"The Secret Life of Procrastinators and the Stigma of Delay"

Via Instapundit:  In actuality, racing the clock emotionally stimulates those who procrastinate. Since emotions serve to direct one’s attention, we might consider such deadline stimulation highly adaptive as well. Moreover, procrastinating enables some people to perform at peak efficiency,^[xxii] and their task delay enables them to work diligently and attain optimal efficiency.^[xxiii] Professionally successful procrastinators report that when they try to get something done ahead of time, often they are compromised in terms of both motivation and concentration. Thus, for procrastinators, the energizing quality and focus provided by emotions that are activated upon nearing a deadline are essential.

(Link to the whole thing)