Inside the mind of a master procrastinator - Tim Urban

So in college, I was a government major, which means I had to write a lot of papers.Now, when a normal student writes a paper,they might spread the work out a little like this.So,you know--
You get started maybe a little slowly,but you get enough done in the first week that,with some heavier days later on, everything gets done,things stay civil.
And I would want to do that like that.That would be the plan. I would have it all ready to go,but then,actually,the paper would come along,and then I would kind of do this.

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2. People behind this great work… !
Summary By: Hubert Koh
HubertKoh
Founder and chief success officer
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WhyIdidit:Actually,IloveTEDx,speciallyasite
forpersonalselfgrowth.Sometimesthesetalkscan
beverylongandImaynothavethetimetolistenor
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summaryslidesforfuturereference.
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3. People behind this great work… !
About Speaker: Tim Urban
WithWaitButWhy,TimUrbandemonstratesthat
complexandlong-formwritingcanstandoutinan
onlinewildernesschokedwithlisticlesand
clickbait.
TimUrbanhasbecomeoneoftheInternet’smost
popularwriters.Withwrystick-figureillustrations
andoccasionallyepicproseoneverythingfrom
procrastinationtoartificialintelligence,Urban's
blog,WaitButWhy,hasgarneredmillionsofunique
pageviews,thousandsofpatronsandfamousfans
likeElonMusk.

4. An introduction of myself
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8. Introduction…
Soincollege,Iwasagovernmentmajor,which
meansIhadtowritealotofpapers.Now,whena
normalstudentwritesapaper,theymightspread
theworkoutalittlelikethis.So,youknow--
yougetstartedmaybealittleslowly,butyouget
enoughdoneinthefirstweekthat,withsome
heavierdayslateron,everythinggetsdone,things
staycivil.
AndIwouldwanttodothatlikethat.Thatwouldbe
theplan.Iwouldhaveitallreadytogo,butthen,
actually,thepaperwouldcomealong,andthenI
wouldkindofdothis.

9. How the year would go...
But then came my 90-page senior thesis, a paper you're
supposed to spend a year on. And I knew for a paper like
that, my normal work flow was not an option. It was way
too big a project. So I planned things out, and I decided I
kind of had to go something like this. This is how the year
would go.
So I'd start off light, and I'd bump it up in the middle
months, and then at the end, I would kick it up into high
gear just like a little staircase. But then, the funniest thing
happened. Those first few months? They came and went,
and I couldn't quite do stuff. So we had an awesome new
revised plan.

10. It's the best one we've ever seen.…
Butthenthosemiddlemonthsactuallywentby,andIdidn'treallywritewords,andso
wewerehere.Andthentwomonthsturnedintoonemonth,whichturnedintotwo
weeks.AndonedayIwokeupwiththreedaysuntilthedeadline,stillnothaving
writtenaword,andsoIdidtheonlythingIcould:Iwrote90pagesover72hours,
pullingnotonebuttwoall-nighters--humansarenotsupposedtopulltwoall-nighters
--sprintedacrosscampus,doveinslowmotion,andgotitinjustatthedeadline.
Ithoughtthatwastheendofeverything.ButaweeklaterIgetacall,andit'stheschool.
Andtheysay,"IsthisTimUrban?"AndIsay,"Yeah."Andtheysay,"Weneedtotalk
aboutyourthesis."AndIsay,"OK."Andtheysay,"It'sthebestonewe'veeverseen.“
Ijustwantedtoenjoythatonemomentwhenallofyouthought,"Thisguyisamazing!"

11. Here's my brain….
No,no,itwasvery,verybad.Anyway,todayI'mawriter-blogger
guy.IwritetheblogWaitButWhy.Andacoupleofyearsago,I
decidedtowriteaboutprocrastination.Now,Ihadahypothesisthat
thebrainsofprocrastinatorswereactuallydifferentthanthebrains
ofotherpeople.
Andtotestthis,IfoundanMRIlabthatactuallyletmescanbothmy
brainandthebrainofaprovennon-procrastinator,soIcould
comparethem.Iactuallybroughtthemheretoshowyoutoday.
Iwantyoutotakealookcarefullytoseeifyoucannoticea
difference.Iknowthatifyou'renotatrainedbrainexpert,it'snot
thatobvious,butjusttakealook,OK?Sohere'sthebrainofanon-
procrastinator.

12. Rational Decision-Maker…
Thereisadifference.BothbrainshaveaRational
Decision-Makerinthem,buttheprocrastinator'sbrain
alsohasanInstantGratificationMonkey.Now,what
doesthismeanfortheprocrastinator?Well,itmeans
everything'sfineuntilthishappens.
SotheRationalDecision-Makerwillmaketherational
decisiontodosomethingproductive,buttheMonkey
doesn'tlikethatplan,soheactuallytakesthewheel,
andhesays,"Actually,let'sreadtheentireWikipedia
pageoftheNancyKerrigan/TonyaHardingscandal,
becauseIjustrememberedthatthathappened.

