Famous procrastinators include writers Marcel Proust and Douglas Adams, who famously said he loved the "whoosh" of missed deadlines passing over his head.
The equation is U=EV/ID. [Explanation below].
Chronic procastinators, who make up 20 per cent of the population, are more impulsive and erratic than other people and less conscientious about attention to detail and obligations to others, he says in his forthcoming book, The Procrastination Equation: Today's Trouble with Tomorrow.
The 'U' stands for utility, or the desire to complete a given task. It is equal to the product of E, the expectation of success, and V the value of completion, divided by the product of I, the immediacy of the task, and D, the personal sensitivity to delay.
Prof Steel says procrastination is becoming a bigger issue because many more jobs are "self-structured", with people setting their own schedules.
"Procastinators tend to live fro today rather than tomorrow. for short term gain for long term pain" he writes.
Until now, psychologists have generally linked procrastination to perfectionists who avoid tasks rather than produce less than perfect products.
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clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk
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