I'll do it tomorrow

Painting your nails on deadline? Procrastination often gets written off as laziness, or poor time management. But experts say it's more complex than that.

- LIESL ROBERTSON

Write what you know, they say. Well, this is a topic I am well versed in. As my browser history, the perfectly organised cupboards in my kitchen, the three loads of washing I did today and the 17 cups of tea next to my desk will attest: I’m a procrastinator. Always have been. I’ve been putting off writing this article for weeks. And sure, you could write it off to laziness, self-sabotage or a deeply flawed time management system, (those are all probably in the mix), but experts say there’s more to it.

‘It’s like going into a very cold lake when you’ve decided you’re going to go swimming in it. You put your foot in, you take it out. You put it in again… It’s still too cold. You think, “Am I going to do this or not? Am I really going to do this?” No, yes, no, yes. That goes on for a while. If you’re going to do it, you run in screaming.’

This is how Margaret Atwood describes procrastination. The acclaimed author of The Handmaid’s Tale has sold many millions of books – but what you might not know about her is that she is also a self-proclaimed ‘world expert’ on procrastination.

‘I’ve racked up years and years of it. If you’re going to do something, might as well be good at it, right? I’d hate to be a failed procrastinator.’

In a TED/WorkLife podcast episode on the subject, she tells organisational psychologist Adam Grant about the time she watched Captain Underpants during a flight rather than working on her novel, as she had planned. ‘I think it’s always more fun to watch movies on planes than to work,’ she joked.