IELTS READING S52AT2

“JUST DO IT!” Or – the subtle art of procrastination

Procrastination, a kind of chronic time-wasting, has long been dismissed as an innocuous human foible. Q14 Researchers are now beginning a more sober examination of this practice, however, and there may be good reason for doing so: twenty percent of Americans now admit to suffering from procrastination, a fifteen percent jump from 1970. Researchers are bemused as to Q15 what explains this sharp rise in the figures, but there is no doubt that procrastination is wreaking havoc on people’s lives. One side effect is perhaps the most predictable: procrastination hampers academic and work commitments as sufferers fail to meet deadlines or achieve their goals. But there are other costs too. In shifting burdens of responsibility onto others and reneging on their promises, procrastinators undermine relationships both in the workplace and in their private lives, all of which takes a toll on their well-being. Q17 In one study, over the course of a semester, procrastinating university students were noted to be suffering from notably weaker immune systems, more gastrointestinal problems, and higher occurrences of insomnia than their nonprocrastinating peers.

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