Written by Bedirhan Atabay
Have you ever postponed something? Well, I did and I am sure that all of you have delayed something at some point in your life. Procrastinating things is pretty common in human society. However, have you ever thought about the reason why our brain delays anything possible? Let me explain the way our brain postpones important things:
Procrastination is the result of the constant competition between the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex which is the weaker one of those two parts of our brain. This place is where we are making the decisions, and also differentiates us from the animals as the animals are just controlled by stimulus (1). Meanwhile, the limbic system is the older and more dominant part of the control system, and it is the place where you do things automatically. For instance, when you desire to flee from an unwanted situation, then this decision is probably made by your limbic system, and your limbic system is strongly connected to the prefrontal cortex. As the limbic system is stronger, this strength leads to procrastination as the brain is free to do anything it wants. Procrastination is a bad feeling as it damages you emotionally and reduces your profession.
One more thing that matters for the level of Procrastination is the size of the amygdala. As you see, the amygdala is a part of the limbic system alongside the cingulate gyrus, thalamus, hypothalamus, and hippocampus. You might be curious why the amygdala matters this much and we are writing an entire branch for it. The thing here is, people who procrastinate often have a larger amygdala. This situation is called “the amygdala hijack”. The amygdala’s primary function and purpose are to regulate emotions. Furthermore, as the procrastination process is emotional, it forces you to escape from your responsibilities. In other words, your brain escapes from the negative emotions as much as it possibly can.
(Image Credit: https://www.shutterstock.com/tr/image-vector/limbic-system-parts-anatomy-human-brain-1902849208.)
Procrastination has three types:
Thrill-seekers procrastinate things due to the immense amount of rush and they want to keep that rush occurring; therefore, they are procrastinating things, avoiders are procrastinating to escape from the feeling of being judged; therefore, they procrastinate, and indecisive escapes from the tasks to not risk themselves from being blamed (2). The focused notion of this blog, procrastination, is a widespread and dangerous problem, and thankfully there are several methods to overcome it. You can plan your schedule to be able to spend time for your desires and complete your responsibilities at the same time. You can work in public, and you can use some helpful tricks such as the ten-minute trick (1,3). Eventually, these methods are going to increase your effectiveness of work and reduce the number of delays.
References:
1- Cunff, A. L. (2020, May 5). Why we wait: the neuroscience of procrastination. Ness Labs. https://nesslabs.com/neuroscience-of-procrastination
fastcompany.com. (n.d.).
2- Neurosurgery. (2018, August 29). The Science Behind Procrastination. UPMC HealthBeat.
3- Procrastination and the Brain | National Geographic Society. (n.d.).
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