What Neuroscience Says About Procrastination

Over the past decade, remarkable progress has been made in the study of the brain. Indeed , the present moment is seen as one of the most exciting in the history of neuroscience. Scientists have started investigating problems that until now were not even in their sight. One of those topics is procrastination.

What does neuroscience tell us about procrastination? In fact, an important body of data has emerged that allows us to explain the processes in the brain that apparently determine the process of procrastination. Although, as we know, behavior can not only be explained by physiological processes, but is also very influential.

Procrastination is not common for everyone. We’ve all been guilty of it, of course. However, in some people it is a chronic behavior. Indeed, these people have enormous difficulty finishing what they started. Research has focused on them.

Procrastination

Procrastination refers to situations where an activity or situation to be performed is postponed. Often people try to replace the activity or situation with another that is more enjoyable and generally more irrelevant. This way they don’t tackle something that is important. They “leave it for later.” Except that “later” never comes.

This means that the procrastinator often starts things and doesn’t finish them. In fact, they reach a point where it is extremely unpleasant or even unbearable for them to start or continue what they have to do. That is why they look for a way to ‘win time for ourselves’.

Here’s a typical example of procrastination. Someone has to create a file that he needs for his job. However, it is a task he does not feel like doing at all. Plus, he knows it takes time and doesn’t really see it as worth it in the short term. For this reason, he postpones it and tells himself that he will do it at a later date. But that moment never comes.

What neuroscience has to say

Oakland University professor Dr. Barbara Oakley has gathered information about what neuroscience has to say about procrastination. Basically, she points out that research on this topic suggests that chronic procrastinators experience problems in the neural regions related to self-control and emotional regulation.

It is possible to adjust the operation of these zones. The problem, however, is that this requires an exercise in self-control, which leads to a vicious circle. Yet this is not all neuroscience has to say on the subject.

In fact, other research in this regard shows that procrastinators have trouble recovering their mood in the short term. They feel uncomfortable and can’t fix it right away.

It seems that there is some sort of separation between their perception of their present selves and their future selves. Simply put, procrastination is a form of coping that relies on acquiring immediate benefits.

Pain and procrastination

A more interesting hypothesis is that some people feel “pain” in the brain when they do an activity that is unpleasant for them. In these cases, a mechanism called the “standard neural network” is activated to relieve this sensation. The network is activated when people are confronted with a problem that they cannot solve.

According to this thesis, people solve problems thanks to previously marked neural pathways. In other words, they solve problems thanks to their insider knowledge. Therefore, if they get stuck, it’s because they don’t have any references to consult. That’s when the standard neural network kicks in and their minds start to wander.

From this we can conclude that the worst thing a person can do is insist on overcoming these types of blockages. What they really should be doing is moving away from the focus of the problem. They need rest. This helps activate a diffuse focus and the brain begins to work out a new pathway of action.

In this way, people can avoid procrastination by doing something as simple as resting. Therefore, if they have to perform an activity that is unpleasant for them, or an activity in which they are completely stuck, they should pause whenever they see fit. Then they are much more likely to start or finish that task that they actually don’t want to do.