Procrastination is common, but some people procrastinate much more than others. Those who do it persistently probably exhibit something known as chronic procrastination, which has been linked to several unhealthy side effects.
Procrastination occurs when you put off important tasks for later because you favor the reward of doing nothing more than the self-discipline of doing work. As famous words have said, ‘why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?’
But procrastination isn’t healthy, and it pits your brain’s logical prefrontal cortex against your body’s reward-seeking limbic system in a manner that can cause unwanted symptoms such as anxiety, depression, low energy, and low self-confidence, to name a few.
Various studies have shown that procrastinating students achieve lower grade point averages in the latter half of the semester than non-procrastinators and that procrastinators were more likely to get sick because of their lack of doctor visits than the non-procrastinators who went to the doctor more frequently.
And while some people claim that procrastination helps them because they work better under pressure or appreciate a challenge, no studies support these claims.
As it would seem, there are no benefits to procrastinating, so suck it up and do your work. Your body will thank you.
