Ask someone if they’d rather take $5 today or $10 next week and they’ll know which option is better.

Yet that idea of “today” can have a magnetic pull. It’s precisely the reason many shoppers purchase things they can’t afford yet through “buy now, pay later” schemes – and often regret it afterwards.

We might put such unwise choices down to weak willpower or poor self-control.

But our new research suggests something else may be going on: it’s not that our brains undervalue the future, but that they hate waiting.

We have also found that mindfulness meditation – which can make time feel slower, the future more expansive and waiting less costly – might offer a potential solution.

Why our brains hate waiting

Our research centres on a psychological concept known as delayed gratification, which occurs when we choose a larger reward later over a smaller one today.

This might seem a simple trade-off. But every decision involves weighing two different resources: money and time. We judge not only what the future reward is worth, but also what the wait will cost us.

Unlike money, however, time isn’t always experienced consistently.

Research shows people treat it as a resource........

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