What putting things off may be telling you
When delay creates thinking space, when it becomes avoidance, and how founders can move forward with curiosity and accountability.
By Andy Hosgood | Unlock with Coaching
You know the task matters. Yet somehow, it keeps moving to tomorrow.
The pricing email. The conversation with a team member. The proposal you keep polishing. The financial figures you would rather not open.
Meanwhile, you stay busy. You answer messages, tidy the diary and do work that feels easier to finish.
Procrastination in business can look like a very productive day. Until you notice that the decision which matters most remains untouched.
Before calling yourself lazy, it is worth asking what is happening. Research points to uncomfortable emotions, the nature of the task and the conditions around the work. There is also evidence that moderate delay can help creativity in certain circumstances.
However, those possible benefits do not make repeated, costly avoidance harmless.
The useful question is: what is this delay doing for you now, and what might it cost you later?
What is procrastination in business
Psychologists commonly describe procrastination as putting off an intended action even though you expect the delay to leave you worse off. [1]
That makes it different from choosing a sensible time to act.
Waiting for reliable figures before approving a purchase may be good judgement. Taking a planned break after drafting a new offer may create thinking space. Postponing a nonessential project because your team is at capacity may be responsible leadership.
By contrast, repeatedly avoiding an overdue invoice because the conversation feels awkward is more likely to be procrastination.
The distinction is about purpose and consequences.
Research comparing active delay with procrastination found different patterns of motivation and self-regulation. However, this study involved undergraduates, so it should not be treated as proof about founders. [2]
For your own situation, ask: have I chosen when and why to return to this, or am I hoping it will become easier by itself?
Why we put things off
A useful psychological explanation is that procrastination can help us escape an unpleasant feeling in the short term.
Sirois and Pychyl describe how immediate mood repair can take priority over longer-term goals. The person who feels relief now leaves the consequences for their future self. This is a research-based account of the pattern, rather than a diagnosis of every delay. [3]
A founder may avoid reviewing cash flow because it brings uncertainty. A leader may delay feedback because they fear damaging the relationship. A business owner may keep refining a proposal because sending it creates the possibility of rejection.
These are practical examples of how that explanation might show up in business.
The task does not disappear. You simply feel better for a moment because you are no longer facing it.
That relief helps explain why knowing what to do does not always lead to doing it.
Still, emotion is only part of the picture. Some tasks lack a clear starting point. Some need expertise you do not yet have. Others sit inside a working week with no realistic space left.
It is possible to need both a more honest conversation with yourself and a better plan for the work.
Are there benefits of procrastination
A complete view needs to acknowledge the possible upsides. It also needs to be honest about their limits.
Moderate delay can help some creative work
Shin and Grant investigated procrastination and creativity through two experiments and a workplace study.
In the experiments, moderate procrastination produced more creative business proposals than low or high procrastination. In the workplace study, the pattern depended on conditions such as intrinsic motivation or a requirement to be creative. [4]
This is a specific finding about creativity. It does not establish that procrastination improves overall business performance.
For a founder developing a new service, the practical implication is to allow some space after first engaging with the problem. Write an initial outline, step away and return at an agreed time.
That is an application of the research, not a tested coaching formula.
There is no equivalent reason here to postpone payroll, a safeguarding concern or an urgent customer problem.
It can provide immediate relief
In two longitudinal student studies, Tice and Baumeister found that procrastinators reported less stress and illness early in the term. Later, they reported more stress and illness, and received lower grades. [5]
So the short-term benefit can feel real. However, the later costs matter.
In business, avoiding a difficult email might give you a calmer afternoon. It may also leave you with less time to respond when the issue becomes urgent.
Feeling relieved is not the same as having resolved the problem.
Noticing delay can create useful information
Your pattern of avoidance may prompt a helpful conversation about fear, workload or whether a goal still matters.
That is a coaching interpretation, rather than evidence that procrastination itself is beneficial.
For example, repeatedly postponing a growth project could invite you to ask whether you still want that kind of growth. It might also reveal an unclear brief or a missing resource.
