> He is a brilliant engineer whose work ethic is deplorable. He only gets things done if he's either entered a state of excitement about something, or in a stat

> He is a brilliant engineer whose work ethic is deplorable. He only gets things done if he's either entered a state of excitement about something, or in a state of panic. He's completely unreliable professionally, and notoriously difficult to work with. Are you sure that your friend started acting this way after reading this, or were his actions much more noticeable so after reading? You describe being unable to work unless exited or panicking, neither of which is a common/normal or comfortable state to be living in during your 9-5. It doesn't sound like your friend is necessarily happy at this time, and at the risk of sounding like an armchair doctor I would highly recommend your friend to talk to a real doctor and ask about A(D)HD. The average person can stop procrastinating if they want to. The ADHD person will get stressed before they stop procrastinating, because their executive function is, well, not very functioning. (Do note that other conditions like ASD/C-PTSD etc can also show similar symptoms including executive dysfunction which is why a doctor is so important).