6 Minute English / Why do we procrastinate?

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I m Sam.

And I m Neil.

Come on, Neil, let s make a start! I ve got a deadline to meet today, and I haven t finished my work yet!

Let me guess, it s because you delayed, and delayed, and put your work off until the last minute - as usual! You re a real procrastinator, Sam someone who keeps delaying things that need to be done.

What can I say? I work better when a deadline is approaching.

I see, but did you know that that people who procrastinate have higher levels of stress and lower wellbeing? Procrastination is also linked with lower financial and career success, so there's a lot of reasons not to do it.

In this programme, we re discussing procrastination the act of delaying things that must be done until later, often because they re difficult, boring or unpleasant. And, as usual, we ll be learning some new vocabulary along the way.

So, without wasting any more time, I have a question for you, Sam. The fact that procrastinating, or putting things off, is bad for us doesn t stop people doing it. According to recent research by DePaul University in Chicago, what percentage of people procrastinate so much that it interferes with their day-to-day life? Is it:

a) 10 percent?