Why Procrastination Can Sometimes Lead to Better Outcomes

I have procrastinated for much of my life.  For the most part, I didn’t see it as a major problem because I performed fairly well under pressure and inevitably completed what was necessary by the appropriate deadline.  When working against an impending deadline my adrenaline surged, and I had access to various types of cognitive and affective resources I didn’t otherwise know I had.  All through schooling and the university, I would stay up all night to study before an exam or complete a paper because I didn’t do so earlier.  Even as a pastor, it was quite common for me to finish up my sermons late Saturday night, or early Sunday morning.  I don’t say that with pride; I just want to be authentic and real.

I know there are many of you reading this who are bothered by the preceding paragraph, because you know that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, keep reading.

I wrote, “I performed fairly well under pressure”.  By this I mean I did well enough to get the necessary grades and achieve the expected outcomes.  However, I know I was not making my best contribution in some of these situations.  I have learned that I continue to work best with a clear deadline as my adrenal glands “spur me on toward good works”.  After a lifetime of studying people, performance, and optimal impact, I am convinced that there is a lot of variability between individuals in how each works optimally. 

It seems like I get the insight, resources, works, or outlines as needed and often not before.  I understand this may be confirmation bias, in other words, I am interpreting my present reality to justify my procrastination because it “all has worked out”.  But I don’t think so.  There have been too many times, just like one recently where I was lost on what to do as I tried to prepare in advance. However, shortly before the deadline, at just the right time, there was clarity, direction, and insight into the situation.  And the direction in this case was very different from what I would have earlier chosen.  I am hesitant to say this is from God, but at times the insight was surely not something I would have otherwise come up with on my own. 

It has happened several times within the last few weeks.  I met with a co-author of a book that we are writing together on how leaders can lead outside their gifted manner.  We have worked on the outline for over a year, and I had assignments that I simply didn’t complete before our planned meeting.  I struggled with the motivation, clarity, or insight with which to write.  Yet, shortly before our meeting, I sensed we needed to spend more time on the emotional impediments that keep each of us from adapting our style of leadership to the present need.  In our meeting, I first confessed my failure to complete my assignment, and then in our discussion, we both sensed a different direction than our previously agreed-upon plan.  Rather than a prescriptive approach, we are going to deal with the emotional needs that keep leaders from leading when they otherwise have the capacity to do so.

This has happened so often in my life; it is a pattern.  I procrastinate because I don’t know what or how to do something.  Yet, when it is needed, something comes out of the blue, so to speak. I give God the credit for this. I have talked with leaders who are not believers who experience the same phenomena.  They surely don’t ascribe it to God.  I understand, however, I think in eternity we will all find out that a lot of things we thought were our ideas, were actually nudges from the Spirit of God in words too deep to explain. 

I am much better at planning my work and scheduling my TTD than I used to be.  However, I still find at times my procrastination leads to better projects. Rather than being anxious, I need to simply allow God to work in his way. 

In addition to my lack of discipline, let me suggest there are at least three other reasons for my procrastination.  Don’t hear these as excuses, just observations for why I get into such predicaments.  First, I am a creative thinker, and creative thoughts or solutions don’t always come on a schedule.  They often come during the middle of the night or when I am totally engrossed in something entirely unrelated to this solution.  For this reason, I literally write almost every morning when I first awake to capture my thoughts or images through the night.

Second, I don’t allow enough margin in my life because I assume everything will take place exactly as planned.  But we all know, there are accidents, storms, mechanical failures, nothing is easy to install, and people simply don’t act like we anticipate.  This is the reason, we should all plan margin into our lives so that when things go awry, we have enough space in our calendar to still work on our other projects. I don’t do this enough because I believe everything will happen as scheduled.

Third, I simply try to do too much in too little time.  I believe I can get more things done than I can. So I end up having a long list of uncompleted tasks.  The good news is I get a lot accomplished, but the bad news is I end up left with a lot of uncompleted projects. 

The bottom line for me is there is a serendipitous way in which my procrastination can end up working for the good. I am thankful for the way God intervenes to work through my idiosyncrasies.  I never take this for granted,

I am sure I will have a TTD list when I die. Before then, I will try to manage my expectations, say “no” more often, allow more margins, and be thankful to God when things work out well despite my procrastination.