Did you know that procrastination isn’t caused by laziness?

Just like anything else, procrastination has a body-emotion-thought connection. For example, research shows several causes for procrastination:

BODY: Procrastination can be caused by low activity or damage in the prefrontal cortex. This is the part of the brain that filters out stimuli, especially distracting stimulation that makes it difficult to stay focused and organized around completing a task.

When you were little and the teacher asked what you wanted to be when you grew up, you surely didn't answer "miserable!"

At every stage in life, unhappiness is not a state to which we aspire. But with the economy rolling downhill, the vision of our own prosperity can seem like a tiny, inflatable raft in an ocean of fear. In such unstable times, the pursuit of happiness can feel like a taunt rather than an inalienable right.

Still, it's worth the effort. Emerging research shows that while trauma has a profound impact on the brain, the brain is not as hard-wired as previously thought. We can learn to be happier. In fact, the most popular class at Harvard University is one in which students learn to train their brains to cultivate what instructor Tal Ben-Shahar calls the ultimate currency: happiness.