ProcrastinationTEDTimUrbanIncollege,

Iwasagovernmentmajor,

whichmeansIhadtowritealotofpapers.

Now,whenanormalstudentwritesapaper,

theymightspreadtheworkoutalittlelikethis.

AndIwouldwanttodothatlikethat.

Thatwouldbetheplan.

Iwouldhaveitallreadytogo,

butthen,

actually,thepaperwouldcomealong,

andthenIwouldkindofdothis.Andthatwouldhappeneverysinglepaper.Butthencamemy90seniorthesis,

apaperyou'resupposedtospendayearon.

AndIknewforapaperlikethat,mynormalworkflowwasnotanoption.

Itwaswaytoobigaproject.

SoIplannedthingsout,

andIdecidedIkindofhadtogosomethinglikethis.

Thisishowtheyearwouldgo.

Butthen,thefunniestthinghappened.

Thosefirstfewmonths?

Theycameandwent,

andIcouldn'tquitedostuff.

Sowehadanawesomenewrevisedplan.Butthenthosemiddlemonthsactuallywentby,

andIdidn'treallywritewords,

andsowewerehere.Andthentwomonthsturnedintoonemonth,

whichturnedintotwoweeks.

AndonedayIwokeup

withthreedaysuntilthedeadline,

stillnothavingwrittenaword,

andsoIdidtheonlythingIcould:

Iwrote90pagesover72hours,

pullingnotonebuttwoall-nighters--

gotitinjustatthedeadline.

Anyway,todayI'mawriter-bloggerguy.Andacoupleofyearsago,Idecidedtowriteaboutprocrastination.

Now,Ihadahypothesisthatthebrainsofprocrastinatorswereactuallydifferent

thanthebrainsofotherpeople.

Iactuallybroughtthemheretoshowyoutoday.Sohere'sthebrainofanon-procrastinatorNow...here'smybrain.Thereisadifference.BothbrainshaveaRationalDecision-Makerinthem,buttheprocrastinator'sbrainalsohasanInstantGratificationMonkey.Now,whatdoesthismeanfortheprocrastinator?Well,itmeanseverything'sfineuntilthishappens.SotheRationalDecision-Makerwillmaketherationaldecisiontodosomethingproductive,buttheMonkeydoesn'tlikethatplan,soheactuallytakesthewheel,Thenwe'regoingtogoovertothefridge,toseeifthere'sanythingnewintheresince10minutesago.Afterthat,we'regoingtogoonaYouTubespiral

thatstartswithvideosofRichardFeynmantalkingaboutmagnets

andendsmuch,muchlaterwithuswatchinginterviews

withJustinBieber'smom."Allofthat'sgoingtotakeawhile,

sowe'renotgoingtoreallyhaveroomonthescheduleforanyworktoday.Now,whatisgoingonhere?

TheInstantGratificationMonkeydoesnotseemlikeaguyyouwantbehindthewheel.

Helivesentirelyinthepresentmoment.

Hehasnomemoryofthepast,noknowledgeofthefuture,andheonlycaresabouttwothings:easyandfun.Now,intheanimalworld,thatworksfine.AndtotheMonkey,

humansarejustanotheranimalspecies.

Youhavetokeepwell-slept,well-fedandpropagatingintothenextgeneration,

whichintribaltimesmighthaveworkedOK.But,ifyouhaven'tnoticed,nowwe'renotintribaltimes.We'reinanadvancedcivilization,andtheMonkeydoesnotknowwhatthatis.

Whichiswhywehaveanotherguyinourbrain,theRationalDecision-Maker,

whogivesustheabilitytodothingsnootheranimalcando.Wecanmakelong-termplans.Andhewantstotakeallofthatintoaccount.Andhewantstojusthaveusdo

whatevermakessensetobedoingrightnow.Now,sometimesitmakessensetobedoingthingsthatareeasyandfun,

likewhenyou'rehavingdinnerorgoingtobedorenjoyingwell-earnedleisuretime.

That'swhythere'sanoverlap.Sometimestheyagree.

Butothertimes,itmakesmuchmoresensetobedoingthingsthatareharderandlesspleasant,

forthesakeofthebigpicture.Andthat'swhenwehaveaconflict.Andfortheprocrastinator,

thatconflicttendstoendacertainwayeverytime,leavinghimspendingalotoftimeinthisorangezone,aneasyandfunplacethat'sentirelyoutoftheMakesSensecircle.IcallittheDarkPlayground.Now,theDarkPlaygroundisaplacethatallofyouprocrastinatorsoutthereknowverywell.It'swhereleisureactivitieshappen

attimeswhenleisureactivitiesarenotsupposedtobehappening.

