

One
other reason folks can procrastinate is possibly the most difficult to
be aware of -- they procrastinate so they can get out of their own way.
These are our friends The Perfectionists.

Perfectionists can't
help themselves. They add, or take away, or refine, or fiddle, or
tweak. The more time they have, the more they tinker. I once saw a
time-elapse film of Picasso creating a painting. There was a point at
which he could have stopped and had a masterpiece. But he kept on
fiddling and adding. And ended up with a ruined canvas.

When
perfectionists learn to get out of their own way by giving themselves
less time, rather than more time, they can deliver a more perfect
product. Then they have to deal with what might have been if they
really had enough time to do it right.

But that's a different column.

Procrastinating
might be central to the way you function in the world, and, if that's
so, then embrace it. Use it for good. If procrastinating hurts you, or
keeps you from fully enjoying your life, then you might spend more time
examining exactly why you keep putting things off. Because once you
understand that, you understand yourself. Which is central to living a
happy life.

To set up an initial, free 30 minute appointment, please contact me at www.lifeframeworks.com.

www.michelewoodward.com, or

www.lifeframeworks.com

703/598-3100

michele@lifeframeworks.com