Looking at the undone homework on his desk always makes David Grey feel uncomfortable. More often than not, David leaves his homework behind and surfs the Internet or watches TV instead, waiting until the last minute. "But the longer 1 wait," says David, aged 15, "the more I worry."
Everyone procrastinates（拖延） because they want to feel good now. The way to do that is to avoid the task. You can procrastinate on nearly anything, even enjoyable tasks such as planning a vacation. "Some people procrastinate cleaning. Some people procrastinate by cleaning," says Professor Peter Stone. Research has shown that the top tasks young people procrastinate are studying and going to bed. "One big cause for procrastination is that people are afraid of failure （失败）, of not meeting others' expectations （期待）," Stone adds.
Some people believe that procrastination will make them thrive. But researchers disagree. "I did a study several years ago, asking procrastinators to finish a task in a certain period of time," says Stone. "They did worse than non-procrastinators: they made more mistakes and they took longer. But they thought they did better." No matter what the cause is, procrastination is usually not going to be good for you. For example, bedtime procrastination can lead to sleeplessness, which in turn can cause many other health problems.
For those who need some drives to stop procrastinating, the best advice might be to take action first. If you've been procrastinating on forming a habit of exercise, just put on your walking shoes. A little bit of progress will get you moving.
Next, find something to help you remember to take action. If you want to go to bed at 10:30 pm, you might set a timed dimmer switch（渐暗开关） at 10 pm. When the lights are dimmer, you'll start going to bed. It works for most people.
Finally, reward yourself every time you make progress. For example, after you've run 3 km, enjoy your favourite ice-cream. But be careful: it won't work the other way around.
