He or she who hesitates performs badly

Students who procrastinate suffer more ill health and do significantly worse academically than their non-procrastinating colleagues. Research from the Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, United States, puts paid to the frequently cited excuse: "I do my best work under pressure". Dianne Tice and Roy Baumeister undertook two separate studies, reported in the Psychologist next week, to examine the effects of putting work off. Both show clearly that procrastinators end up producing inferior work.