We all procrastinate. And if you don’t, please let me know how you achieve this; I would love to feature your story here. 🙂

Often, we perceive procrastination as a negative trait. It can give the impression that we lack control or are being lazy. It can also add to our perception of stress, as it adds pressure to our drive to be productive.

Turn procrastinating into something positive

What if I told you procrastination can be a positive thing? Yes! Adam Grant, professor at the Wharton School cited an experiment in a NYT article, in which participants had to come up with new business ideas.

Turns out the procrastinators’ ideas received more favourable reviews. In fact, people perceived those ideas as more creative. Procrastinating helped the participants rethink their initial ideas. They had time to think of alternatives and in the end came up with better solutions.

So if you’re someone who finishes things right away or ahead of time, why not force yourself to some extra time? Let the ideas settle and see what else comes up in your mind.

You might be in for a surprise. See it as a way of stress management.

Coaching can give you that extra kick if needed

There are surely moments when you don’t want to procrastinate any longer. When you have to make decisions that influence your future, be it about your job or your family. In those moments procrastination can be quite a stress.

As a coach I guide my clients to better understand the triggers for their behaviours. Procrastination doesn’t mean you’re lazy or lacking the time, more often it has to do with not wanting a specific outcome – and that fear or thought keeps us from taking any action at all.

When I coach clients on this topic they usually have this “aha-moment” where they realise what has been stopping them. And at that very moment it also becomes clear what they need to do to finally move forward.

It’s as simple as that. Often it does not even need to be a long time commitment. It depends on your willingness to give in to the process, do the mental work and voilà, you will be presented with the answer you were looking for.

Ready to get over you procrastinating? Let’s have a talk and see how I could best support you.

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