Dr. Piers Steel, a University of Calgary professor in the Haskayne School of Business, is the world's foremost expert on procrastination. His comprehensive analysis of procrastination research has come to some surprising conclusions on the subject.

According to Steel, self-help books get it wrong when they blame perfectionism for procrastination. In fact, procrastination can be explained by a single mathematical equation.

"Essentially, procrastinators have less confidence in themselves, less expectancy that they can actually complete a task," Steel says. "Perfectionism is not the culprit. In fact, perfectionists actually procrastinate less, but they worry about it more."

Other predictors of procrastination include: aversion to tasks, impulsiveness, ability to concentrate, and a person's motivation to achieve.

There is some good news -- willpower can overcome these issues. "The old saying is true: 'Whether you believe you can or believe you can't, you're probably right'," Steel says. "And as you get better at self control, your expectancy about whether you can resist goes up and thus improves your ability to resist."

Whilst procrastination can be a source of humour, the effects can be be harmful. "People who procrastinate tend to be less healthy, less wealthy and less happy," Steel said.

Steel has created a formula based upon what he's named Temporal Motivational Theory -- Utility = E x V / ΓD. The formula breaks down as expectancy a person has of succeeding with a given task (E), the value of completing the task (V), the desirability of the task (Utility), its immediacy or availability (Γ - Greek letter Gamma) and the person's sensitivity to delay (D).

It's still unclear why some people are more prone to procrastination, but evidence suggests it may be genetic. Steel concludes: "Continued research into procrastination should not be delayed, especially because its prevalence seems to be growing."