It can wait

Ann Johnson admits she is "terrible" when it comes to putting things off."But at least I know it," the Yorkville resident said. "So I just keep checking things, to make sure I get them done."According to recent studies, she not only is in good company, but that company is growing. A 10-year project by a Canadian industrial psychologist showed that procrastination in society is getting worse.

And Piers Steel, in his 30-page study published in the American Psychological Association's Psychological Bulletin, says it makes people poorer, fatter and unhappier.

In 1978, only about 5 percent of the American public thought of themselves as chronic procrastinators. Now it's 26 percent, Steel said. He blames the many distractions that can kill time - TVs in every room, online video, Web-surfing, cell phones, video games, iPods and Blackberries.

At work, e-mail, the Internet and games are just a click away, making procrastination effortless, Steel said.

"That stupid game Minesweeper - that probably has cost billions of dollars for the whole society," he said.

The U.S. gross national product would probably rise by $50 billion if the icon and sound that notified people of new e-mail suddenly disappear, he added. Delay in filing taxes on average costs a person $400 a year, Steel found.

"People who procrastinate tend to be less healthy, less wealthy and less happy," Steel said.

Psychologist William Knaus, who has written several self-help books on fighting procrastination, said he believes "the majority of mental disabilities people have - anxiety, panic - they can be defined as a special case of procrastination."

While Steel says technology has made procrastination worse - in large part because temptation is a big reason for procrastinating - others say it goes back many years. And others say it's simply human nature to procrastinate, something that has to do with the way people get things done.

"When I was in college, I knew people who put things off because they worked better under pressure," said Ward Schwartz of Aurora. "That's how they got things done. How do you know if someone is putting something off because that's just how they deal with things?"

Bill Reeson of Aurora admitted he puts off unpleasant things sometimes. "But not if it's important," he said.

"I put things off, but I'm not sure it's procrastinating," said Wendy Randall of Geneva. "I'm pretty organized."

Overall, more than a quarter of Americans say they procrastinate. Men are worse than women (about 54 percent of procrastinators are men), and the young are even more likely to procrastinate than men.

Although Steel campaigns against procrastination, he also admits he does it himself. His 10-year study was supposed to be finished in five years.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.