“Have you made that doctor’s appointment about the lump on your back yet?” your spouse asks. You sheepishly mumble that you have not. Walking past a packed wardrobe – a daily reminder of a decluttering project put off for months – you settle onto the sofa to finish binge-watching that new Netflix series.
Sound familiar? Procrastination is no big deal; everyone puts off tasks they don’t want to do, right? Wrong, according to Fuschia Sirois, a professor of social and health psychology at Durham University in the UK.
Sirois has spent more than 25 years studying procrastination and, while research shows about one in four people procrastinates fairly regularly, she warns the behaviour carries serious, far-reaching consequences.
“The harms of procrastination can range from poor career progression and reduced earnings to poor mental health, including higher rates of anxiety, stress and depression, even poor physical health,” Sirois says.