Equation Helps Procrastinators Overcome Their Stall Tactics

You know, when you get around to it
By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 8, 2008 7:00 AM CST
Equation Helps Procrastinators Overcome Their Stall Tactics
Students walk at the University of Illinois at Chicago. New research says procrastination is a growing problem, especially for students who have more distractions than previous generations.   (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

The legions of those of us who "will do it later" are growing, reports the Sunday Times, but now there's a formula to figure out what chance you have of beating back your delay tactics. A Calgary University business professor claims in a new book, The Procrastination Equation, that up to 20% of the population are procrastinators—thanks in no small part to a widening variety of digital distractions. Oooh, time to check email.

Procrastinators are often thought to be perfectionists who are never satisfied with their work, or simply lazy, but the author, taking time out from online gaming, suggests that chronic procrastinators are excessively impulsive and erratic. Oh, and those college workshops that try to treat student procrastinators? Just another way to put off that midterm paper.
(More procrastination stories.)

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