Author: Procrastinators should turn bad habits into good ones

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Jason Caine admits he needs help, and it can’t be put off until tomorrow.

“I can’t sit down and do the work until the last minute,” said Caine, 28. “There’s always something else that’s urgent. If you procrastinate and get the job done, all it does is cause you to procrastinate again. If there’s not a punitive response, I’m not going to stop.”

So far, the Mercer University graduate student has gotten away with it. He turns in his classwork and pays his bills, but only at the last possible moment.

“If it weren’t for the last minute, I wouldn’t get anything done,” said Caine of Atlanta.

John Perry, a professor emeritus from Stanford University, thinks people like Caine are too hard on themselves.

“I don’t proclaim procrastination is a good thing, but maybe it’s not as bad as people think,” said Perry, who will discuss and sign copies of his book, “The Art of Procrastination: A Guide to Effective Dawdling, Lollygagging and Postponing” ($12.95; Workman), at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival. “It’s not as bad as being a serial killer or a politician.”

Instead, Perry advocates “structured procrastination,” which he claims will turn procrastinators into effective people. The key, he says, is to turn a bad habit into a good one. After all, most procrastinators aren’t twiddling their thumbs, they’re just not doing the task that is considered the most important.

You may not be doing what you’re supposed to do, but as long as it’s worthwhile “it all adds up,” Perry said. “And if you feel too guilty, you need to go see a shrink.”

But procrastination has repercussions, said Monica Ricci, an Atlanta-based expert in organizing and productivity.

She estimates between 10 percent and 15 percent of the U.S. population has a serious procrastination problem.

“We all do it to some degree, but when it becomes a problem it can really impact your life in a lot of negative ways,” Ricci said.

She said people procrastinate when they feel overwhelmed, don’t have a good grasp of time, lack confidence in their ability or don’t have the resources, information or skill to finish a project. Often, the underlying cause is fear. Waiting until the last minute to pay bills, for instance, could signal a fear of not having enough money.

Perry suggests listing tasks in descending order of importance. He also advises setting a time limit or specific time of day for each task and for things like checking email.

Steven Freeman, who works as a server in a restaurant and in real estate with his dad, thinks he would be better off financially if he stuck to the game plan.

“Procrastination has gotten the best of me,” said Freeman, who put his to-do list on a board in his bedroom.

He also bought several books about procrastination but, alas, never finished them.

Perhaps he will in the future.

The rest of us might want to give him a break. After all, this is the city where Scarlett O’Hara, one of its most famous residents, fictional though she may be, said: “Tomorrow is another day.”