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

The Brain of a Non Procrastinator (3m40s)

• The non-procrastinator has a Rational Decision-Maker in their brain.
• The procrastinator has both a Rational Decision-Maker and an Instant Gratification Monkey.
• The Monkey only cares about easy and fun activities and takes over decision-making, leading to unproductive actions like reading random Wikipedia pages or watching videos.
• The Monkey is fixated on the present and ignores the long-term consequences, unlike the Rational Decision-Maker who plans for the future.
• Conflicts between the two lead procrastinators to spend time in the "Dark Playground," characterized by guilt and lack of productivity.

Dark Playground (6m45s) & Two Kinds of Procrastination (10m55s)

• The Dark Playground is where procrastinators engage in leisure activities when they should be working, resulting in negative feelings like guilt and self-hatred.
• The Panic Monster appears when deadlines are near or there's a risk of public embarrassment, and it's the only thing the Monkey fears.
• The Panic Monster's intervention allows the procrastinator to finally focus on important tasks by scaring the Monkey away.
• The immense response to Tim Urban's blog post on procrastination revealed the widespread struggle with the phenomenon, especially its darker, more problematic aspects.
• Apart from deadline-related procrastination, a more insidious kind occurs without deadlines in careers like the arts or entrepreneurship, as well as personal life aspects like relationships and health.
• Long-term procrastination leads to feelings of being a spectator in one's own life and deep-seated regrets.
• Urban suggests that everyone procrastinates to some extent, particularly in situations with no deadlines, challenging the common notion of non-procrastinators.