I, like most teenagers, am a terrible procrastinator. There’s nothing more fatal than ‘I’ll do it in an hour’ or ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’, and we know this. We’ve spent our entire lives with full knowledge of the consequences of procrastinating and yet we continue to do it. Why?
It all comes down to the makeup of our brains.
The science itself can be summarised as a conflict between two parts of the brain, the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex. This may be recognisable as the ‘argument’ you have with yourself before deciding whether or not to start a task.
The limbic system is one of the oldest parts of the human brain, inherited from our simian ancestors. It serves a vital function in all animals, working through instinct to avoid potentially dangerous situations. Because of this, it instructs us to flee from unpleasant tasks (including that dreaded essay) and to opt for the ‘immediate pleasure’ experienced through relaxation.
By contrast, the prefrontal cortex is a much newer part of the anatomy - one that is synonymous with humankind. It’s responsible for our ability to think rationally and logically - in other words, the part of the brain that tells us ‘you should really get that task done now’.
Unfortunately for our productivity, the prefrontal cortex needs to be ‘kick-started’ while the limbic system works on instinct. This means that the limbic system is the much stronger part of the brain, and most of the time will win its argument and successfully coerce us into putting that task aside for another day.
Thus the procrastination begins… and I finally have an excuse as to why I’m writing this on deadline day.
