Current Event
Lessons of the Great Procrastinators
Andrew Santella, Author of
Soon: An Overdue History of Procrastination,
from Leonardo and Darwin to You and Me
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2020
6:30—7:30pm CST
Presented on the Zoom Platform
To receive the link to the meeting, RSVP to sigma-xi@northwestern.edu To order dinner/drinks, please order online at https://firehousegrill.hngr.co/menu
Procrastination, warned the 18th century poet Edward Young, “is the thief of time.” Nevertheless, almost a third of American undergraduates classify themselves as “severe procrastinators.” Workplace studies have suggested that procrastinating employees squander as many as 100 minutes of every workday. Throughout history, wherever there has been a job to be done, you could count on finding someone putting off doing it.
We’ll consider what history’s great procrastinators—from Leonardo da Vinci to Charles Darwin, from Moses to Dorothy Parker—can teach us about creativity, productivity and distraction. We’ll examine how philosophers and physicians, psychologists and social scientists have sought to understand procrastination. And as the current pandemic transforms how and where we work, perhaps forever, we’ll consider whether our understanding of procrastination will change as well.
Don’t delay! Join us for a fun and provocative evening of illuminating research, anecdotes and ideas.