Read this paper later: procrastination with time-consistent preferences

A model of time-consistent procrastination is developed to assess the exten t to which the observed behavior is compatible with rational behavior. When a finite work requirement must be completed by a deadline, the remaining t ime for leisure is an exhaustible resource. With a positive rate of time pr eference, the optimal allocation of this resource results in more hours spe nt working (and fewer in leisure) the closer the deadline. Key qualitative findings of psychological studies of academic procrastination are consisten t with the standard natural resource management principles implied by the m odel, when suitably adapted to task aversiveness, uncertainty, and multiple deadlines. However, quantitatively, the fully rational model appears to re quire an extremely high rate of time preference or elasticity of intertempo ral substitution to generate serious procrastination; furthermore, it canno t explain undesired procrastination. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rig hts reserved.