Academics may be relevant as a similar “thinking community”. I’ve heard many academics say they are severe procrastinators. Possible reasons for this are:
1) Procrastinators are attracted to the job, its independence and long-term deadlines
2) The nature of the work makes people procrastinate; research is hard, plus no boss and long-term deadlines mean immediate punishment for procrastination is rare
3) The job makes people feel they have akrasia even when they don’t, perhaps because colleagues and competitors seem smarter and harder-working than in other fields
I procrastinated when in academia, but did not feel particularly attracted to the job, so option 1 is not always true. Comparison with people not in academia makes it seem that option 3 is not true for me either.
Academics may be relevant as a similar “thinking community”. I’ve heard many academics say they are severe procrastinators. Possible reasons for this are: 1) Procrastinators are attracted to the job, its independence and long-term deadlines 2) The nature of the work makes people procrastinate; research is hard, plus no boss and long-term deadlines mean immediate punishment for procrastination is rare 3) The job makes people feel they have akrasia even when they don’t, perhaps because colleagues and competitors seem smarter and harder-working than in other fields
If nothing else, reading LW makes me feel 3)
2 seems like most of the explanation. You can’t procrastinate on an assembly line.
I procrastinated when in academia, but did not feel particularly attracted to the job, so option 1 is not always true. Comparison with people not in academia makes it seem that option 3 is not true for me either.