What happens to your brain and body when you procrastinate too much

What happens to your brain and body when you procrastinate too muchWhat happens to your brain and body when you procrastinate too muchTheres a reason why people are such bad procrastinators. Its easy Procrastinating feels great. But its not so great for your brain since it pits two of your brains heavy hitters, your limbic system, and your prefrontal cortex into a literal head-to-head match.The following is a transcript of the videoMost of us have procrastinated at some point in our lives. But about one in every five of us are compulsive about it. Putting off tasks and chores nearly every chance they get.Theyre called chronic procrastinators. And it turns out, this behavior does a lot more damage than you might think.We get it, doing work is hard.But when you choose to watch TV over doing laundry or washing the dishes youve just launched an all-out battle in your brain.On one side is your prefrontal cortex. Thats the part of your brain that sets long-term goals and regulates self-con trol. Its telling you that those dishes arent going to clean themselves.On the opposing side is your limbic system. It deals with pleasure, arousal, and reward.And its telling you that washing dishes is no fun, and youll have a better time doing something else. So, procrastination essentially puts your brain in its happy place.It feels good. Thats why you do it. But just because it feels good doesnt necessarily mean its good for you.For example, several studies have found that undergraduate college students who procrastinated had a lower GPA in the latter half of the semester compared to non-procrastinators.They were also more likely to get sick, based on their healthcare visits.Moreover, other studies have found that procrastinators report higher levels of guilt and anxiety when they choose to procrastinate in the first place.And if you keep it up, researchers have found that chronic procrastination is linked to low self-confidence, Low energy, And depression.Overall, your quality of life will probably be worse, than if you just listened to your prefrontal cortex. And you may think that you just have a different workflow or that you perform better under pressure.But, sorry to say, there are no studies to support any benefits of chronic procrastination. Bottom line its unhealthy. But not all hope is lost.In fact, researchers have conducted dozens of scientific studies in search for ways to help procrastinators. What theyve found time and again is that how you think about tasks can make a huge difference in how likely you are to procrastinate on them.Tasks like saving for retirement, for example, can be abstract Theres no immediate deadline, so you can always start tomorrow. And its this mentality that can lead you to procrastinate.Instead, make your tasks more concrete in your mind.For example, a study in 2011 discovered that people given an illustration of how they might look at retirement age were more likely to say they would save money for retirement, than people without an illustration.The image was something tangible. And, therefore, painted a more concrete picture of their inevitable future.Whatever the task, do your health a favor and do the work. You might just enjoy that TV show even more once you get to it.This article was originally published on Business Insider.