Procrastination – The Practice of Delaying

“Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” There isn’t a single soul on this planet who is unaware of this quote by Benjamin Franklin.

 I have an innocent question for everyone, “How often did you follow this?” Some of you on the other side of the screen may have holistically abided by this quote but the rest of us chose to be defiant beings. We decided on being procrastinators. I will tell you how we procrastinate in our everyday lives. 

For example, your exams are just around the corner and you are making a list of what you are left to study. There is this one chapter that you absolutely detest and haven’t read it even once. It’s way too late, you know that, yet you keep putting it off. You tell yourself that you will get to it tomorrow but tomorrow never comes. The day before your exam you are frustrated with yourself. If this is who you are then you should know that you are a procrastinator, and the deed you keep on doing is procrastination.

Procrastination is something we are very relevant with. It is a weird sort of laziness that creeps in uninvited and everyone of us has experienced it at least once in our lifetime. 

If you are a procrastinator yourself, then you have certainly wondered why you procrastinate even when you know that it isn’t helping you in the long run, that you are leaving your assignment undone till the deadline. Here's the catch, we tend to procrastinate unconsciously. Our willingness to delay the chore overpowers our drive to finish it. Being a procrastinator myself, I often have a question living rent-free in my mind — “Why do I procrastinate?” This simple question motivated me to raise the topic of procrastination and the science behind it.

Procrastination is prevalent among students as well as the general population. According to a study on procrastination, approximately 20-25% of the adult population worldwide can be classified as procrastinators. A large number of students procrastinate. Studies show that about 80-95% college students procrastinate chronically. This is highly linked with depression, anxiety, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), perfectionism, lack of motivation, fear of rejection, stress. Some of these are associated with the secretion of hormones. Biological factors contribute to differences in procrastination but we miss out the role of neuroendocrine factors (testosterone, cortisol) on procrastination. State anxiety or temporary anxiety is positively correlated with procrastination. Testosterone levels moderate the correlation between state anxiety and procrastination. With drop in testosterone levels, the positive correlation between state anxiety and procrastination becomes stronger. When there is an increase in testosterone levels no significant association is found between state anxiety and procrastination. Cortisol levels do not moderate the relationship between state anxiety and procrastination. 

Stress is regulated by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal(HPA) axis. Stress triggers the SNS to release catecholamines  with salivary alpha amylase (sAA), a digestive enzyme found in the oral cavity that serves as a marker for SNS. The main product of HPA axis is cortisol. People with higher procrastination has higher levels of stress and sAA. The cortisol responses to stress are related to emotion regulation difficulties associated with maladaptive perfectionism, a form of perfectionism characterised by unrealistic standards, harsh self-criticism and a tendency to avoid tasks due to fear of failure. This form of perfectionism is positively associated with procrastination suggesting a linkage between cortisol and procrastination. Testosterone has been shown to modulate the HPA axis and negatively correlated with cortisol reactivity to stress. Our body is wired in such an intricate manner that every action, every thought, every hormone leads to another. It is a marvel. 

Procrastination may sometimes be useful, giving us excessive spurts of creativity, productivity and better decision making. The short term benefit of procrastination is so ludicrous that we turn a blind eye to the negative impact. There are instances where procrastination improves performance in one regard but worsens it in others leading to an improve in creativity at the expense of efficiency. The benefits of procrastination aren’t guaranteed and people sometimes experience the opposite leading to inefficiency, worsening their performance. We cannot ignore the downside of procrastination. It comes with a baggage of issues namely physical and mental. Some might argue that procrastination is indeed good for it boosts our problem-solving skills, helping us make decisions that we might not have made otherwise but procrastination can also be the reason why you lose a certain pleasant opportunity.

Procrastination is very common and doesn’t prove to be harmful till you find yourself caught in a negative cycle or the procrastination cycle. Let me tell you how this works. For example, you delay your assignment till the deadline, in the meantime other tasks have also been added, now you are overburdened. This makes you frustrated and guilty, leading to panic. You wonder how to get the work done and find it extremely boring, you lack motivation, make up excuses and delay the assignment again. You are caught in the web of procrastination, guilt trips and panicky situations without any break.

Therefore, if you realize that your procrastination is more harmful than not, then you should try to reduce or eliminate it entirely. To eliminate procrastination, you should ask yourself the most fundamental question— “Why do I procrastinate?” Then pick up the anti-procrastination techniques that are likely to be effective in your situation, implement them till you eradicate procrastination. 

A final motivating word: Procrastination is a universal problem and we all suffer from it and it has nothing to do with your work. If you are a habitual procrastinator and you are breaking the negative cycle then be kind to yourself. Tell yourself — “I am doing great.” This benevolent act of yours to yourself will help you to achieve your ultimate goal.