Quick Tips Series (9/30): Procrastination
Your journey to solving your problems with brain science!
Procrastination is NOT a time management issue. It’s an instinct and emotional reasoning problem. The more you tell yourself a story that you are a person who “feels emotions strongly”, the more likely you are to procrastinate. When you say “I’ll do it later,” what your brain is really doing is avoiding discomfort. That avoidance is later neurologically reinforced through negative reinforcement.
You remove the uncomfortable task, and your brain rewards you with relief. That short-term relief becomes “addictive”.
Every time you say, “I’ll do it later,” what you really mean is, “I hope life won’t hold me accountable.”
But it will, and it already is.
Most people overestimate how much time they have and underestimate how fast regret builds.
Your brain is wired to value now over later. This cognitive bias is called temporal discounting (Ainslie, 1975). The brain heavily devalues rewards the further they are in the future.
So long-term goals, like building a career, mastering a skill, or fixing your health, feel less urgent than short-term pleasures like scrolling or snacking. You’re not lazy. Your prefrontal cortex, responsible for planning and impulse control, is constantly in conflict with your limbic system, which demands instant gratification.
Compounding this is status quo bias and the illusion of readiness. Your nervous system equates change with threat, triggering the amygdala’s fear response. That’s why even thinking about starting something important can make you feel tired, anxious, or “not ready.” Readiness, however, is not a state, it’s a side effect of action.
Waiting to feel ready is just disguised fear.
Your brain system fights change not because you’re not ready, but because change threatens comfort.
Here is what to do:
The solution? Mental contrasting and implementation intentions (Oettingen & Gollwitzer, 2001). First, identify what you’re avoiding. Then force your brain to confront the cost of inaction. That triggers the insula (emotion–bodily state integration) and increases urgency. Pair this with a specific, non-negotiable action: one uncomfortable step daily before comfort activities. Action before avoidance. Movement before mood.
Here is how:
Write down what you’re avoiding, then write exactly what it will cost you if you keep waiting. Make the regret feel real now.
Every day, do one uncomfortable thing that moves you forward before anything else.
That’s how you rewire your brain to choose action over avoidance.
Urgency is not a feeling; it’s a decision.
If you keep choosing comfort, don’t expect life to respect your excuses.
You don’t need more time. You need fewer lies. And the lie that matters most? That your future self will somehow be braver than you are now.
It won’t.
About the Authors:
Maciej D. Zatonski, MD, PhD is a double board-certified physician, author, husband, and parent. He is an executive leadership coach specialising in cognitive performance, decision-making, and resilience under pressure and in complex, demanding environments.
Sara L. Farwell, PhD, is a cognitive scientist, certified nutrition coach and physical fitness instructor, and mentor to professions and students. She studies and writes about physiology, energy, recovery, and the mind–body axis for sustainable performance and change.
Solutions Makers audits and redesigns how people function for longevity in life and career. Our programmes are bespoke, personal, and rooted in brain health, biology, and behaviour. To learn more and explore your future, get in touch with us here or at solutionsmakers.com.
This was really helpful. Thank you!