Waiting Till the Last Minute: 20% of Americans Are Chronic Procrastinators

If you find yourself constantly putting tasks on the backburner, you are not alone.

According to Joseph R. Ferrari, a psychology professor at DePaul University in Chicago, seven out of 10 of you, a.k.a. ‘academic procrastinators,’ put off doing your schoolwork or doing it at all. Twenty percent of students, referred to as ‘chronic procrastinators,’ are those who always – always – wait…and wait…and wait. Sound like anybody you know?

Such were the results of Ferrari’s study, which also revealed that the higher the selectivity of schools, the higher the rates of procrastination. At better schools, where the work is tougher, students find the assignments daunting or belittling, if they fail to measure up. As expected, stress is a huge factor in avoiding important assignments. No shocker there.

Ferrari breaks down procrastinators further: ‘arousal procrastinators’ work best under pressure, getting off somehow on surviving last-minute deadlines. ‘Avoidant procrastinators,’ on the other hand, are self-doubters who think their success will only raise others’ expectations of them.

Sounds like a good excuse as any.

In the end, heavy procrastinators, for the most part, simply need to focus on the task at hand and not stray until it’s finished – no matter how long it takes. (Unless it’s really hard. And isn’t fun. And takes too long to accomplish. And if you’re bored. And tired. And if it gets in the way of American Gladiators.)