Why do we procrastinate ⏲️ 6 Minute English

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Hello , this is six minute English from BBC .

Learning English .

I'm Sam and I'm Neil .

Come on , Neil , Let's make a start .

I've got a deadline to meet today and I haven't finished my work yet .

Let me guess .

It's because you delayed and delayed and put your work off until the last minute .

As usual , You're a real procrastinator , Sam .

Someone who keeps delaying things that need to be done .

What can I say ?

I work better when a deadline is approaching .

I see .

But did you know that people who procrastinate have higher levels of stress and lower well being ?

Procrastination is also linked with lower financial and career success , so there's a lot of reasons not to do it in this programme .

We're discussing procrastination , the act of delaying things that must be done until later , often because they're difficult , boring or unpleasant .

And as usual , we'll be learning some new vocabulary along the way .

So without wasting any more time , I have a question for you , Sam .

The fact that procrastinating or putting things off is bad for us doesn't stop people doing it , according to recent research by DePaul University in Chicago .

What percentage of people procrastinate so much that it interferes with their day to day life ?

Is it a 10% B , 20% or C ?

30% ?

I'll guess that around 10% of people have a serious procrastination problem .

OK , Sam , we'll find out the answer later in the programme .

Sam is certainly not alone in putting things off until the last minute .

Here's Ella Alshammari , presenter of BBC Radio four's .

Why do we do that ?

Talking to comedian Ian Akbar about his procrastination habit , would you say , is that you're a procrastinator ?

I am a serial procrastinator without a shadow of a doubt .

Why why do you think you procrastinate ?

Over the years , I've told myself that I procrastinate because I work better under pressure .

That's what I've told myself .

Ishan thinks that he is a procrastinator without a shadow of a doubt , a phrase which is used to emphasise that you are completely certain of something .

Yan also says that like Sam , he works better under pressure when he feels stressed or anxious because of having too much to do .

But maybe also , like Sam , Yan has a problem organising his workload and managing his time .

Hang on , Neil .

My time management skills are OK , Thank you with me .

It's more of an emotional response .

I see a mountain of work feel threatened and think , How on earth will I finish all that ?

What Sam says is supported by a theory of human evolution , which explains how putting things off is an emotional response .

Back when we were living in caves , life was dangerous and short and our ancestors were impulsive .

They acted suddenly on instinct without thinking about the consequences of what they were doing back then .

Being impulsive was a good thing .

But in modern life , with work goals and deadlines , when we are impulsive and get distracted , we procrastinate .

So rather than being a problem with time management , Sam should blame her caveman ancestors who acted on impulse .

Hm .

Let's listen again to comedian Isan Akbar talking about how he feels when he procrastinates a lot of stuff you read about procrastination focuses on the time management element of it .

I've probably got a better sense that for me it seems very squarely around the emotional aspect of it .

Perhaps I get more emotional gratification from doing it last minute , and I need to understand why , why ?

I prefer that over the calm serenity of getting things done with oodles of time in my hands , in the same way that our ancestors felt good living on impulse , Ishan thinks he gets gratification , a feeling of pleasure and satisfaction from doing things at the last minute .

What he doesn't understand is why he prefers to work under pressure instead of finishing calmly with oodles or lots of time .

Unlike Yan , I'd rather finish my work feeling relaxed , but there never seems to be enough time .

Well , breaking down the task into smaller stages also breaks down the level of threat you feel from your workload .

Also forgiving yourself for procrastinating in the past seems helpful in avoiding procrastinating in the future .

So forgive yourself and start making changes .

Sam , before you end up like the time wasters in my question , what percentage of people procrastinate so much that it interferes with day to day life ?

Hm ?

Well , I guessed it was 10% which was the wrong answer , I'm afraid .

In fact , around 20% of us have a procrastination habit so strong it makes life difficult .

OK , let's recap the vocabulary we've learned from this programme on procrastination , delaying or putting off doing things until later , often because they're difficult , unpleasant or boring .

The phrase without a shadow of a doubt is used to emphasise that you are completely certain of something .

If you're under pressure , you feel stressed or anxious because of having too much to do .

Impulsive behaviour is sudden and spontaneous , done without thinking about the consequences .

Gratification means a feeling of pleasure and satisfaction .

And finally , when you have oodles of something , you have a very large amount of something pleasant , like time , which once again we've run out of .

I'm rushing off to finish my work , Neil .

But remember to make time to join us again soon .

Here at six minute English Bye for now .

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