"That's very high," says Ferrari about the number of people dealing with chronic procrastination, "higher than clinical depression. Telling them to just do it is like telling someone who's depressed to just cheer up."

There are also different types of procrastinators. Ferrari divides the species into two distinct groups: the arousal procrastinators (who seek a thrill from working under pressure) and the avoidant procrastinators (who are so filled with the fear of failure, they can't complete a project).
There are some handy time-management techniques for mild procrastinators, he says, but hard cases - you know who you are - need to understand that the only way to master procrastination is through therapy. No matter what they tell themselves.

"They're very good at making excuses," Ferrari says. "There's always a reason for these people."

He does disagree with Steel on a number of points, though. He argues there's no data showing that the procrastination problem is getting worse - it's chronic, he insists. He also says there's no distinct tendency for men to lean toward procrastination more than women do. But there's one point Steel and Ferrari do agree on: Technology is making it easier than ever to procrastinate.

"There was a time when you had to get it done three days in advance; now you can wait until three minutes," says Ferrari. "We felt we needed to get a new technology to make things faster. I think we need to redirect all that energy from technology. Do we need a faster computer or a cure for cancer? We need to focus better. As a culture, we need to understand how fast is fast enough."

Just saying that, though, won't change much.

"… one of the general weaknesses …"