Ah, procrastination. Both a curse and a blessing. There’s no running away from the fact that we all procrastinate. It’s satisfying to put off your homework till tomorrow to finish that last episode of Friends. Yet once the deadline approaches… that’s where things go haywire.
Some people might associate procrastination with a lack of time management, organization, and planning. Sure, these 3 factors improve work ethic. However, a lack of them is not the sole cause of procrastination. Procrastination stems from a person’s inability to control impulses. These impulses are feelings of longing to do something that isn’t that task you’re attending to. If your psyche finds the impulse more important than the task at hand, it will attend to the impulse, and you will procrastinate. In general, procrastinators tend to be more impulsive. The issue here isn’t necessarily one’s personality, rather, it’s their ability to control themselves.
Another reason for procrastinating is genetics. A study carried out at the University of Colorado, Boulder found that “procrastination and impulsivity are linked primarily through genetic influences on the ability to use high-priority goals to effectively regulate actions”. Essentially, you inherit the tendency to procrastinate from your parents. There is a gene that codes for an enzyme called “TH” (tyrosine hydroxylase). This gene regulates the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter. Dopamine is responsible for giving us feelings of short-term happiness and pleasure. It also plays a role in brain processes. Most importantly, it is associated with cognitive control, or one’s ability to control their impulses- and that’s where procrastination comes in.
Procrastination may appear to be a casual habit, but this casual habit can have dire consequences.
One consequence is stress. Putting off an important task may alleviate stress in the short-term, but when the deadline approaches, the stress you experience proliferates. Stress is both mentally and physically damaging. It’s associated with illnesses like headaches and the flu. Procrastinators also tend to have low self-esteem, which both causes and contributes to stress levels.
Furthermore, a link has been found between procrastination and low immunity. This link can be explained by the tendency of procrastinators to not follow good wellness behaviors such as sufficient sleep and a balanced diet. The effects of this are increased by stress. When a person is under stress, their body releases large amounts of the hormone cortisol, which in large amounts can be deleterious to one’s immune system.
Procrastination is indeed a pain. Not only does it slow down our productivity, but it also affects our health and wellbeing. If you constantly procrastinate, it’s important to not beat yourself up because of this because it only increases stress and decreases well-being.
Comentários