Procrastinate Later
By Charles Q. Choi
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Ignoring the adage “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today” is all too easy. Gal Zauberman of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and John G. Lynch, Jr., of Duke University may have found out why: people idealize the future, expecting they will be less busy then. In surveys of 900 volunteers, they found that respondents could not gauge their future supply and demand of time as well as they could of money. If they lack knowledge of upcoming specific tasks, people act as if new demands will not inevitably arise that are as pressing as those that currently exist. When tomorrow changes into today, people discover they are too busy to do everything they promised. The findings were finished in time for the February Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
It’s Time to Stand Up for Science
If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.
I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.
If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.
In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.
There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.
