Imagine if every spare second of your time was used constructively. 10 minutes here and there learning a language, frequent 30 second pushups, 5 minutes working out perspectives for a new painting, several minutes studying textbooks related to your career. You would be a hench polyglot a the top of their field of expertise with multiple skills and hobbies. The amount of additional knowledge over a lifetime would be huge. But we find that this is next to impossible.

The mind, like matter, seems to have a sort of inertia. When many things are happening, when you feel energised, you generally continue to move with that momentum and end up having a very productive and satisfying day. But likewise when you have woken up late and eat breakfast slowly, the pace of activity usually continues at this sluggish rate - often finding yourself lying there unproductive and feeling sad about it.

Why do we procrastinate then? What value do we get out of doing absolutely nothing except avoiding the prospect of doing something. Is procrastination energy efficient? Is it a survival tactic to ensure our brains never overwork themselves? And also is it the dull mood of a slow day that makes us procrastinate or is it procrastination that affects our mood? How does one change their mental inertia?