Watch the full talk:
A clip from Tim Urban’s TED Talk “Inside the mind of a master procrastinator” from TED2016
Tim Urban knows that procrastination doesn’t make sense, but he’s never been able to shake his habit of waiting until the last minute to get things done. In this hilarious and insightful talk, Urban takes us on a journey through YouTube binges, Wikipedia rabbit holes and bouts of staring out the window — and encourages us to think harder about what we’re really procrastinating on, before we run out of time.
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So in college, 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.
And I would want to do that.
But then, actually, the paper would come along,
and then I would kind of do this.
Now, I had a hypothesis that the brains of
procrastinators were actually different than
the brains of other people.
And to test this, I found an MRI lab that
actually let me scan both my brain and the
brain of a proven non-procrastinator, so I
could compare them.
So here’s the brain of a non-procrastinator.
Now, here’s my brain.
There is a difference.
Both brains have a Rational Decision-Maker
in them, but the procrastinator’s brain also
has an Instant Gratification Monkey.
Now, what does this mean for the procrastinator?
Well, it means everything’s fine until this
happens.
So the Rational Decision-Maker will make the
rational decision to do something productive,
but the Monkey doesn’t like that plan, so
he actually takes the wheel, and he says,
“Actually, let’s read the entire Wikipedia
page of the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding scandal,
because I just remembered that that happened.”
The Instant Gratification Monkey does not
seem like a guy you want behind the wheel.
He lives entirely in the present moment.
He has no memory of the past, no knowledge
of the future, and he only cares about two
things: easy and fun.
Now, sometimes it makes sense to be doing
things that are easy and fun.
But other times, it makes much more sense
to be doing things that are harder and less
pleasant, for the sake of the big picture.
And that’s when we have a conflict.
Turns out that the procrastinator has a guardian
angel, someone called the Panic Monster.
Now, the Panic Monster is dormant most of
the time, but he suddenly wakes up anytime
a deadline gets too close or there’s danger
of public embarrassment, a career disaster
or some other scary consequence.
But there’s a second kind of procrastination
that happens in situations when there is no
deadline.
So if you wanted to have a career where you’re
a self-starter—something in the arts, something
entrepreneurial—there’s no deadlines on
those things at first, because nothing’s happening,
not until you’ve gone out and done the hard
work to get some momentum, to get things going.
There’s also all kinds of important things
outside of your career that don’t involve
any deadlines, like seeing your family or
exercising and taking care of your health,
working on your relationship or getting out
of a relationship that isn’t working.
Now if the procrastinator’s only mechanism
of doing these hard things is the Panic Monster,
that’s a problem, because in all of these
non-deadline situations, the Panic Monster
doesn’t show up.
And it’s this long-term kind of procrastination
that’s much less visible and much less talked
about than the funnier, short-term deadline-based
kind.
And it can be the source of a huge amount
of long-term unhappiness, and regrets.
I had a little bit of an epiphany.
I don’t think non-procrastinators exist.
That’s right.
I think all of you are procrastinators.
Now, you might not all be a mess, like some
of us, and some of you may have a healthy
relationship with deadlines, but remember:
the Monkey’s sneakiest trick is when the deadlines
aren’t there.
We need to think about what we’re really procrastinating
on, because everyone is procrastinating on
something in life.
That’s a job for all of us, and it’s a job
that should probably start today.
Well, maybe not today, but you know.
Sometime soon.
sertaki
July 17, 2021 at 5:01 pm
Guess why I’m watching this video.
Hot Girls Video XXX
July 17, 2021 at 5:07 pm
Stop drifting for this moment of separation to last,
Ranjeet Odedra
July 17, 2021 at 5:15 pm
Repost ?
Pacmanshooter
July 17, 2021 at 5:15 pm
I am procrasting by watching this.
Mohammed Aejaz Ahmed
July 17, 2021 at 5:21 pm
Thanks for shortening that video, I’m motivated to learn angular now
Felip STR
July 17, 2021 at 5:22 pm
NIce!
thx
Maoux
July 17, 2021 at 5:38 pm
‘and how to still get things done’ ?
Indra Kurniawan
July 17, 2021 at 6:26 pm
I like the long version
Robert Leach
July 17, 2021 at 6:32 pm
I am 76 , change up Boy.
Yas Sin
July 17, 2021 at 6:33 pm
Lol i swear sometimes even my panic monster is a little afraid of the instant gratification monkey XD
123
July 17, 2021 at 7:07 pm
How many years old is this video?
Sathrimel
July 17, 2021 at 7:10 pm
Saved to watch later
Hanzo Hasashi
July 17, 2021 at 7:23 pm
Currently procrastinating applying for jobs 😅 go me
Dani de Janeiro
July 17, 2021 at 7:38 pm
Title: why you procrastinate and how to still get things done
Vídeo: haha silly monkey here comes the monster it happens to everyone see you tomorrow maybe
Me: huh?
