There is a delightful little study summarized in BPS Research that shows students who forgive themselves for procrastination in their preparation for past tests feel better about themselves, procrastinate less in the future, and perform better on future tests compared to students who do not forgive themselves. I like this finding because it suggests that beating yourself up for past screwing around and procrastinating is destructive — it is better to forgive yourself and get on with life. In general, there is a lot of research on the virtues of forgiving yourself and others.
The citation is: Wohl,
M., Pychyl, T., & Bennett, S. (2010). I forgive myself, now I can
study: How self-forgiveness for procrastinating can reduce future
procrastination. Personality and
Individual Differences, 48 (7), 803-808