Understanding Procrastination: Insights from Wait But Why

Study Notes

The speaker was a chronic procrastinator in college and struggled with writing papers.
He planned to change his work flow for his senior thesis but still ended up procrastinating until the last minute.
The speaker is now a writer-blogger and wrote about procrastination on his blog, Wait But Why.
He hypothesized that the brains of procrastinators were different from non-procrastinators and conducted an MRI scan to compare.
The procrastinator's brain has an Instant Gratification Monkey that interferes with productivity.
Procrastinators spend a lot of time in the "Dark Playground," where leisure activities happen when they shouldn't.
The Panic Monster is the only thing the Monkey is afraid of and is the only thing that can motivate the procrastinator to work.
There are two kinds of procrastination: short-term with deadlines and long-term without deadlines.
Long-term procrastination can lead to regret and unhappiness.
The speaker believes that everyone procrastinates to some extent, even if they have a healthy relationship with deadlines.1. The speaker suggests that everyone is procrastinating on something in life.
He advises people to take a long, hard look at their calendar.
The Instant Gratification Monkey needs to be kept in check by everyone.
The job of staying aware of the monkey is a collective responsibility.
The speaker implies that there are not many days left to start this job.
He concludes his talk by thanking the audience.

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