Introduction
Have you ever found yourself on your phone scrolling for just a few more minutes to avoid starting work? Or maybe you take up a new productive task such as cleaning your room late at night. Whatever your method may be, there is a psychological study associated with procrastination and what makes our brain take on a semi-avoidant productiveness in order to avoid starting tasks that we must complete for work or school.
Taking back time
For many teens, procrastinating stems from not wanting to do homework. After spending a long day at school, it can be hard for students to find the motivation to go home and complete hours of homework. The National Library of Medicine further explored teenagers’ lack of sleep and associated it with phone and social media usage late at night. Many teens have said they stay up late on their phones as a way to “steal time back.” Time on their phone and social media is an engaging and interesting time for them. Teens often feel more inclined to stay up late on their phones as resistance to all the time during the day they spend working on schoolwork and other activities. The result of “stealing back time” is sleep deprivation, making it harder for students to push through a busy schedule and continue to stay up late and get up early every night.
Emotional Aspect
In the psychology of procrastination, emotions play a large role. To many, procrastinating is based on short and long-term rewards. Scrolling social media or procrastinating by going to run a small errand is more appealing. Being able to satisfy a simple want is more rewarding at the moment than working on a project or assignment that will take a long time to complete. Along with the long-time assignments that people avoid doing, people have built an emotional discomfort around completing them. Once someone has convinced themselves that completing a task is too challenging or time-consuming, their brain doesn’t want them to do it.
Coping Mechanism
Procrastination can be used to cope and pacify a stressful moment or day. When someone is stressed with their workload, they will often “take a break” to calm themselves down in their moment of stress. Yet, doing this can actually lead to more stress. While you have pacified your stress at the moment, you have likely created a higher workload for yourself in the future. Managing time can lead to greater procrastination and greater stress.
Personality and Biology
Psychologically, procrastinating and time management can be connected to the brain and our thought process. The prefrontal cortex is at the front of the brain and is mainly in charge of decision-making, planning, impulse control, and emotional regulation. Data shows that the prefrontal cortex doesn’t fully develop in a person until they are around 25 years old. Because of the sheer amount of time it takes for the prefrontal cortex to develop, decision-making and judgments that are made based on the prefrontal cortex may be skewed, especially in people under 25 years old, as this area of the brain hasn’t fully developed. Also in the brain is the limbic system, which deals with the processing of emotions, motivations, and behaviors. In procrastinating, the prefrontal cortex struggles against the limbic system. The limbic system appeals to the part of someone’s brain that calls to scroll on social media or complete a small errand, as the limbic system will facilitate the emotions to feel satisfied off of the short-term reward. The prefrontal cortex, which isn’t fully developed in teens, is trying to plan ahead but is being ignored. Also corresponding to the limbic system is the fear of failure. In people who fear failure, it can be hard to follow the prefrontal cortex and start an assignment. A student with a fear of failure may convince themself that there is no reward for completing a long-term assignment and avoid it as their limbic system feels there isn’t any exciting, emotional response.
Conclusion
Procrastination and the psychology behind it is a reflection of a person and their mental confidence. Those who procrastinate frequently may find that they have built a fear around completing a task, whether it be based on motivation, ability, or time. Recognizing the issue or the reason why people procrastinate may help limit procrastination in the future. If you struggle with procrastinating, next time you are faced with a busy schedule or a long list of assignments, try instead to break down tasks into smaller segments and set deadlines. With this, you may feel more cumulatively rewarded and less stressed.
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