A few years ago I had a client who was lamenting the fact that she was a procrastinator. She always put things off until the last minute, and she wanted to change that. “For instance, in college,” she said, “I would constantly pull all-nighters just to get things done at the last minute.”
“And you hated that?” I asked. “Did you get bad grades?”
“No, those grades were great!” she said. “I got ‘A’s’ and ‘B’s, but everyone kept telling me, and still does, that procrastination is a terrible habit.”
“Were you frustrated by your procrastination?” I asked.
“Not really,” she replied. “It never bothered me to pull all-nighters.”
“So let me get this straight,” I said. “You didn’t mind the all-nighters at all, the extra time was spent doing things you loved, like socializing and doing other projects like volunteering, and you got great grades for your effort? It sounds to me like you got to have it all.”
“When you put it that way, it doesn’t sound like much of a problem, does it?” she replied.
It turns out, the only negative aspect of her procrastinating was the judgement she was holding onto in her mind. She got caught up in other people’s weaknesses and assessments of procrastination. But those other people judged procrastination by the results they got: low grades that accompanied their own attempts at all-nighters. This client simply didn’t have that problem.
The pull of external pressure and opinion is a strong force, especially if your methodology isn’t traditional. But remember, while feedback is valuable, judgment really isn’t. If you’re happy with your process and your results, ask yourself if it’s really worth the effort to make that big change–or if those judgements are all in your head.
