Hacking your brain to beat procrastination

#brainhacking #neuroscience #brain #brainscience #personaldevelopment #procrastination #motivation

© 2024 Zoryna O’Donnell

This article was first published by The Maverick Paradox Magazine on 14/05/2024

The word “procrastination” comes from the Latin “procrastinare” (deferred until tomorrow) and the Greek “akrasia” (acting against one’s better judgment.).  Even the word itself suggests that procrastination is an active choice: we choose to do something other than the task at hand, despite knowing that its delay will cause us to suffer in the future.

In fact, as Ted O’Donaghue and Matthew Rabin pointed out in their article “Doing It Now Or Later”, our brains are hard-wired to procrastinate. This means that it is much easier for our brains to process concrete things (efforts we make now) than abstract things such as potential future benefits of our efforts. Therefore, the short-term effort is more likely to dominate the long-term benefits in our minds. Behavioural scientists call this phenomenon a present bias of which procrastination is a perfect example.

Despite popular belief, procrastination is not caused by laziness, poor time management or a fear of failure. Numerous studies have established that procrastination is a result of self-regulation failure and a poor ability to manage emotions. According to psychologists, procrastination is the brain’s emotional response to a distressing issue. It protects us against fear of failure, judgment by others and self-criticism.

Research published by Fuschia Sirois and Natalia Tosti (Bishop’s University in Canada), show that people who procrastinate have higher levels of stress and lower well-being because their brains keep nagging them.Postponing tasks is an unconscious way the mind tries to take away the anxiety of judgement and self-doubt. But this relief is short-lived, because the avoidance of pressure actually amplifies the pressure. Therefore, in the long term, procrastination erodes our productivity and adds to chronic stress.

Here are a few brain hacks which you can use to beat procrastination. …

Please read the entire article here. [ https://themaverickparadox.com/hacking-your-brain-to-beat-procrastination/ ]

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