How does Procrastination affect culture?

How does Procrastination affect Workplace Culture?

First of all thank you for reading my first ever blog! This is something I have wanted to do for many years, but never got around too. Not for lack of topics, because there is so much to write about; not for lack of something to say, because I am known to be quite opinionated; rather more so because of a habit of procrastination.

Procrastination is the action of delaying or postponing something. It is common, affecting 20% of adults worldwide, which can lead to issues such as poor performance, missed opportunities, and increased stress. Procrastination was commonly associated with being “lazy” or having poor time-management skills. Chronic procrastinate negatively affects peoples daily lives that may result in feelings of shame or guilt.

I watched a TikTok video recently, unfortunately at the time I didn’t think I would ever refer back to it, so I cannot link it here for you all to see. What I took away from it was how procrastination is a problem of emotion regulation, not time management. What this means is that poor time management is a symptom of the emotional problem. Procrastination itself is not the problem. Those most affected by procrastination tend to have ADHD and or other mental health issues. There are tons of studies and videos discussing this very point.

Let us instead look at how procrastination negatively affects the culture of a workplace. Since I am in the business of SEO and Digital Marketing, I Googled How does procrastination affect workplace culture, and clicked on the first definition in my search. The below points are directly from the article.

“Workplace procrastination is associated with the following negative effects for the employee:

low job performance, which may impact salary and reward
lower tenure in each position
reduced workplace opportunities for development or progression
increased mental health issues due to stress and emotional exhaustion
difficulty in finding alternative employment.

Workplace procrastination is associated with the following negative effects for the organisation:

reduced productivity, output and sales
lower employee performance
slow employee development and agility to learn
missed deadlines
low quality work or an increase in errors
increase in low morale and a lack of collaboration.”

Working onsite, I have had co-workers say “that is not my department”, “it’s below my pay grade”, or watched other employees get away with missing multiple work days or simply not take part in or complete tasks. This brings up a whole lot of negative feelings in me, because I was raised with a strong work ethic from my immigrant parents who struggled as small business owners. No job is beneath me and showing initiative leads to better opportunities. Attitudes have a substantial effect on workplace culture and moral. Such attitudes are not necessarily forms of procrastination, but they can stem from underlying deeper issues.

At the risk of “calling the kettle black”, I will whole heartedly admit that I have procrastinated at work. I have worked from home for over eight years and definitely have found myself in front of the TV more than in front of the computer. Sometimes doing the laundry is more enticing than uploading receipts into my accounting program. I have avoided tasks for much longer than I’d care to admit. I have come up with a plethora of excuses to justify my procrastination. Keep in mind, my procrastination was never meant to cause harm or ill intent toward the job or my superiors.

Procrastination really does stem from something deeper… Remember my takeaway “poor time management is a symptom of the emotional problem“. What I would say from one business owner to another get to the underlying issues that cause poor preformation in your employees. Sometimes it could just be a bad day or week, sometimes there are underlying mental health issues. Dealing with invisible problems can be very difficult to manage and accept.

Post Covid, we as business owners need to find a way to balance being sensitive to our employees personal problems and maintaining a productive workplace culture.

If you enjoyed this read, please come back for more related blogs on culture, community, marketing and other issues affecting our Pacific Market.