Cabdullaahi Bootaan
July 17, 2021 at 8:19 pm
The monkey (procrastinator) snikiest trick is when there is no deadline.
ALI RAWAL
July 17, 2021 at 9:00 pm
Once again I have saved for watch later 🤣🤠
Harshraj Rathore
July 17, 2021 at 9:15 pm
Applying for jobs and getting one is not easy.
الأسود العنسي
July 17, 2021 at 9:33 pm
I will watch this video tomorrow.
Niklas
July 17, 2021 at 9:34 pm
Does Tim have adhd?
Because what he describes in this video is pretty much exactly how people with adhd work…
SimSim
July 17, 2021 at 9:49 pm
And here I thought that this was a follow up talk :/
Still enjoyed the vid though
Tarlan Kasra
July 17, 2021 at 10:07 pm
Of course it happened FYI it was “only” all over the news back in the day SMH.
Arthur He
July 17, 2021 at 10:39 pm
nooooo if it was full length I would procrasinate to watch it and I might get things done otherwise, but now it’s short so the monkey likes it and uses it to procrastinate
TheCommonGentry
July 18, 2021 at 12:50 am
feels weird. didnt think ted-ed would go in this trend threadd/post bumping. .. i genuine thought he did a follow up and the monkey was making a came back :,(
Jamaican Princess1974
July 18, 2021 at 5:14 am
That was funny at the end
Kiran kumar ♂️
July 18, 2021 at 5:24 am
Timetravellers are those who watching this again 😂
patna
July 18, 2021 at 5:33 am
Hard work pays off tomorrow. Procrastination pays off today!
Peter Polak
July 18, 2021 at 6:16 am
Ok bois let’s watch this for the fifth time, but this time in a shortened version
Jo
July 18, 2021 at 6:19 am
Have i watched this already?
Saara
July 18, 2021 at 6:23 am
Coincidence! Am presenting this as a topic for class presentation and am just preparing it few hours left🤦🏽♀️
Big procrastinator here🙋🏽♀️
Gaurav Mishra
July 18, 2021 at 7:15 am
Awesome video 😂😂 more like stand up comedy in disguise..
Karamdeep Singh
July 18, 2021 at 7:22 am
Lol recommended again by youtube
Nikolay Vakulich
July 18, 2021 at 7:44 am
Save to Watch Later
Chan WS
July 18, 2021 at 8:23 am
I’ve procrastinated so much the panic monster has gone away and my work still isn’t done
cosmiicc90
July 18, 2021 at 9:14 am
I’m literally procrastinating watching this video
Eduardo Cardoso
July 18, 2021 at 11:53 am
Subtitles in portuguese please
がだ
July 18, 2021 at 12:02 pm
Actually this is bullshit and the truth is that the monkey is all about future and past. It reminds me that the work will hardly mean anything in the long run and at the same time it reminds me of good times I had implying happiness would ever be lost.
One more thing, when the monkey have grown strong enough, it kills the panic monster.
j.s Varaba
July 18, 2021 at 12:07 pm
1
오늘도 영상 👀잘보고 갈께요~
📰구독 👍좋아요 ⏰알람 ……….👌오케이
(^^) (__)(^^)
n n
July 18, 2021 at 12:52 pm
the cover of this video reminds me of that meme with that dude with an obsessed crazy sight and “MURDER” written on the board
Christopher Sundquist
July 18, 2021 at 2:19 pm
This is a joke. A procrastinator simpley doesn’t do things unless they NEED to be done. They are satisfied with the way things are and don’t want to change unless they NEED to.
Mr Rod
July 18, 2021 at 2:25 pm
I am in the comments for the puns
Sloth Belly
July 18, 2021 at 4:11 pm
stop reminding me that i have work to do when i procrastinating, that creepy.
Kris Bari
July 18, 2021 at 4:46 pm
I’m too lazy to watch this video 🤧
Okay! Watch it later
Marcus Hanna
July 18, 2021 at 5:28 pm
“…and it’s a job that should probably start today. Well, maybe not today. You know…sometime soon…”
-*spoken like a true procrastinator*
mosbyaj
July 18, 2021 at 7:08 pm
Bookmarked so I can watch this later.
MaJR The Chief
July 18, 2021 at 7:52 pm
Yeaaaah!
Cegomez
July 18, 2021 at 8:48 pm
I think I have become the monkey
TheAdventure bro
July 19, 2021 at 12:57 am
My monkey must be the size of King Kong
Bhargav Nanekalva
July 19, 2021 at 2:59 am
… and what is the answer to the second part of the question?
