David Laibson, an economist at Harvard University, believes that the problem is lack of self-control.

ECONOMIST: The sorry state of saving

StickK.com came about as a result of the theoretical work of Laibson and others on commitment contracts, Karlan said.

CNN: Putting a price on procrastination

More specifically, says Laibson, people perceive rewards and costs as having only half the weight tomorrow that they have today.

CNN: Putting a price on procrastination

"Pushing costly, unpleasant tasks into the future is like a getting a 50 percent discount on them, psychologically, " Laibson said.

CNN: Putting a price on procrastination