Why Procrastination Is Bad for Your Brain
Procrastination is a vice that many of us indulge in, and there is a reason why it is so difficult to quit. However, the long-term consequences of putting things off are actually hurting your brain.
In part, we love to procrastinate because it literally makes us feel good, as discussed in this recent video from Business Insider. When we decide to postpone an annoying task, two things happen. There is activity in your prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that regulates self-control and makes us do things like folding laundry and paying bills.
On the other hand, the limbic system, which is essentially the center of pleasure. The limbic system says it’s best to do something more fun, and when you listen to it, you get a little chemical reward. This is why it feels so good to procrastinate! But wait, that’s not all. Under this pleasure, feelings of guilt and anxiety build up, which leads to many ailments:
… Several studies have shown that undergraduate students who postponed had a lower GPA in the second half of the semester than those who did not.
In addition, they were more likely to get sick based on doctor visits.
And procrastinators are more likely to feel “insecure, exhausted, and depressed.” This was confirmed by Vox in a 2014 interview in which he spoke with Professor Joseph Ferrari, who has studied procrastination since the 1980s.
“Chronic procrastinators have low self-esteem and low self-esteem,” says Ferrari. “They have a high level of self-awareness, a high level of self-esteem. Experimentally they are disabled, their situation is worse, and they know it too. We ran this experiment. Procrastinators were poorer in self-regulation, and they knew they were poor in that too. And the relationship suffers. So nothing positive.
There are things you can do to break the loop of pleasure and pain associated with procrastination. The most direct thing is visualization. Imagine yourself as you will be when you complete the task, and then if you do not. A concrete idea of the consequences in your head will be a better motivation than just a vague awareness that you have to do something. This is especially effective with deadlines for things that can always be put off, like saving for retirement.
Ferrari also recommended relying on social responsibility:
Surround yourself with doers. People who are on social networks post publicly what you are going to do so that you understand the responsibility to other people.
I may find posts about gym goals and small accomplishments a little annoying in my news feed, but for the people posting them, it changes their lives. It could change yours too if you just got to it.