What type of procrastinator are you – and how to fix it now (not later)

Dr., a lecturer at the University of Cambridge, who published a book on the subject this week. Itamar Shatz says the reason for this may be concealed or disguised.

He says understanding which procrastinator you are can really help.

According to Shatz, people any of nine types, externalsometimes simultaneously.

For example, dreamers dream too much about the future, while rioters feel a lack of control and postpone protests.

Hedonists care too much about instant gratification, thrill seekers enjoy deadlines at the expense of themselves, and zigzaggers switch between tasks too frequently.

Other species also bear their own names; worriers, pessimists, perfectionists, and overworked burnouts.

Workplace psychologist Ian MacRae of the British Psychological Society says labels are fine as long as people understand they are not permanent character traits.

“I encourage people to think, ‘Oh, I’m acting like a perfectionist today,’ rather than, ‘I’m a perfectionist.’

Prof Fuschia Sirois, a renowned expert in the field at Durham University, rejects categories and says the main reason for procrastination is often the same: avoiding bad feelings.

“We don’t postpone the task, we avoid the unpleasant feelings associated with it,” explains Sirois.

He says studies of brain activity in procrastinators reveal visible differences in areas related to emotion regulation.

“When we feel a threat, the amygdala is activated, and this threat sensor is faster than the reaction time of the rational part of our brain (the prefrontal cortex), which tells us that the situation will not be that bad.”