Q: How to help a kid to overcome procrastination ("laziness" and "slowness") ?

Children often appear to live in a different time zone. This is because they live in the moment unlike parents who plan far ahead.Hence they often do not see the point of rushing.

The way to bridge the gap is to: 

1. Help them understand the consequences of their actions. We worry on their behalf frequently as we take on the responsibility of something not turning out well on ourselves. Instead we should allow our children to experience the consequence for themselves. Often they will be more motivated or take a different attitude toward the same issue.Eg. If he takes a long time preparing for school, you can Allow him to be late for once and experience the discomfort of answering to his teacher on why he is late.

2. Find a solution together with your child. Helping them understand the consequence is one piece of the picture. Sometimes, your child just needs a longer time to complete a task. In that case you may wish to find a solution that is acceptable to both of you. Eg. Wake up a little earlier, or do something a little differently in order to meet the timeline. As your participates in the problem solving process, they are more inclined to stick to it.

In some cases you might even find that the consequences of procrastinating is insignificant. In fact it's the adult who needs to relax a little more.