SARAH VINE: I’m the queen of procrastination… and you’ll find the proof in my cutlery drawer

We have become a nation of procrastinators, a nation of ‘procrastinators’.nation‘, if you want. Social scientist Dr. from Cambridge University. That’s what Itamar Shatz says, and who am I to argue? Or at least until I finished going through my cutlery drawer.

We are always told that procrastination is not a praiseworthy trait. But it still seems to have become one of our most common habits.

Researchers estimate that one in five adults is a chronic procrastinator; This is a consistent figure across the global population, with almost half of Britons saying it has had a negative impact on their lives. It is described as an ‘epidemic’ in some academic circles.

In contrast, similar studies conducted in the 1970s found that only 5 percent of people procrastinated; which makes this a very modern problem.

Why this should be the subject of much research, but the obvious culprits are social media (the ultimate waste of time) and other digital distractions, fear of failure, performance anxiety, etc. There’s also, of course, good old-fashioned laziness.

So what’s going on inside our empty heads? From a scientific perspective, the problem appears to be a mismatch between the way our human brains evolved and the overstimulating modern environment we have created.

Essentially, our reward centers focus on food, shelter, warmth, etc. It is programmed to respond to our urgent physical needs such as: And since these are largely taken care of (at least in the Western world), our brains look for dopamine hits elsewhere.

We postpone boring or routine tasks that provide long-term satisfaction in favor of quick and easy activities that yield immediate results. So when you sit down to file your taxes, you find yourself scrolling through Instagram for half an hour or taking your dog for another walk.

Personally, I don’t think this is that surprising. Procrastination is a logical response to a world increasingly dominated by tedious administrative tasks that I call “sadmin.” You know the stuff: renewing your parking permit, resetting a forgotten password, setting up two-factor authentication (one of the great evils of the digital age), canceling any subscriptions you’ve accidentally clicked on.

‘Sadmin’ bores me so much, so I’m procrastinating. So much of my life is wasted sitting on hold in remote call centers, filling out online forms, getting stuck in digital disaster loops, or just yelling at my computer that always says no. Why wouldn’t I choose to organize my sock drawers?

But even before this tsunami of boredom dominated our lives, I was an incorrigible procrastinator. In fact, some (especially my ex-husband) might say that I’m the queen of procrastination, which often means pretty extreme displacement activity. He would often come home to see me rearranging the living room instead of doing something useful like paying road tax. This may have something to do with my Mediterranean upbringing. Italians are champions at procrastination, as anyone who has had the misfortune of hiring a builder in that country will know.

Similarly, construction of the Spanish Sagrada Familia in Barcelona began in 1882 and was only completed last month: this is a world-class delay. The French can delay for days, especially if it means annoying an Englishman. As a writer, this comes with the territory. All writers are procrastinators. Most of what we do is sit around all day, staring at the walls and brewing endless cups of tea, and then hastily snacking on a snack half an hour before the deadline.

The excitement is great. The reward is not procrastination itself, but the hyperfocus that comes with the panic of realizing you’ve wasted most of your day… that is, procrastination.

In fact, if I had a slogan it would be: ‘Why should I do something now that can be successfully postponed until after lunch?’ That’s probably why I piss off all my editors.

However, I think procrastination is far from a waste of time, it is actually a valuable activity. This is a form of mental throat clearing; It’s a brief distraction that gives the brain a chance to relax before moving on to the real task at hand. It can be a useful tool for creativity, allowing the mind to drift into areas it might not otherwise go.

So don’t listen to the words of fools. Embrace your inner procrastinator. You never know where it might take you. Either way, you’ll have a very well-organized cutlery drawer.

Let them eat cake

I must admit, I’m starting to wonder whether Brooklyn Beckham is right when he accuses his parents of being obsessed with promoting the ‘Beckham brand’ and preferring ‘performative’ family relationships to authentic ones.

To celebrate Harper’s 15th birthday, both David and Victoria posted enthusiastic tribute posts on Instagram; Victoria accompanied Harper with a photo of her as a toddler with her brother, Brooklyn; This was a move guaranteed to provoke. His other brothers and partners also joined in with their own ‘heartfelt’ messages. Have these people ever sat around eating cake and singing Happy Birthday like a normal family? Or are they all too busy?they polish their social media postsQ?

David Beckham with his daughter Harper as part of his enthusiastic ‘happy birthday’ post on Instagram

Shame on Tatchell for his disgusting insult to Ann

Ann Widdecombe’s death in appalling circumstances came as a terrible shock to all who knew and loved her. She was a true original, a woman who knew her own mind and lived her life according to her own moral compass. He defined what it meant to be a politician of faith and was often ridiculed by those who considered themselves more ‘progressive’ for his outdated views.

One of these people is veteran gay rights activist Peter Tatchell; When he heard of her death, he apologized for this post, which he has now deleted, calling him a ‘bigot’ about X. However, it is useful to remind people of his true words. ‘Conservative former MP #AnnWiddecombe is dead!’ wrote. ‘For 40 years he opposed every law reform against homosexuals and supported every form of legal discrimination against LGBT people. He also supported proposals to “cure” homosexuality and said people should have the right to discriminate against LGBT people. BUSY!’

So much for tolerance. Just because someone doesn’t agree with your policies doesn’t mean they deserve to die. There is no honor in shouting with joy when an old woman dies in her own home.

Forget Andy Burnham and his eyelashes, all my female friends (who mostly vote Tory) are obsessed with ex-Royal Marine and Afghan veteran Al Carns. The fact that he is a Labor MP does not seem to bother them; There’s clearly something about a man who used to wear a uniform that transcends political divides.

Forget Andy Burnham and his eyelashes, all my female friends (who mostly vote Tory) are obsessed with former Royal Marine and Afghan veteran Al Carns.