It’s human nature – ever since the first great apes were able to comprehend time well enough to understand the concept of “later", they’ve been procrastinating.
Blame it on bad priorities. Blame it on laziness. Blame it on distracted ants. Blame it on the desperate assumption that somebody, or at least some force, is tending the light at the end of the tunnel.
In every project there comes a time when someone looks up and says “oh shit, we’re totally boned, we need to hurry up.”
At this point, the true motivation kicks in. The difficulty now comes in overcoming panic, and focusing the frantic energy it has produced.
…this is the anti-zen of project management…