Tim Urban: Inside the mind of a master procrastinator | TED

The struggle of procrastination

• The speaker shares his personal experience of being a procrastinator during his time in university when he had to write many papers.
• He describes how the workload seemed manageable at first, but as the deadline approached, it became overwhelming.

“And this is true of everything I write. Until the very end, there’s always this voice that says, ‘You still have time, don’t start. You can wait another week!”

A failed plan

• The speaker explains his attempt to create a detailed plan for a large project, akin to a thesis.
• He planned to start with easy and light work, increase effort halfway through the year, and work hardest at the end.
• However, the plan did not work out as intended, and he ended up procrastinating until he had only three days left before the deadline.

“I ended up writing the whole thing the weekend before it was due and calling it ‘The Panic Monster.'”

False sense of accomplishment

• The speaker recounts how he submitted his poorly-written thesis on time and initially believed he had accomplished everything.
• However, a week later, he received a call from the university requesting a discussion about his thesis.

“They said, ‘It’s the best thesis we’ve ever received!’… But that didn’t actually happen. It was really bad.”

Exploring the mind of a procrastinator

• The speaker is now a writer and blogger who explores the topic of procrastination on his blog.
• He wanted to explain to others why they procrastinate and what goes on in the minds of procrastinators.
• To test his theory, he used a brain imaging device to compare the brains of procrastinators and non-procrastinators.

“And to test this, I found an MRI lab that let me scan my brain, and the brain of a [non-procrastinator], so I could compare them, and I brought the pictures with me today to show you.”

The Two Sides of the Mind

• Our mind consists of two parts: the rational decision-maker and the instant gratification monkey.
• The procrastinator’s mind contains both of these elements.

“This is the perfect time to get work done.” “No!”

• The rational decision-maker wants to do something productive, but the instant gratification monkey pushes for immediate fun and pleasures.

The Procrastinator’s Dilemma

• The procrastinator is constantly stuck between the rational and enjoyable options.
• They often give in to the monkey’s desires, leading to wasted time and missed opportunities for productivity.

“All of this will take time, and there’s no space to get anything done today.”

• The instant gratification monkey convinces the procrastinator that there is no time or energy left to work on anything.

Living in the Present

• The instant gratification monkey lives completely in the present moment.
• It has no memory of the past or any knowledge of the future.

“Easy and fun.”

• The monkey’s only concern is pursuing activities that are easy and enjoyable.
• In the animal world, this behavior is perfectly acceptable.

Humans and Procrastination

• Humans, like monkeys, have basic needs for eating, sleeping, and reproducing.
• However, humans also have the ability to plan, imagine the future, and have long-term goals.

“We can imagine the future, see the big picture, and make long-term plans.”

• The rational decision-maker in our mind allows us to think ahead and make logical choices.

The Clash between Logical and Enjoyable Choices

• The rational decision-maker wants us to do what seems right and logical in the present moment.
• Sometimes, doing something enjoyable and logical aligns, like having dinner or enjoying leisure time.

“There is an overlap between the logical and the enjoyable.”

• However, there are times when doing something that is more logical may seem difficult and unenjoyable.

The Procrastinator’s Inner Struggle

• This conflict between logic and enjoyment often leads to internal conflicts for the procrastinator.
• They spend most of their time in the “dark playground,” a separate realm from the logical circle.

“I call it the dark playground.”

• The dark playground is a fun and easy place but is completely disconnected from the logical circle.

The Illusion of Fun in the Dark Playground

• The procrastinator is familiar with the dark playground, where they engage in leisure activities when they should be working.
• The so-called fun in the dark playground is not real fun because it is undeserved.

“The atmosphere is filled with guilt, unhappiness, anxiety, and self-loathing.”

• Rather than experiencing genuine joy, the procrastinator feels negative emotions in the dark playground.

The Procrastinator’s Inner Struggle Continues

• The dark playground is where the procrastinator experiences their beautiful but conflicting emotions of guilt, unhappiness, and self-hatred.
• This ongoing struggle can prevent them from accomplishing their goals and living a fulfilling life.

