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QUIZ: Ugh, I'll do it later. How much do you know about procrastination?

NPR | By Malaka Gharib,

Marielle Segarra, Sylvie Douglis

Published September 6, 2026 at 4:01 AM CDT

Working on trivial things instead of what you're supposed to be doing? That's a sign of procrastination, writes Itamar Shatz in his new book, Solving Procrastination. It's also a hint to one of our quiz questions below. — Working on trivial things instead of what you're supposed to be doing? That's a sign of procrastination, writes Itamar Shatz in his new book, *Solving Procrastination*. It's also a hint to one of our quiz questions below.

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Procrastination is often misunderstood. Many of us chalk it up to laziness, see it as a modern phenomenon and think it simply can't be overcome.

But those things aren't true, says Itamar Shatz, author of a book published in August, Solving Procrastination: The Science of Why We Put Things Off and How to (Finally!) Stop. People have been struggling with getting things done throughout history (Mozart was a serial procrastinator). We also tend to push things off for a variety of reasons, like being a perfectionist.

And procrastination is certainly something you can conquer, Shatz argues in his book. The key, he says, is to stop thinking you simply have to work harder. Instead, change your approach. "The really important thing is to figure out what is going to motivate you."

Take this quiz, based on Life Kit's interview with Shatz, a social science lecturer at Cambridge University, and his book, Solving Procrastination, to see how much you know. You may learn a tool or two on how to overcome procrastination along the way.

The quiz: How much do you know about procrastination?

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Quiz text written by Malaka Gharib. Quiz design and development by Alyson Hurt. This digital story was edited by Sylvie Douglis. The visual editor is CJ Riculan. We'd love to hear from you. Email us at LifeKit@npr.org. Listen to Life Kit on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or sign up for our newsletter.