Procrastination Can Be Good for Us

By: Sharon Bender
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:40:21
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The guilt associated with procrastinating is something we have all experienced at one time or another, and the thought fills us with anxiety. Those of us who procrastinate are often perceived as being lazy. Such labeling places a kind of blame on us that can have compounded negative results. In reality, it’s a matter of how we apply this seemingly unsavory behavior that counts. We can actually use procrastination to our benefit, a thought few of us are able to fathom.

In a sense we are procrastinating when we "think twice, act once" or we practice "when in doubt, do nothing." These are forms of procrastination that are proven beneficial behaviors. The problem occurs when we hear that someone is putting off until tomorrow what could be done today. We consider that they are avoiding doing a task that needs to be accomplished with some level of haste. Although we have heard the phrase, “haste makes waste,” we are thought to be procrastinating. Our negative perception of the term not only affects our work, it is accompanied by an array of bad feelings such as inadequacy, self-disgust, stress, and depression. Is it really a matter of poor time management, the inability to prioritize, or difficulty concentrating, as perceived? Why is procrastinating considered a personality flaw?

When feeling overloaded or overwhelmed by a task, fearing success or failure associated with the task, or just avoiding the things we dislike doing, it may be for good reason. Why then should we be made to feel guilty about procrastinating? Perhaps the procrastinator is really just a perfectionist or someone who simply doesn’t have the necessary information to perform the task. Perhaps the skills needed to perform the task are lacking, or there is simply little or no interest in the work at hand. There is no need to have negative feelings associated with taking the time to ponder, think, plan, and otherwise stall until we are able to function from a better vantage point. Why should we operate unprepared? Wouldn't it be better to perform when appropriately competent to handle the task?

Consider that not all of us are "early adopters." We may wait until we feel comfortable embracing a new system or process, a trait that has likely aided our survival throughout our human history. Waiting until the right moment to act can also be witnessed as beneficial throughout the animal kingdom. A lioness stalks her prey, staying out of sight, hidden in the grasses, and waiting for the right moment to pounce. Her procrastination is well calculated. She could charge in and try her luck or wait until the time is right. Our wise ancestors may have delayed eating unripe, potentially poisonous berries until they were safe to consume. Others might have ate in haste and perished. Perhaps those wise individuals also dawdled at the water's edge, sensing there was danger in its obscurity. Standing idly along the banks rather than jumping right in might have been perceived as an act of procrastination out of fear, but shouldn't good sense be headed? Modern humans are not so different. Procrastinating on a real estate purchase until the market appears to warrant the investment, might later prove to have been the instinctively wise decision. Taking a road trip might have been put off out of a sense of impending disaster. Later you learned there was a serious accident along the route you would have taken. Is our stalling based on ancient human instinct that inherent procrastinators share?

Procrastination may very well be a matter of how we perceive the task at hand. For someone who puts off doing a task, it may be that it is being perceived as insurmountable, or it is simply not the most opportune moment to act upon it. A workaholic may become paralyzed in the face of high personal standards. Regardless, procrastination can have potentially serious consequences such as missed opportunities, increased stress, and poor performance records. These may be born from the perceptions and presentations of those in a position to judge us, and so this negative side to procrastinating can result in self-depression, doubt, and frustration.

Unfortunately, the upside to procrastinating has gotten little recognition when, in fact, deliberate non-action can be a lifesaver. It gives us time to think before wrongfully jumping into something. We should take some time to reflect and listen to our instinctive inner voice that warns, "When in doubt, do nothing." We should find a quiet place where we can communicate with ourselves. Pondering enables creativity, healing, and refreshes the spirit. Taking time to deliberate may mean a delay, but it can result in becoming better prepared to accomplish the task at hand. Successful athletes take time to get psyched for competition. Likewise, those of us who respond with, “Let me get back to you on that,” are likely greatly more satisfied with the decisions we reach after having had the time to “sleep on it.” It is not a clear-cut matter of poor time management when we procrastinate. We are not wasting time, dawdling over our actions. There are a great many reasons for putting things off, and they just might all be good ones.

Aside from chronic cases, there are other advantages to procrastinating such as reducing stress. In a 1997 study, published in Psychological Science, D. M. Tice and R. F. Baumeister examined the relationship between procrastination and performance, stress, and health on college students. Their findings indicated that procrastinating students do not perceive a looming deadline, resulting in lower stress levels for these individuals. The procrastinators claimed that an imposed deadline makes them more motivated, but it was also revealed the procrastinating students earned lower scores than the non-procrastinators, perhaps due to underestimating the amount of time needed to perform tasks.

Beginning tasks late leaves less time to make corrections in performance. However, a limitation of the study noted that it is difficult to obtain accurate input from procrastinators as they demonstrated a lack of participation interest. Some research suggests that those who procrastinate are the less intelligent, whereas contradictory studies have illuminated that intelligence level does not correlate with procrastination behavior. It is obvious that much more research is needed on the matter of procrastination in humans.

Understanding its upside my help us to overcome the stigma associated with the delay in taking action until we are better prepared. The result of a well conceived action can mean a better outcome rather than doing something for the sake of getting it accomplished, or merely to avoid negative perceptions. Guilt-ridden workaholics who tend to jump right in and begin working without all of the facts might benefit from taking a little time to sort through the matter at hand, instead of acting impulsively to avoid a perceived analysis paralysis. There are likely more reasons and benefits to procrastinate than we have otherwise been aware. Perhaps procrastination is more a strategy than a tragedy. Without doubt, there is reason to believe that procrastination can be good for us.

Sharon L. Bender, Ph.D. publishes in a wide range of genres and topics. She is a life-long learner, having attended a workshop on the benefits of procrastination. For more information, visit http://www.sharonbender.com.

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