13. Monkey does not know what…
And to the Monkey, humans are just another animal species. You have to keep well-slept,
well-fed and propagating into the next generation, which in tribal times might have worked
OK.
But, if you haven't noticed, now we're not in tribal times. We're in an advanced civilization,
and the Monkey does not know what that is. Which is why we have another guy in our brain,
the Rational Decision-Maker, who gives us the ability to do things no other animal can do. We
can visualize the future. We can see the big picture. We can make long-term plans. And he
wants to take all of that into account. And he wants to just have us do whatever makes sense
to be doing right now.
Now, sometimes it makes sense to be doing things that are easy and fun, like when you're
having dinner or going to bed or enjoying well-earned leisure time.

14. Leisure activities…
Now,theDarkPlaygroundisaplacethatallofyou
procrastinatorsoutthereknowverywell.It'swhere
leisureactivitieshappenattimeswhenleisure
activitiesarenotsupposedtobehappening.
Well,turnsouttheprocrastinatorhasaguardian
angel,someonewho'salwayslookingdownonhim
andwatchingoverhiminhisdarkestmoments--
someonecalledthePanicMonster.
And importantly, he's the only thing the Monkey is
terrified of.

15. Knowledge about the growth mindset ...
Butinthemiddleofallthisexcitement,theRationalDecision-Makerseemedto
havesomethingelseonhismind.Hewassaying,"Areweclearonwhatwejust
accepted?Dowegetwhat'sgoingtobenowhappeningonedayinthefuture?We
needtositdownandworkonthisrightnow."AndtheMonkeysaid,"Totallyagree,
butlet'sjustopenGoogleEarthandzoomintothebottomofIndia,like200feet
abovetheground,andscrollupfortwoandahalfhourstilwegettothetopofthe
country,sowecangetabetterfeelforIndia."
AndtheMonkey--remember,he'sterrifiedofthePanicMonster--boom,he'sup
thetree!Andfinally,finally,theRationalDecision-MakercantakethewheelandI
canstartworkingonthetalk.

16. Panic Monster explains …
Allkindsofprettyinsaneprocrastinatorbehavior,
likehowsomeonelikemecouldspendtwoweeks
unabletostarttheopeningsentenceofapaper,and
thenmiraculouslyfindtheunbelievableworkethic
tostayupallnightandwriteeightpages.
WhenIdid,Iwasamazedbytheresponse.Literally
thousandsofemailscamein,fromalldifferentkinds
ofpeoplefromallovertheworld,doingalldifferent
kindsofthings.Thesearepeoplewhowerenurses,
bankers,painters,engineersandlotsandlotsofPhD
students.

17. I have this problem too.…
Andtheywereallwriting,sayingthesamething:"Ihavethisproblemtoo."Butwhatstruckme
wasthecontrastbetweenthelighttoneofthepostandtheheavinessoftheseemails.
Well,itturnsoutthatthere'stwokindsofprocrastination.EverythingI'vetalkedabouttoday,
theexamplesI'vegiven,theyallhavedeadlines.Andwhenthere'sdeadlines,theeffectsof
procrastinationarecontainedtotheshorttermbecausethePanicMonstergetsinvolved.
Butthere'sasecondkindofprocrastinationthathappensinsituationswhenthereisno
deadline.Soifyouwantedacareerwhereyou'reaself-starter--somethinginthearts,
somethingentrepreneurial--there'snodeadlinesonthosethingsatfirst,becausenothing's
happening,notuntilyou'vegoneoutanddonethehardworktogetmomentum,getthings
going.

18. If procrastinator's only mechanism …
Nowiftheprocrastinator'sonlymechanismofdoing
thesehardthingsisthePanicMonster,that'saproblem,
becauseinallofthesenon-deadlinesituations,the
PanicMonsterdoesn'tshowup.

19. You are procrastinators…
SoIreadtheseemailsandIhadalittlebitofanepiphany--thatIdon'tthinknon-
procrastinatorsexist.That'sright--Ithinkallofyouareprocrastinators.Now,you
mightnotallbeamess,likesomeofus,andsomeofyoumayhaveahealthy
relationshipwithdeadlines,butremember:theMonkey'ssneakiesttrickiswhen
thedeadlinesaren'tthere.
Weneedtothinkaboutwhatwe'rereallyprocrastinatingon,becauseeveryoneis
procrastinatingonsomethinginlife.WeneedtostayawareoftheInstant
GratificationMonkey.That'sajobforallofus.

20. Success“When you want something, all the
universe conspires in helping you to
achieve it.” ―Paulo Coelho,
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