Welcome back to the savvy psychologist. I'm Dr. Ellen Hendrickson. And every week I'll help you meet life's challenges with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment. Procrastination isn't just universal among humans, the entire universe procrastinates.

Newton's first law of motion says a body at rest will stay at rest unless compelled to change state.

But just because something is universal

doesn't mean it's a great idea.

And sometimes we procrastinate even when we know we shouldn't. We say I should really be working as we

stalk our sophomore year homecoming date on Facebook, plan our wedding while still single,

or realize we're watching banjo lessons on YouTube

without owning a banjo. And procrastination doesn't only happen at work.

Procrastination over getting a symptom checked out can leave a disease untreated, putting

off a difficult conversation prolongs conflict, and delaying life decisions, like breaking up or making a commitment, going back to school or changing jobs can lead to running in place for years.

In the end, we kick ourselves. We get frustrated when we run out of time, get stressed as a deadline looms,

or feel regret as opportunity slips through our fingers.

Why do we do this to ourselves? It seems so simple, just do it already. But it's actually quite complicated. Plus, it turns out, it's in our very genes. A tendency to procrastinate runs in families and is linked

on the genetic level to impulsivity, creating a one-two punch of difficulty regulating

our own behavior. And to make things worse, a study in the

prestigious journal Psychological Science found that procrastination is, unfortunately, a lifelong trait.

Now, does that mean that the procrastinators among us are doomed?

Does a genetic predisposition mean we're destined to fritter away our most productive years

seen if we can lick our nose?

Luckily, no, just like the inhibited among us can practice loosening up,

and those of us prone to worry can learn to let go, those of us who

who procrastinate can find our own workarounds that help us focus

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