The Science of Procrastination

Omar Mahmoud


Alright ladies and gentlemen, we need to talk.


Right now, not tomorrow, not next week, right now.

Procrastination 

The dreadful thing that slows us down in our assignments, school work, personal life… everything.


Truthfully, I was procrastinating working on this article. I turned it in late.


Anyways, today I just want to talk about what goes on in our brains when we procrastinate. It helps to know what goes on.


Basically I am basing this on a wonderful Ted-Talk called Inside the Mind of a master procrastinator, (it is really helpful). I took the basic structures he mentioned and added more scientific research.The video split up the brain into 3 parts. The rational part, the instant gratification part, and the panic part. Those are 3 parts that are actively connected with procrastination. That’s really simplifying it, but I just want to get the message across.

Now, let me connect each of these parts to an area in the brain.

Let’s go through them one by one.


First, the Prefrontal Cortex. The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that is responsible for decision making, behaviour flexibility, fear and stress management. It is where we process information from our surroundings, compare stuff to previous experiences, and, finally, react. So, as you can see, it is probably the closest to the rational decision making part in the video. 


Let me give a concrete example while working from the video. Say you have an essay you need to write. The rational decision making part of your brain, using your previous experiences and memories combined with the knowledge of the importance of grades and turning it in, will say, “Hey, let’s work on this essay a week beforehand so we can finish it on time and have no stress.” 


That’s the prefrontal cortex. It makes the rational decision and it is the one that should be in control and steering us. However, the prefrontal-cortex-rational-decision-making-dude has a pet: (as the video puts it) the instant gratification monkey.

This is tied to the limbic system.


The limbic system is essentially a bunch of parts of the brain together which control and regulate emotions. They control and regulate hormones like adrenaline and cortisol (more later) and deal with stimulations. So you can see where this is going… The limbic system lives in the now. It wants instant gratification. It has no thoughts or anything to do with the prefrontal cortex. Essentially procrastination is a fight between the prefrontal cortex and limbic system.

Now, back to our example. Let’s say you started the essay. You’re now ready to work and get everything done. The limbic system, or the instant gratification monkey, enters and says, “Oh that sounds great and all, but how about we do this completely random thing that will end up taking 3 hours and we completely forget the essay.” The prefrontal cortex argues and says “no”.


However, the procrastinator is a procrastinator, so the control of the brain passes over to the monkey. The monkey is VERY strong. It needs immense willpower to overcome the procrastinator, but it has a weakness: 

The panic monster. (That’s what the video calls it.)


I’ll call it the hypothalamus gland, but in reality it is just cortisol. The hypothalamus is a gland in the limbic system that sends signals to the glands in the body that release cortisol. That’s the hormone that causes stress. There is A LOT more detail to this, but let’s just go over the basics.


Back to the example. As the deadline approaches, and the monkey is in firm control, the brain starts noticing how close the deadline is. And, depending on how much the monkey is in control, the brain will start to panic and release the panic monster. That’s what scares the monkey. The instant gratification part has pretty much no control now. The prefrontal cortex is now back in control, is able to start working and then turn it in. 

As you can see that’s what happens when you procrastinate. It really is a bad thing. Some people say, “Oh he’s a procrastinator”, but he isn’t. It’s his brain battling for control.


I agree with the video. There is no such thing as a non-procrastinator. We all procrastinate to a certain degree. We all have that instant gratification that lives in the now and doesn’t want to work. And, we all want to rest and play to a certain extent. I would say that it is just a matter of how much you procrastinate. 

We should all control our procrastination. The tug of war between rational decision making and instant gratification should be in our hands and we should let rational win.


That’s that guys. Personally, I found this very helpful for my procrastination, as whenever I find myself doing it, I just punch the monkey away and start working, I hope you did too.


Next month I am going to write an article on the scientific methods to fight procrastination. As long as I don’t procrastinate!


See you then. 

Sources

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