The speaker, Tim Urban, shares his personal experiences with procrastination, a topic he explores in-depth on his blog, Wait But Why. He describes his struggle with a large college project, a 90-page senior thesis, which he procrastinated on until the deadline was looming. He managed to complete it in 72 hours, pulling two all-nighters. Despite his late submission, the school praised his work.
Urban hypothesized that procrastinators have different brain structures than non-procrastinators. He scanned his own brain and compared it with a non-procrastinator's. He identified two entities in the brain: the Rational Decision-Maker and the Instant Gratification Monkey. The Rational Decision-Maker is responsible for planning and making decisions, while the Instant Gratification Monkey is driven by immediate pleasure and avoidance of discomfort.
Urban further explains that procrastinators often find themselves in a conflict between their Rational Decision-Maker and their Instant Gratification Monkey. This conflict often results in procrastinators spending time in the "Dark Playground," a place filled with unearned fun and guilt.
To overcome this, Urban introduces the concept of the Panic Monster, a guardian angel that wakes up when a deadline is near or there's a risk of public embarrassment. This monster forces the Rational Decision-Maker to take control, allowing the procrastinator to start working.
Urban concludes by differentiating between short-term procrastination (with deadlines) and long-term procrastination (without deadlines). He argues that long-term procrastination can lead to a significant amount of unhappiness and regret. He encourages everyone to recognize and manage their Instant Gratification Monkeys to avoid being spectators in their own lives.
1. The speaker was a government major in college and had to write a lot of papers.
2. The speaker used to procrastinate on writing papers and would start late and work throughout the week.
3. For a 90-page senior thesis, the speaker's usual work flow was not feasible as it was a large project.
4. The speaker planned to work on the thesis in a staggered manner, starting light and increasing the workload in the middle months and at the end.
5. The speaker ended up writing the 90-page thesis over 72 hours, pulling two all-nighters.
6. The school called the speaker to inform him that his thesis was the best one they've ever seen, despite it being very bad.
7. The speaker is a writer-blogger and writes for the blog Wait But Why.
8. The speaker decided to write about procrastination a couple of years ago.
9. The speaker had a hypothesis that the brains of procrastinators were different from the brains of other people.
10. The speaker found an MRI lab that allowed him to scan his brain and the brain of a proven non-procrastinator to compare them.
11. The speaker found a difference in the brains of procrastinators and non-procrastinators, with procrastinators having an "Instant Gratification Monkey" in their brains.
12. The speaker explained that the "Instant Gratification Monkey" only cares about easy and fun things in the present moment.
13. The speaker introduced the concept of the "Dark Playground", a place where leisure activities happen at times when they are not supposed to be happening.
14. The speaker identified a "Panic Monster" that wakes up anytime a deadline gets too close or there's danger of public embarrassment.
15. The speaker was invited to give a TED Talk but procrastinated on it, with the Rational Decision-Maker and the Panic Monster having a conflict.
16. The speaker received thousands of emails from people all over the world who identified with his experiences of procrastination.
17. The speaker identified two types of procrastination: one with deadlines and another without deadlines.
18. The speaker suggested that everyone is a procrastinator and advised everyone to stay aware of the "Instant Gratification Monkey".