“and how to still get things done”
Paul Dill
July 19, 2021 at 3:20 am
Story of my life.
$
July 19, 2021 at 5:31 am
It’s a long video I’ll watch it later
Nick Nelson
July 19, 2021 at 6:11 am
I’ll watch this later.
ccm800
July 19, 2021 at 7:38 am
Looks like he may have procrastinated those slides 🙂
sondra russell
July 19, 2021 at 8:13 am
I definitely need to save this to watch later
BENZON ANIME NOSTALGIA
July 19, 2021 at 8:18 am
Thank you TED
supercalafragilisticjoy
July 19, 2021 at 10:20 am
I was excited for a moment because I thought TED had brought him on again
Mystery_tech Nepal
July 19, 2021 at 12:59 pm
This thing has been already said in geet years ago
John M
July 19, 2021 at 12:59 pm
I watch this as I have 4 pieces of work due in 4 weeks. About 12000 words total. These are my final pieces of work and then I graduate.
Alistair Strachan
July 19, 2021 at 2:26 pm
I know I am procrastinating doing some work by watching this.
EM.M.A
July 19, 2021 at 2:47 pm
I’m liker no 3333
M. Farhan Reshaina
July 19, 2021 at 7:29 pm
Dude really need some designer
Thomas De Quincey
July 20, 2021 at 12:33 am
Watch the original vid. It’s better.
YANRY
July 20, 2021 at 8:51 am
Just my Two penny:-
Why do you blame yourself in ancient time there was no sense of time Hence No procrastination
Don’t blame yourself blame 9to5 society
And Great achievements are only achieved where there is no sense of time
shelly white
July 20, 2021 at 11:38 am
Never procrastinate especially when it involves making money and investing. procrastinating promotes poverty and laziness
Anthony Szymon
July 20, 2021 at 11:42 am
wise words, the investment market has been tough this days, how do you pull through?
shelly white
July 20, 2021 at 11:46 am
@Anthony Szymon My financial consultant is MORLEY PERCY and I first came in touch with her from an investment podcast, you can get in touch with her by looking up her name online, all her details are public.
jay pritchett
July 20, 2021 at 11:48 am
@shelly white i have heard of Morley Percy, i think i will get in touch with her now. thank you for this valuable information, its never good to procrastinate
Raphael Carizo
July 20, 2021 at 1:02 pm
Here I am procastinating with a video about procastination
Екатерина Забелло
July 20, 2021 at 5:31 pm
What was the moral ? The most educative part ? I know that we are All procrastinators. But is it good or bad? What should I do with it?
Tobi k
July 20, 2021 at 10:40 pm
First TED talk video with comments enabled! yay
Mayur savage
July 21, 2021 at 5:03 am
alright, Lets procrastinate procrastination.!
𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒓𓆃
July 21, 2021 at 5:03 am
alright, Lets procrastinate procrastination.!
Sainty
July 22, 2021 at 12:47 am
He has ADHD😄
Chantelle
July 23, 2021 at 1:01 am
I thought you were going to give me the answer on how to stop procrastinating 💀
Ana Maria
July 23, 2021 at 4:06 pm
a true INTP
Daniel Angelina
July 25, 2021 at 9:42 am
I’m glad that Maskoffweb, did a successful transaction for me I made 14,000 thousand from their service
Team D - Byron Lin
July 26, 2021 at 5:01 pm
Lol I don’t even have a panic monster
chacalou
July 28, 2021 at 3:31 pm
and i still don’t know how to get things done
maybe by just do it
Cassie Beasley
July 29, 2021 at 7:35 pm
My Ted, told me to stop searching and go to bed already 😂.
RAAZR
July 31, 2021 at 12:55 am
Shame the points at the end were cut out. He really hit home when he talked about how we miss out on so much in life because we don’t have something that pushes us to pursue those goals as there’s no deadlines for them.
Sadaf Nawaz
July 31, 2021 at 7:08 pm
This is absolutely case of mine😀
Jose S
August 1, 2021 at 10:52 pm
I finally finished watching the original video after taking an exam I had months to study for but crammed for at the last minute and nearly failed.
Mohammed Aejaz Ahmed
August 3, 2021 at 1:49 pm
I wonder how important this video must be that ted-ed shortened it to make everyone watch it.
A l i sh e r
August 3, 2021 at 2:25 pm
Comment: for Fun
Jeremie BP
August 4, 2021 at 1:39 pm
I’m having strange déjà-vu.
Jaden Anderson TV
August 10, 2021 at 12:48 pm
Just like me when I used all of my work uniforms. I let them pile up first for a few days before doing anything. I only put them into laundry and wash them the night when I don’t have anything to wear tomorrow. 😆
Mohamed Azmi
August 13, 2021 at 10:27 pm
Please.. add arabic translation 🙏