Procrastination gets such a bad press

An online search on the word produces pages such as “Tips to beat your procrastination” and “Break your procrastination habit”. The dictionary definitions of procrastination are similarly loaded with implied criticism of the procrastinator:

• “…unnecessarily delaying a task”.

• “putting off…, especially something requiring immediate attention”.

• “delaying something that must be done, often because it is unpleasant or boring.”

This battle with ourselves may be misplaced: by forcing productivity we can actually end up being less so. Agatha Christie reported that ideas for her crime stories often came while washing up or having a bath. ” “Invention,” she said “… arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness.”

Psychology studies claim that procrastination is irrational, against our best interests. This assumes that our conscious mind is better-qualified than our subconscious one to know what those best interests might be.

Mowing the lawn? Or let it run wild for the insects and birds?

That job application? Perhaps your subconscious knows it’s not right for you.

The tax return? Could your intuition be rebelling against a complex world in which such red tape is necessary?

One study found that chronic procrastinators are more likely to have headaches, insomnia, digestive issues and be more susceptible to colds and flu. Researchers thus concluded that procrastination is bad for us, a problem to be fixed. But there is an alternative explanation - that those symptoms are merely indicative of unhappiness generated by the obligations imposed by our lifestyle.

Perhaps our intuitive wisdom is prompting us to focus on the present, to live in the moment, rebelling against the today’s economic model with its constant pressure to be productive.

Perhaps procrastination is the unrecognised voice of wisdom.