The psychologist talked about the types and ways to combat procrastination.

Procrastination is not just laziness or lack of self—discipline, but a complex psychological process in which fears, beliefs, emotions and physiological reactions of the body are intertwined. On March 1, corporate psychologist Maria Mitichkina told Izvestia about her types and methods of struggle.

One of the main factors that can subsequently lead to a state of procrastination is increased anxiety.

"A person may not realize that background anxiety, thoughts, and experiences have a big impact on our actions. A person gets distracted, goes for coffee once more, browses online stores and cannot concentrate on the task precisely because of this," said Mitichkina.

The psychologist advised me to monitor my condition at the first signs of increased anxiety. A psychologist can help you figure out the cause of your condition and work out an internal conflict. She also recommended trying techniques to relieve anxiety, including special breathing exercises, sports, and outdoor walks.

In addition, another marker of procrastination is the constant desire to postpone important things for later, frequent delays, and the inability to get to work on time.

The impact of social media: mental health problems have reached pandemic proportions

Doctors have spoken out about the rise in mental illness and the reasons for it

"To get rid of procrastination, it is not enough to study time management techniques, deeper psychological work is needed. It is important to admit to yourself that you are prone to procrastination of this type, to have a sincere desire to change it, to accept that it is necessary and important to do on time, to shift the focus from your ego to waiting for others — you will let down the department, other people," said Mitichkina.

The psychologist also stressed that sometimes a person can procrastinate due to the fact that he lacks the competencies to do his job, and therefore it seems difficult to him.

"If you have difficulties completing basic tasks, you need to figure out which skills need to be upgraded, what to learn, and who to ask for advice from. If the task is not interesting, it is recommended to mix it with other tasks that are of greater interest. For example, you can alternate working with people with working on accounting tables," the expert concluded.

On February 7, Invitro neurologist Anastasia Borodina told Izvestia about the effect of stress on memory and emotions. According to her, against this background, activation of the sympathoadrenal and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal systems is observed, which leads to exhaustion of the body. According to scientific research, stress can exacerbate back pain in 16% of cases, as well as reduce the function and number of brain neurons, especially in the structure of the hippocampus, an area of the brain responsible for memory and emotions. This is one of the early changes in the brain in Alzheimer's disease, manifested in a significant decrease in cognitive functions.