ThefunyouhaveintheDarkPlayground

isn'tactuallyfun,becauseit'scompletelyunearned,

andtheairisfilledwithguilt,dread,anxiety,self-hatred--

allofthosegoodprocrastinatorfeelings.Andthequestionis,inthissituation,withtheMonkeybehindthewheel,howdoestheprocrastinatorevergethimselfoverheretothisbluezone,

alesspleasantplace,butwherereallyimportantthingshappen?Well,turnsouttheprocrastinatorhasaguardianangel,someonewho'salwayslookingdownonhimandwatchingoverhim

inhisdarkestmomentssomeonecalledthePanicMonster.Now,thePanicMonsterisdormantmostofthetime,

buthesuddenlywakesupanytimeadeadlinegetstoocloseorthere'sdangerofpublicembarrassment,

acareerdisasterorsomeotherscaryconsequence.Andimportantly,he'stheonlythingtheMonkeyisterrifiedof.Now,hebecameveryrelevantinmylifeprettyrecently,

becausethepeopleofTEDreachedouttomeaboutsixmonthsagoandinvitedmetodoaTEDTalk.Now,ofcourse,Isaidyes.

It'salwaysbeenadreamofminetohavedoneaTEDTalkinthepast.Sothat'swhatwedidthatday.Assixmonthsturnedintofourandthentwoandthenone,

thepeopleofTEDdecidedtoreleasethespeakers.

AndIopenedupthewebsite,andtherewasmyfacestaringrightbackatme.Andguesswhowokeup?SothePanicMonsterstartslosinghismind,andafewsecondslater,thewholesystem'sinmayhemAndtheMonkey--remember,he'sterrifiedofthePanicMonster--

boom,he'supthetree!Andfinally,finally,theRationalDecision-MakercantakethewheelandIcanstartworkingonthetalk.Andthisentiresituation,withthethreecharacters--

thisistheprocrastinator'ssystem.It'snotpretty,butintheend,itworks.ThisiswhatIdecidedtowriteaboutontheblogacoupleofyearsago.WhenIdid,Iwasamazedbytheresponse.Literallythousandsofemailscamein,

fromalldifferentkindsofpeoplefromallovertheworld,

doingalldifferentkindsofthings.Thesearepeoplewhowerenurses,bankers,painters,engineers

andlotsandlotsofPhDstudents.Andtheywereallwriting,sayingthesamething:

"Ihavethisproblemtoo."Butwhatstruckmewasthecontrastbetweenthelighttoneofthepostandtheheavinessoftheseemails.Thesepeoplewerewritingwithintensefrustration

aboutwhatprocrastinationhaddonetotheirlives,

aboutwhatthisMonkeyhaddonetothem.AndIthoughtaboutthis,andIsaid,

well,iftheprocrastinator'ssystemworks,thenwhat'sgoingon?Whyareallofthesepeopleinsuchadarkplace?Well,itturnsoutthatthere'stwokindsofprocrastination.

EverythingI'vetalkedabouttoday,theexamplesI'vegiven,

theyallhavedeadlines.Andwhenthere'sdeadlines,

theeffectsofprocrastinationarecontainedtotheshorttermbecausethePanicMonstergetsinvolved.

Butthere'sasecondkindofprocrastination

thathappensinsituationswhenthereisnodeadline.Soifyouwantedacareerwhereyou'reaself-starter--

somethinginthearts,somethingentrepreneurial--there'snodeadlinesonthosethingsatfirst,becausenothing'shappening,notuntilyou'vegoneoutanddonethehardworktogetmomentum,getthingsgoing.Nowiftheprocrastinator'sonlymechanismofdoingthesehardthingsisthePanicMonster,that'saproblem,becauseinallofthesenon-deadlinesituations,

thePanicMonsterdoesn'tshowup.

Hehasnothingtowakeupfor,sotheeffectsofprocrastination,they'renotcontained;

theyjustextendoutwardforever.Andit'sthislong-termkindofprocrastination

that'smuchlessvisibleandmuchlesstalkedaboutthanthefunnier,short-termdeadline-basedkind.It'susuallysufferedquietlyandprivately.Anditcanbethesourceofahugeamountoflong-termunhappiness,andregrets.AndIthought,that'swhythosepeopleareemailing,

andthat'swhythey'reinsuchabadplace.

It'snotthatthey'recrammingforsomeproject.

It'sthatlong-termprocrastinationhasmadethemfeellikeaspectator,attimes,intheirownlives.Thefrustrationisnotthattheycouldn'tachievetheirdreams;

it'sthattheyweren'tevenabletostartchasingthem.SoIreadtheseemailsandIhadalittlebitofanep