Now or later: The act of procrastination

How many times have you told yourself “I’ll do it later”? What is it that makes some people so driven and focused on their goals while others prefer to push off things for a later date so as to be able to enjoy the here and now?

The answer lies within two distinctive regions of the brain. The first is the prefrontal cortex which is basically the seat of will power while the second is the thalamus which responds to the more pleasurable things in life. Initially as a person starts off a task the prefrontal cortex is on full drive. Distractions or thoughts of procrastination rarely arise or are pushed away. However as time goes by and the prefrontal cortex starts getting drained, the thalamus starts receiving the upper hand and impulsiveness and thoughts of relaxation and pleasure start overriding the will power that emanates from the prefrontal cortex. At this point if a person is given a new task they would be more likely to procrastinate than work. For some people the time it takes to drain the prefrontal cortex is much shorter than for others. A good indicator of the power of the prefrontal cortex is the ability of a person to focus and concentrate. The longer a person is able to concentrate on a given task, the stronger the will power of their prefrontal cortex and the less likely they will be to procrastinate.

Haven’t we encountered enough issues due to this behaviour at work? Is there a way to manage this risk better? Can one make minute yet measurable changes that help overcome such behaviours? Is there a way to continually reinforce a sense of urgency or importance for certain behaviours?