The benefit comes from examining the pattern and responding to it. Continuing to avoid the work adds no automatic insight.
What are the disadvantages of procrastination
Short-term relief can become longer-term stress
The unfinished task still needs attention. Yet the time available to complete it gets shorter.
A 2023 study followed 3,525 Swedish university students. Higher procrastination was associated with worse mental health symptoms and some other health outcomes nine months later. The associations were generally small, and the observational design does not establish causation. [6]
These were students, not founders. We should not turn their results into a claim that procrastination causes a particular illness in business owners.
The findings do, however, give us a reason to take persistent patterns seriously.
Delay can move pressure onto other people
Consider a founder who postpones approving a proposal until the evening before delivery. The team now has less time to plan and check the work.
Or a leader who avoids addressing a repeated performance concern. Colleagues may carry the additional work while the issue stays unresolved.
These are business examples, rather than measured effect sizes from the studies above.
They show why it helps to ask who else is waiting, and what the delay means for them.
It can reduce your room to choose
An early start gives you time to ask questions, seek feedback or revise a decision.
A late start may narrow those options. You might finish the work, but have less space to improve it.
If you believe you work best under pressure, examine the full outcome. Did the deadline help you focus? Did the work also cost an evening, disturb sleep or create a last-minute burden for someone else?
Completing the task tells you something. Comparing quality, wellbeing and the impact on others tells you more.
What procrastination may be telling you as a founder
The following questions are prompts for reflection. They are not a diagnostic test.
| What you notice | A question worth exploring | A possible next move |
|---|---|---|
| One difficult conversation keeps slipping | What response am I afraid of? | Prepare the opening and arrange a time |
| You keep researching without deciding | What information would actually change the decision? | Set an information limit and review date |
| The task feels too large to begin | What would the first visible step be? | Define a short piece of work |
| Almost every important task is delayed | Is the workload realistic? | Review priorities, resources and ownership |
| You feel little connection to the goal | Do I still choose this goal? | Reassess its purpose before adding pressure |
Workplace research also examines the role of job demands, resources and task-related emotions in procrastination. A paper published online in 2024, and in the 2025 journal volume, considers these relationships through two studies. [7]
This broader perspective matters. It invites us to examine the working conditions as well as the person.
If every decision depends on you, another productivity habit may leave the underlying problem untouched.
How to manage procrastination in business
Start by naming what you are avoiding
Choose one task. Describe it plainly.
Then ask what comes up when you think about starting: boredom, uncertainty, fear of conflict or concern about being judged?
You do not have to remove the feeling before acting. But naming it can help you choose a more useful response.
For example, an avoided pricing email may need a clear explanation and a conversation about rejection. An unclear financial task may need support from your accountant.
Make the first step visible
“Sort out the marketing” is difficult to begin.
“Open the enquiry figures and identify the three main lead sources” gives you something concrete to do.
Choose a first step small enough to start within the time you actually have. Five or ten minutes can be a useful experiment, rather than a magic number.
The aim is to make contact with the work and learn what is blocking progress.
Decide when and where you will begin
Research on implementation intentions supports using specific if–then plans to help turn goals into action. This is broader goal-achievement evidence, not a guarantee for founder procrastination. [8]
For example: “After Tuesday’s team meeting, I will spend ten minutes drafting the opening of the client email.”
Make the plan feasible. A precise commitment still needs enough time, information and energy behind it.
Use a kinder form of accountability
Sirois found that procrastination was associated with lower self-compassion and higher stress across four samples, including community adults. The findings suggest a role for self-compassion, but they do not prove that kindness alone stops procrastination. [9]
Try replacing a personal verdict with an accurate observation:
“I have delayed this for two weeks. I am worried about the response. The next step is to draft the message and ask someone to review it.”
That acknowledges the emotion and keeps responsibility visible.
You can be understanding about why the delay happened while being clear about what needs to change.
