"Procrastination is an interesting form of delay, which is irrational in the sense that we do it despite knowing it can have negative consequences."

"Given that procrastination causes stress and anxiety, why are most of us still prone to it? As research shows, it is related to a number of cognitive biases."

"Researchers have defined procrastination as the “present bias in preferences, on account of which agents delay doing unpleasant tasks that they themselves wish they would do sooner.”"

"Present bias (or “hyperbolic discounting”) is the tendency, when considering a tradeoff between two future moments, to give more importance to the one that happens sooner."

"Psychologically, we perceive the impact of an event—or the value of a reward—as dampened if it is further away in the future."

"This means we perceive a desired result in the future as less valuable than one in the present."

"This can also cause a disconnect from our future selves, where we may perceive the positive consequences of completing a task successfully as happening to someone else, rather than a future version of ourselves."

"We are hardwired to choose a smaller gain today than a larger gain tomorrow. That said, we all differ in our ability to fight this urge—some people are more biased toward the future or the past."

"As I have shown in my book Sway, another cognitive bias that is likely to come into play is status quo bias."

"So we are hardwired to avoid tasks that cause us to change our mindset or that lead to cognitive burden—we’d rather just stick with the relaxed mind state we have at the minute than engage in something new and exhausting."

"It essentially makes us resistant to change, as we fear we’ll regret actively making choices (when doing nothing is also a “choice”)."

"Some personality traits could influence your propensity to stick with the status quo. If you are open and curious about new things, less averse to taking risks, and have a strong sense of duty (conscientiousness), you may be slightly less affected by this bias."

"Procrastination is a universal experience, irrespective of cultural differences."

"And research shows it can help us navigate difficult emotions—potentially leading to better work in the end."

"Saying this, sometimes procrastination can be a real barrier. This may be due to an underlying mental health problem that needs support and treatment."

"But perhaps more importantly, forgive yourself for procrastinating. The more we internalize the shame and guilt, the more we are likely to procrastinate in the future, and this can be an additional trigger that can compel us to procrastinate even more."

"Ultimately, we all have different perceptions of time. Understanding individual differences may also help us better understand neurodiverse people."