Make Up Your Mind, Save Your Heart

Are you the type of person who takes your time to make up your mind? Well, you should maybe think about breaking that habit and tearing through the to-do list. A new study in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine reports that self-admitted procrastinators are more likely to have heart disease.

Bishop’s University in Quebec carried out the research by asking two groups of people questions that measured their level of delaying decisions and procrastination. One group had hypertension and cardiovascular disease; the other group were healthy with no such issues. The result? The first group shared a tendency to procrastinate and putting things off for another day.

Melissa Dahl of nymag.com explored why such characteristics may be linked to heart disease, pointing towards possibilities like people putting off tasks that may lead to healthier behaviour, such as exercising and making healthy meals. There’s also the mounting stress that comes with not doing things when they need to be done.

So, here’s an April resolution. Take some time over the weekend to get those niggling tasks done, dusted, buried. We use the app Wunderlist. Maybe you’ve found another one that suits? Either way, not only will you be a more productive person, but you might help your heart.

nymag.com

Follow Jeanne Sutton on Twitter @jeannedesutun

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