Procrastination is a cross-culturally prevalent problematic behavior that significantly impacts learning, work, daily life, emotions, and overall well-being. While existing literature has explored its causes and influencing factors, a comprehensive understanding of procrastination’s etiology remains elusive. This paper adopts a multi-modal, multi-omics perspective to systematically review and analyze the cognitive mechanisms, neural foundations, genetic bases, and potential metabolic underpinnings of procrastination. We propose an integrated theoretical framework incorporating cognitive-neurological-genetic-microbial- metabolic based on it, aiming to elucidate the complex mechanisms underlying procrastination and provide a more comprehensive view of its occurrence, development, and formation. Future research should enrich molecular genetic, metabolic, and microbiome studies of procrastination, further integrate multi-modal and multi-omics research, and explore the developmental mechanisms of procrastination from a longitudinal perspective. These efforts will facilitate early detection, prevention, and precise intervention strategies for procrastination behavior.
