Transcription
Translator: sherif Hany
Reviewer: Hani Eldalees
The clock shows five in the evening, and only now have you realized that the report you’ve been postponing, you have to submit tomorrow. It’s time to get serious, open your computer... and check your phone. Perhaps you’ll open your favorite YouTube channel? In fact, perhaps you should make dinner first. You always love to cook, even though it’s hard to enjoy yourself with work hanging over your head, and oh — in fact, it’s too late! Perhaps you should just try again in the morning? This is the cycle of procrastination, and I assure you that we have all suffered from it. But why do we continue to procrastinate even when we know it’s bad for us? To be clear, postponing something is not always procrastination. Responsible time management requires identifying important tasks and tasks that can be postponed. Procrastination is when we leave a task we said we would do, without a valid excuse, despite expecting it to bring us negative consequences. Clearly, it’s not reasonable to do something you expect will harm you. But ironically, procrastination is a result of our bodies trying to protect us. Especially by neglecting work that we see as a threat. When you realize you need to write that report, your brain responds the same way it does when you’re in danger. The amygdala, a cluster of neurons involved in emotional processing and threat detection, releases hormones including adrenaline and triggers a fear response. This stress-induced panic can override the impulses from your frontal cortex, which usually helps you think long-term and control your emotions. And during the fight-or-flight or freeze response, you then decide to deal with the threat, by avoiding it by doing less stressful duties. This response might seem extreme, after all, it’s just a deadline, not a bear attack. But we mostly procrastinate on tasks that evoke negative emotions, such as dread, inadequacy, and insecurity. Studies on university students’ procrastination found that participants were more likely to postpone tasks they perceived as overwhelming or difficult. And the perception of how difficult a task is increases as you postpone it. In one experiment, students were reminded to study throughout the day. While they were studying, most said it wasn’t too bad. But when they were procrastinating, they said the idea of studying was too stressful, making it hard to start. Because procrastination is driven by our negative emotions, some individuals are more prone to it than others. People who find it difficult to manage their emotions, and those who suffer from low self-esteem, are more likely to procrastinate, regardless of how good they are at time management. However, it’s a common misconception that all procrastinators are lazy. In the body and brain, laziness is noticeable by a lack of energy and general apathy. When you feel lazy, you’ll likely sit and do nothing. Except to distract yourself with unimportant tasks. In fact, many people procrastinate because they care too much. Procrastinators often report their intense fear of failure, they postpone things because they are afraid their work won’t meet their high standards. Whatever the reason for procrastination, the results are often the same. Those who procrastinate frequently are likely to suffer from anxiety and depression, a constant feeling of shame, high levels of stress, and physical illnesses associated with high blood pressure. Worst of all, while procrastination hurts us in the long run, it temporarily reduces our stress levels, reinforcing it as a physical response to deal with stressful tasks. So, can we break the procrastination loop? Traditionally, people thought procrastinators needed to develop discipline and practice strict time management. But today, many researchers go in the opposite direction. Being too hard on yourself can add more negative emotions to a task, making the threat more acute. To disrupt this stress response, we need to address and reduce these negative emotions. Some simple strategies like breaking down the task into smaller components, journaling about why you’re stressed, and addressing those underlying fears. Try to remove nearby distractions that make it easy to slip into procrastination. And more than anything else, it helps to cultivate an attitude of self-compassion, forgiving yourself, and making a plan to do better next time. Because the culture that perpetuates this cycle of stress and procrastination harms us all in the long run.