We have become a nation of procrastinators, a ‘procrasti-nation’, if you like. So says Dr Itamar Shatz, a social scientist at Cambridge University, and who am I to argue? Or at least not until I’ve finished auditing my cutlery drawer.Procrastination, we are always told, is not a laudable trait. And yet it seems it has become one of our most common habits.Researchers estimate that one in five adults are chronic procrastinators, a figure consistent across the global population, and almost half of Britons say it negatively affects their lives. In certain academic circles it is being described as an ‘epidemic’.By contrast, similar studies conducted in the 1970s found that only around 5 per cent of people procrastinated, making it a very modern problem.Why this should be is the subject of much research, but obvious culprits are social media (the ultimate time-waster) and other digital distractions, fear of failure, performance anxiety and so on. Plus, of course, there’s good old-fashioned laziness.So what’s going on inside our idle minds? From a scientific point of view, the issue seems to be a mismatch between the way our human brains have evolved and the hyper-stimulating modern environment we have created.In essence, our reward centres are programmed to respond to satisfying our immediate physical needs – food, shelter, warmth and so on. And since they are largely taken care of (in the Western world at any rate), our brains seek dopamine hits elsewhere.We delay tedious or routine tasks that offer long-term gratification in favour of quick and easy activities that offer instant hits. Hence why, when you sit down to file your tax return, you find yourself scrolling Instagram for half an hour or taking the dog for another walk. Construction on the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona began in 1882, and was only completed last month: that is world-class procrastinationPersonally, I don’t think it’s that surprising. Procrastination is a sane response to a world increasingly dominated by tedious administrative tasks, which I call ‘sadmin’. You know the sort of thing: renewing your parking permit, re-setting the password you’ve forgotten again, setting up two-factor authentication (one of the great evils of the digital age), cancelling all those subscriptions you clicked on by mistake.‘Sadmin’ bores me rigid, so I procrastinate. Far too much of my life is wasted sitting on hold to remote, box-ticking call centres, filling in online forms, getting stuck in digital doom-loops or just screaming at my computer, which always says no. Why wouldn’t I rather tidy my sock drawers?But even before this tsunami of tedium came to dominate our lives, I was an inveterate procrastinator. In fact, some might say (mainly my ex-husband) that I am the queen of procrastination, which often translates into some quite extreme displacement activity. He would often come home to find I had rearranged the living room rather than, say, do something useful like pay the road tax. This may well have something to do with my Mediterranean upbringing. Italians are champion procrastinators, as anyone who has ever has the misfortune of hiring a builder in that country will know.Likewise, the Spanish: construction on the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona began in 1882, and was only completed last month: that is world-class procrastination. The French can procrastinate for days, especially if it means they get to irritate an Englishman. As a writer, it comes with the territory. All writers are procrastinators. A lot of what we do is sit around all day, staring at walls and making endless cups of tea before bashing something out in a flurry half an hour before deadline.The thrill is immense. The reward is not the procrastination itself but the hyper-focus that comes with the panic of realising you’ve wasted most of your day... well, procrastinating.Indeed, if I had a motto, it would be: ‘Why do now what can successfully be put off until after lunch?’ Which is probably why I drive all my editors mad.But I would argue that procrastination, far from being a waste of time, is actually a worthwhile activity. It’s a form of mental throat-clearing, a brief distraction that gives the brain a chance to relax before getting down to the real business at hand. It can be a helpful tool for creativity, allowing the mind to drift off into areas it might not otherwise go to.So don’t listen to the eggheads. Embrace your inner procrastinator. You never know where he or she might lead you. Either way, you’ll have a very well-organised cutlery drawer.Let them eat cakeI must confess, I am starting to wonder whether Brooklyn Beckham might have had a point when he accused his parents of being obsessed with promoting ‘brand Beckham’ and preferring ‘performative’ family relationships over authentic ones.To celebrate Harper’s 15th birthday, both David and Victoria posted gushing tributes on Instagram, Victoria accompanying hers with a picture of Harper as a toddler with her brother Brooklyn, a move guaranteed to provoke. Her other brothers and their partners joined in with their own ‘heartfelt’ messages. Do these people ever just sit around eating cake and singing Happy Birthday like a normal family? Or are they all too busy polishing their social media posts? David Beckham with daughter Harper as part of a gushing 'happy birthday' post on InstagramShame on Tatchell for his vile Ann slurThe death in horrific circumstances of Ann Widdecombe has come as a terrible shock to all those who knew and loved her. She was a true original, a woman who knew her own mind and lived her life according to her own moral compass. She defined what it meant to be a conviction politician and was often derided for her unfashionable views by those who considered themselves more ‘progressive’.One such individual is the veteran gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who upon hearing of her death called her a ‘bigot’ on X, in a post which he has now deleted and apologised for. But it’s worth reminding people of his actual words. ‘Tory ex-MP #AnnWiddecombe is dead!’ he wrote. ‘She opposed every gay law reform for 40 years, supporting every legal discrimination against LGBTs. She also backed bids to “cure” homosexuality and said people should have the right to discriminate against LGBTs. BIGOT!’So much for tolerance. Just because someone disagrees with your politics doesn’t mean they deserve to die. There is no glory in crowing over the death of an elderly woman in her own home.Forget Andy Burnham and his eyelashes, all my female (mostly Tory-voting) friends are obsessed with ex-Royal Marine and Afghan veteran Al Carns. The fact that he’s a Labour MP doesn’t seem to bother them – clearly there’s something about a man who used to be in uniform that transcends political divides. Forget Andy Burnham and his eyelashes, all my female (mostly Tory-voting) friends are obsessed with ex-Royal Marine and Afghan veteran Al Carns