Not really if you want to be "successful". Discipline to do what's required is the #1 differentiator between successful people and unsuccessful people. OK, I'm wrong . . . if you're lazy and procrastinate then someone else will probably do what needs to be done. That's how it works with my husband, anyhow. I got him a coffee mug that says "When a man says he'll do something there's no need to remind him every 6 months." Indeed.

I've personally experienced many benefits from procrastination. (Laziness is a bit different, of course.) In my earlier career, I found myself procrastinating quite often. To me, it was a sign I was avoiding something I didn't like, which was mostly true. Other times, I just felt tired and unmotivated to get stuff done. There were no positives at that time.

Fast forward ten years. I have my own company, and I can take breaks as often as I want. I'm still accountable to my clients who always want their projects done yesterday, but I definitely have more control over my time and how I spend it. I'm now able to spend time googling whatever pops into my mind, watching cat videos, or pinning interesting quotes on Pinterest. Wasteful? Perhaps. But for me, it spurs creativity. I stumble onto dozens of interesting articles I otherwise would have missed. I share these articles on my social sites and people respond on a daily basis, sometimes with a thank-you message; other times with actual business projects. My "downtime" lets my brain wander and gives me balance as opposed to my old life in cubicle land attending dozens of conference calls each week.

Procrastination is a red flag for avoidance. My goal now is to assess WHY I'm avoiding something, and I give myself a treat a take a break when I feel that way. I almost always find inspiration to get the job done when I let myself off the hook and relieve the pressure. I then work twice as fast because I'm not burned out.

The idea is to find the "why" behind the procrastination and laziness. What's the root cause? There's typically some other underlying issue that remains unresolved.

There are many distractions in my home office. Those projects that pay the bills but aren't especially challenging need to be done but I'll just check the cricket scores one more time (rain stopped play). If some type of 'edge' can be gained by procrastination and a tight deadline means the delivery of top quality work, so be it.

We all have our own ways of working. Just don't miss those deadlines.