London - If you’d rather put off until tomorrow what could be done today, blame your parents.
Procrastination is in the genes, say scientists who studied twins about how much they caused delays. Questions included how often they put off jobs and whether they regularly avoided starting tasks until the deadline is looming.
The researchers then compared the answers from sets of identical twins, who share all their DNA, with those of the non-identical twins, who share just half their DNA.
The science is complicated but it allows the researchers to work out how important genes are compared to other factors that shape personality such as friends and education.
Based on behavioural similarities, the analysis found that a tendency to procrastinate is indeed inherited.
Perhaps surprisingly, the procrastinators were also found to be highly impulsive.
The researchers, from the University of Colorado, said the ability to make snap decisions would have benefited our ancestors, who had to rely on their wits to survive.
As times changed and long-term planning became more important, this impulsivity got in the way of us reaching our goals, and procrastination was born.
Writing in the journal Psychological Science, the researchers said: ‘Everyone procrastinates at least sometimes, but we wanted to explore why some people procrastinate more than others and why procrastinators seem more likely to make rash actions and act without thinking.
“Answering why that’s the case would give us some interesting insights into what procrastination is, why it occurs, and how to minimize it.”
They said procrastination can harm the financial, psychological and physical health of the person who is dragging their feet – and of those who are counting on him.
Study author Daniel Gustavson said: “Learning more about the underpinnings of procrastination may help us develop interventions to prevent it and help us overcome our ingrained tendencies to get distracted and lose track of work.” - Daily Mail