The Science of Procrastination

This book was supposed to be written several years ago. The idea was excellent, the research was available, and the author had every intention of beginning immediately. Unfortunately, the desk needed organizing. Then coffee had to be made. Then the coffee maker required cleaning, which led to the discovery of a drawer containing batteries, expired coupons, three unidentified keys, and an instruction manual for an appliance nobody remembered owning. By the time order had been restored, it was clearly too late in the day to begin an important project properly.Procrastination is often mistaken for laziness, but the two are not the same. Laziness is the desire to avoid effort. Procrastination is the astonishing ability to expend enormous effort avoiding one particular task. A procrastinator may wash the car, alphabetize the spices, reorganize a garage, investigate the history of shoelaces, and personally remove dust from the individual leaves of a houseplant-all because an email requiring three sentences remains unanswered.