Progrestinator or doer?
To procrastinate or not: the answer may be down to differences in how our brains are wired.
It turns out there’s a physical difference between procrastinators and go-getters.
Two areas of the brain linked to action control: your limbic system (emotional brain) and your prefrontal cortex (executive functions).
The older part of the brain -on a evolutionaiy scale- is the limbic system; responsible for emotional processing and automatic behaviors.
The younger part- your prefrontal cortex- is responsible for cognitive thinking, planning and executive functions.
Your limbic system wants to feel good in the moment and your prefrontal cortex is pushing you to finish the task.
People who are prone to procrastination have a larger amygdala (part of the limbic system), which deals with emotions. The amygdala is related to negative emotions. An enlarged amygdala can make some people more anxious. And that, in turn, can make a person push off responsibilities due to feelings of unease, stress or fear.
For this reason:
Prograstination is linked to the emotions a person feels rather than an inability to keep track of time.
So progrestination is mostly coverned by the fear of your amygdala wanting to feel good by avoiding by avoiding the fear.
Ask yourself: Why do I progrestinate? Why do I feel unease, stress or fear when doing a task that I need to finish?