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

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The Brain of a Non Procrastinator (00:03:40)

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.

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.