Turn a useful pause into a deliberate plan
If the task needs creative thinking, begin by engaging with it. Then set a time to return.
If you need information, name the missing information and who will provide it.
If you need recovery, make space for recovery and reconsider what you can realistically commit to.
A useful pause has a purpose. Repeatedly moving the task without a return plan deserves a closer look.
Review the system around the task
Look at competing priorities, interruptions, unclear roles and decisions that wait unnecessarily for you.
As a leader, try asking a colleague: “What is making this difficult to start?”
Listen before deciding whether the issue is commitment, capability or workload. Then agree the support, expectation and next check-in.
This is a practical leadership approach. It should not be presented as a clinically validated procrastination treatment.
When it helps to get support
If you keep returning to the same stuck point, you do not have to work it out alone.
A coach can help you explore the decision, your response to it and the structure around the work. A trusted peer may offer perspective. A specialist adviser may resolve a knowledge gap.
Research on psychological treatments found a small overall benefit for procrastination, although results varied and study quality was a concern. Some CBT analyses were promising, but the review does not justify calling one approach a universal solution. [10]
If persistent avoidance is causing significant distress or affecting daily functioning, a conversation with a qualified mental health professional may be appropriate.
The type of support should fit the difficulty you are experiencing.
At Unlock with Coaching, we can explore what you are putting off, why it feels difficult and what a realistic next step could look like.
You do not need another reason to criticise yourself. You need enough understanding to make a useful choice.
What is one thing you are putting off, and what would help you approach it this week?
Explore support through Unlock with Coaching.
Questions founders often ask
Is procrastination always bad
Not all delay is procrastination. Deliberate waiting can serve a clear purpose. Research also identifies a possible creativity benefit from moderate procrastination under specific conditions. Repeated delay that you expect to cause harm deserves attention.
Is procrastination just laziness
That label tells you little about the cause. Research examines task-related emotions and self-regulation, while workplace studies also consider demands and resources. Look at the task, your response and the working conditions.
What is the first step to overcoming procrastination
Choose one avoided task, identify what makes starting difficult and define a feasible first action. Then agree when you will begin and what support you need.
Additional Reading
Founder self-worth and business performance: https://www.unlockwithcoaching.com/founder-self-worth-business-performance/
Learning from failure in business: https://www.unlockwithcoaching.com/learning-from-failure-in-business/
Leadership pipeline for founders: https://www.unlockwithcoaching.com/leadership-pipeline-for-founders/
References and further reading
[1] Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 65–94. Paper record. The definition is also discussed in references 6 and 10.
[2] Corkin, D. M., Yu, S. L., and Lindt, S. F. (2011). Comparing active delay and procrastination from a self-regulated learning perspective. Learning and Individual Differences, 21(5), 602–606. Journal article.
[3] Sirois, F., and Pychyl, T. (2013). Procrastination and the priority of short-term mood regulation: Consequences for future self. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(2), 115–127. Author manuscript record.
[4] Shin, J., and Grant, A. M. (2021). When putting work off pays off: The curvilinear relationship between procrastination and creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 64(3), 772–798. Published paper.
[5] Tice, D. M., and Baumeister, R. F. (1997). Longitudinal study of procrastination, performance, stress, and health: The costs and benefits of dawdling. Psychological Science, 8(6), 454–458. Journal article.
[6] Johansson, F., et al. (2023). Associations between procrastination and subsequent health outcomes among university students in Sweden. JAMA Network Open, 6(1), e2249346. Open-access article.
[7] Wang, Y., Zhang, H., and Wang, Z. (2025; first published online 2024). My job characteristics make me procrastinate or not: An emotional perspective. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 98(1), e12551. Journal article.
[8] Gollwitzer, P. M., and Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119. University publication record.
[9] Sirois, F. M. (2014). Procrastination and stress: Exploring the role of self-compassion. Self and Identity, 13(2), 128–145. Author manuscript record.
[10] Rozental, A., et al. (2018). Targeting procrastination using psychological treatments: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1588. Open-access article.
