If you’ve found yourself putting off important tasks over and over again, it’s
time you consult a psychologist. Going by a new study, you may be suffering from
a condition that can require therapy. A team of international
researchers has found that procrastinators are impatient people. In fact, they
have traced a clear link between the two opposite traits which are "actually
different aspects of the same condition".

"Procrastination seriously
affects our productivity at work and can cost people considerable amounts of
money as they postpone work indefinitely. People don’t want to procrastinate -
it is just that their impatience gets in the way.

"A procrastinator might work
better with weekly deadlines which force him to keep up to speed, as opposed to
a big deadline far in the future," researcher Ernesto Reuben of the Kellogg
School of Management told.

The
researchers came to the conclusion after designing an experiment in which MBA
students have won prize money of up to 200 pounds, and have a choice of
receiving payment by cheque either immediately or in two weeks.

They found that the students
who were impatient and wanted to receive the prize money immediately were also
more likely to procrastinate and delay encashing the cheque, even controlling
for the amount of prize money.

To test their results, the
team also asked the students to complete two surveys, one mandatory as part of
their course and one voluntary, both with specific deadlines. They found those
who wanted their cheques immediately were more likely to leave the surveys until
just before deadlines.

The
researchers also found an even stronger link between impatience and
procrastination in "naive" students that is, those who claimed that they do not
procrastinate.

Via Times of India