After ten years of focused research, Dr. Piers Steele published a comprehensive study of procrastination: “The Nature of Procrastination: A Meta-Analytic and Theoretical Review of Quintessential Self-Regulatory Failure.” pdf here.

Steele asserts a formula, “Temporal Motivational Theory”:

Utility = E x V/ÃD

     E = The expectancy a person has of succeeding with the given task
     V = The value of completing the given task
     Ã = The immediacy or availability of the given task
     D = The person's sensitivity to Delay
     Utility = The desirability of the task

From the abstract:

Procrastination is a prevalent and pernicious form of self-regulatory failure that is not entirely understood. Hence, the relevant conceptual, theoretical, and empirical work is reviewed, drawing upon correlational, experimental, and qualitative findings. A meta-analysis of procrastination’s possible causes and effects, based on 691 correlations, reveals that neuroticism, rebelliousness, and sensation seeking show only a weak connection. Strong and consistent predictors of procrastination were task aversiveness, task delay, self-efficacy, and impulsiveness, as well as conscientiousness and its facets of self-control, distractibility, organization, and achievement motivation. These effects prove consistent with temporal motivation theory, an integrative hybrid of expectancy theory and hyperbolic discounting. Continued research into procrastination should not be delayed, especially because its prevalence appears to be growing.

Measure your procrastination according to this formula here, at procrastinus.

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