Procrastination is a problem that affects everyone, in every part of the world, at one point or another. Whether it is an English essay or a college application, there is this perpetual desire to put it off until the last second. Some people even try to say that they “work better under pressure,” but while a little bit of stress can add a sense of urgency to a task, thus helping you complete it, too much stress can still become overwhelming. Yet, for some reason, we continue to choose to waste our time instead of taking advantage of it.
While many people tend to blame genetics, an astrological disposition, or even the way they were raised for their inclination to procrastinate, there is a scientific explanation for this human tendency. Essentially, procrastination is the outcome of a battle between two parts of the human brain. The first part is the prefrontal cortex. This section of the brain deals with the logical, scheduling and decision-making parts of one’s thoughts. The other part of this cerebral war is the limbic system. This section is a very primitive but powerful part of one’s brain. It deals with the instinctual emotions and the pleasure center of the brain. So instead of writing your paper or filling out your tax returns, like your prefrontal cortex is saying you should, you instead choose to watch television, and make yourself some coffee, and so on, just as your powerful limbic system instructs you to do.
Now, while
today’s society requires the productivity and cooperation of everyone in order to
maintain itself, from time to time, a little bit of procrastination is not a
horrible thing. The fact of the matter is that procrastination is your body’s
way of telling you that your brain is tired. When the prefrontal cortex is no
longer powerful enough to overcome the short term satisfaction of the limbic
system, you succumb to these desires, and in turn, you procrastinate. While you
don’t want to become overwhelmed with all the work that you put off, it is okay
to take a break every now and then, because your brain needs it. So when you’re
finding it hard to focus on the task at hand, maybe it’s time to get a snack,
or play some videogames, because your prefrontal cortex might actually be
telling you it needs to rest. Just remember that your work is not going to disappear,
and once you’ve rested a bit, you’ll need to get right back to it so as to not
stress yourself out and crumble under the pressure that was caused by your
procrastination.
Sources:
Hey Liam. Nice post, good read. Obviously I have a few comments.
ReplyDeleteI love your view of procrastination. The way you painted it as an internal struggle that nobody knows about was fresh and interesting. I wonder where you got inspiration for this idea.
The neurological reaserch you cited gave you lots of credibility. You brought new light to something that most people just accept. I had one problem with your argument though. You did not take it as far as you should have. After you presented all of this research, I was expecting some huge interesting conclusion but you pretty much ended with "procrastination isn't that bad." You should have explored the potential possibilities that result from this research. For example, I would love to hear about a drug that inhibits some signal transduction pathway in the limbic system, possibly suppressing the primal urges that cause procrastination. Instead you presented procrastination as a problem in your introduction, explained it in the meat of the post, and then you just accepted it.
Your writing style is awesome. You have mastered variation of sentence structure and length and it makes your post really easy and enjoyable to read. I also loved the way you used everyday examples to explain everything. It connects the reader to the piece and makes understanding so much easier.
This isn't really a big deal but why is there so much space between your paragraphs? It's a bit distracting.
Overall, solid post.
Yup, I totally agree with Liam Hines. You have a wonderfully engaging style. I thoroughly enjoy reading your stuff. In this particular post, I also enjoyed learning about the psychological - or neurological as Liam Hines probably rightly calls it - battle that takes place in all of our minds. Ultimately, though, your conclusion was a bit less scientific. If you had justified your acceptance of procrastination with a bit of evidence, maybe your conclusion would have been a bit more satisfying or credible. Despite the science that you cite, in the end, we just have to trust that procrastination is okay because you say so.
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