The Procrastination Monster

• Procrastination is driven by a fear of the “Panic Monster”, a personification of the negative consequences and pressure associated with deadlines and important tasks.
• The Panic Monster sleeps most of the time, but wakes up suddenly when a significant deadline approaches or there is a threat of embarrassment, job loss, or any scary consequence.
• The Procrastination Monster is the only thing that truly scares the procrastinator.

“The Panic Monster” is the one thing that truly scares the monkey.

Procrastination and TED

• The speaker, Tim Urban, shares his personal experience with the Procrastination Monster through his TED talk.
• TED reached out to Urban six months before the conference, inviting him to speak.
• While thrilled, Urban’s logical decision-making process was interrupted by the Procrastination Monster’s suggestion to surf Google Maps and explore India for hours.
• They actually spent a few hours exploring India instead of immediately working on the speech.

“What about opening Google Maps, zooming into the bottom of India, exploring it… for two and a half hours until we get to the top.”

The Chaos of Procrastination

• The Procrastination Monster causes madness and chaos when it takes over the decision-making process.
• Urban metaphorically represents the Procrastination Monster as a separate character from the logical decision-maker, the monkey.
• The monkey, despite being scared of the Procrastination Monster, eventually takes control and starts working on the TED talk.

“The monkey – remember, the monkey is terrified of the Procrastination Monster – starts to freak out. And in seconds, the system collapses into chaos.”

The Power of Procrastination

• Despite its negative reputation, Urban believes that procrastination can actually be effective.
• He wrote a blog post about his procrastination experiences, which garnered thousands of responses from people around the world.
• People from all walks of life, including nurses, bankers, artists, and engineers, shared their struggles with procrastination.

“The thing that shocked me was the contrast between the lightness of what I had written and the heaviness of these messages.”

The Impact of Procrastination

• The messages highlighted the impact procrastination had on people’s lives and the frustration it caused.
• Urban realized that there are two types of procrastination, and the examples he mentioned in the talk all had deadlines associated with them.
• Procrastination becomes more manageable in the short term when there are no deadlines involved.

“When there’s no deadline, no “Panic Monster”, the effects of procrastination are contained and confined.”

Different types of procrastination

• There are different types of procrastination, including one that occurs in situations without a definite deadline.
• For example, starting a freelance project, an artistic endeavor, or an entrepreneurial venture.
• These types of work don’t have specific deadlines initially because nothing is already in progress.

The challenge of starting important tasks

• If you go out and start doing the hard work, you’ll gain momentum to tackle other tasks.
• There are also many important tasks outside of your work that don’t have deadlines, like visiting family or taking care of your health.
• Procrastination is a problem because the “panic monster” won’t show up for these important tasks that lack deadlines.

Long-term procrastination

• Long-term procrastination is not often talked about compared to short-term, deadline-driven procrastination.
• It can be a big source of long-term sadness and regret.
• Many people suffer from long-term procrastination and reach out for help in a bad state.

The frustration of not pursuing dreams

• People reach out for help not because they failed to achieve their dreams but because they couldn’t even start pursuing them.
• Reading those messages inspired the speaker to realize that everyone is a procrastinator.
• Although people may not be chaotic like some, many still have a good relationship with deadlines and commitments.

The secret of the monkey brain

• The monkey brain trick is when there is no specific deadline.
• The speaker reveals the “life calendar” that represents 90 years of life.
• Each box on the calendar represents a week, and there aren’t many of them.

Reflecting on what we postpone

• We need to take a deep look at what we are postponing in our lives.
• Each of us has something we are procrastinating.
• We must beware of the instant gratification monkey, and it is our shared responsibility.

Taking action now

• Because there aren’t many boxes on the life calendar, it is essential to start the task now.
• Each individual should start taking action from today, recognizing that time is limited.
• The speaker acknowledges that “today” may not be the exact starting point but encourages the audience to begin soon.