Procrastinator’s anguish: he knows that the job has to get done, that putting it off just makes it harder and the worry worse. And yet...
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His research contradicts one major theory, which is that procrastinators suffer from anxiety and so have a harder time facing a difficult task.
Steel looked at the literature and found that statistically there's very little correlation between anxiety and a tendency to procrastinate.
The same with the flattering idea that procrastinators are also perfectionists, people who care so much about doing it right that they can't bear to get started. Again, Steel found no correlation.
What he did find is that procrastinators are less confident that they can handle a given task. They're also more impulsive and less conscientious overall.
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Whether you believe you can or you believe you can't, you're right," Steel says."Some of these old wives' tales bear out. People who believe they can are less likely to procrastinate."