If you're a chronic procrastinator, you can probably put some of the blame on your parents. You know, when you have time.
Genetic factors have been linked to a tendency to procrastinate as well as a penchant for acting impulsively, CNN reported. These two behaviors appear to go hand in hand, based on a new study from University of Colorado at Boulder researchers.
The team hoped to discover why some people are chronic procrastinators and why the tendency to put things off is often connected with a habit of acting impulsively.
"Everyone procrastinates at least sometimes," said lead study author Daniel Gustavson, as quoted by Medical News Today, "but we wanted to explore why some people procrastinate more than others and why procrastinators seem more likely to make rash actions and act without thinking."
Identical twins were participants in the study since they share 100 percent of the same genes. The researchers worked with 181 sets of identical twins as well as 166 pairs of fraternal twins, asking them to complete surveys on their tendencies to be impulsive or to procrastinate.
The university team discovered not only that procrastination and impulsivity are "moderately heritable," but also that the two traits have a "genetic overlap," signifying that no genetic influences link to just one of the traits.
The study showed that struggling to complete tasks may also be influenced by genetics, since the ability to manage goals is similarly linked to the traits.
In the future, researchers hope to find more clues to help chronic procrastinators.
"Learning more about the underpinnings of procrastination may help develop interventions to prevent it, and help us overcome our ingrained tendencies to get distracted and lose track of work," Gustavson said in a statement.
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