Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator | Tim Urban | TED

Translator: Estefania Cabeza Reviewer: Carles Serrat Pérez

So in college,

A la universitat,

I was a government major,

estudiava Ciència Política,

which means I had to write a lot of papers.

així que havia de fer un munt de treballs.

Now, when a normal student writes a paper,

Normalment, quan has de fer un treball,

they might spread the work out a little like this.

organitzes la feina més o menys així.

So, you know --

Ja sabeu,...

(Laughter)

(Riure)

you get started maybe a little slowly,

comences a poc a poc,

but you get enough done in the first week

fas prou feina la primera setmana,

that, with some heavier days later on,

treballes fort uns dies més i ja està.

everything gets done, things stay civil.

Treball acabat. Tot en ordre.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

And I would want to do that like that.

Jo volia fer les coses així.

That would be the plan.

Aquest era el pla.

I would have it all ready to go,

Tot estava llest per començar.

but then, actually, the paper would come along,

Tanmateix, a l'hora de fer el treball,

and then I would kind of do this.

això és el que feia en realitat.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

And that would happen every single paper.

Ho feia amb tots els treballs.

But then came my 90-page senior thesis,

Però va arribar l'hora de fer la tesi de 90 pàgines.

a paper you're supposed to spend a year on.

Has de dedicar un any a escriure-la.

And I knew for a paper like that, my normal work flow was not an option.

I sabia que, per a un treball així, no em servia la tàctica habitual.

It was way too big a project.

Era un projecte massa gran.

So I planned things out,

Vaig elaborar un pla.

and I decided I kind of had to go something like this.

Anava així, si fa no fa.

This is how the year would go.

La distribució de l'any:

So I'd start off light,

començar amb poc volum de feina,

and I'd bump it up in the middle months,

augmentar el ritme als mesos del mig,

and then at the end, I would kick it up into high gear

i fer l'esprint final,

just like a little staircase.

seguint l'escala.

How hard could it be to walk up the stairs?

Pujar l'escala no era tan complicat,

No big deal, right?

oi?

But then, the funniest thing happened.

Però va passar una cosa molt divertida.

Those first few months?

Aquells primers mesos?

They came and went,

Van passar de llarg,

and I couldn't quite do stuff.

i no vaig poder fer feina.

So we had an awesome new revised plan.

Així que vaig refer el meu gran pla.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

And then --

I llavors...

(Laughter)

(Riure)

But then those middle months actually went by,

Els mesos del mig també van passar de llarg,

and I didn't really write words,

i no havia escrit ni mitja paraula.

and so we were here.

De manera que així estàvem.

And then two months turned into one month,

I dos mesos es van convertir en un,

which turned into two weeks.

i aquest mes en dues setmanes.

And one day I woke up

I un dia em vaig aixecar:

with three days until the deadline,

quedaven tres dies per a l'entrega,

still not having written a word,

i no tenia res escrit.

and so I did the only thing I could:

Així que vaig fer el següent:

I wrote 90 pages over 72 hours,

vaig escriure 90 pàgines en 72 hores.

pulling not one but two all-nighters --

Vaig passar dues nits sense dormir...

humans are not supposed to pull two all-nighters --

No és sa fer aquestes coses...

sprinted across campus,

Vaig córrer a través del campus,

dove in slow motion,

vaig saltar a càmara lenta,

and got it in just at the deadline.

i el vaig entregar just a temps.

I thought that was the end of everything.

Vaig pensar que allò era la fi.

But a week later I get a call,

Però, al cap d'una setmana,

and it's the school.

em truquen de l'escola.

And they say, "Is this Tim Urban?"

Em pregunten: "És Tim Urban?"

And I say, "Yeah."

I dic: "Sí."

And they say, "We need to talk about your thesis."

I diuen: "Hem de parlar de la seva tesi."

And I say, "OK."

I dic: "D'acord."

And they say,

I diuen:

"It's the best one we've ever seen."

"És la millor que hem vist mai."

(Laughter)

(Riure)

(Applause)

(Aplaudiment)

That did not happen.

Això no va passar.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

It was a very, very bad thesis.

Era una tesi pèssima.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

I just wanted to enjoy that one moment when all of you thought,

Volia gaudir del moment en què heu pensat:

"This guy is amazing!"

"Aquest paio és genial!"

(Laughter)

(Riure)

No, no, it was very, very bad.

No, no... Era molt, molt dolenta.

Anyway, today I'm a writer-blogger guy.

Tant és... Actualment escric un blog.

I write the blog Wait But Why.

Escric el blog: "Wait But Why".

And a couple of years ago, I decided to write about procrastination.

Fa un parell d'anys, vaig decidir escriure sobre la procrastinació.

My behavior has always perplexed the non-procrastinators around me,

La meva conducta sempre ha desconcertat els "no procrastinadors",

and I wanted to explain to the non-procrastinators of the world

i volia explicar als "no procrastinadors" del món

what goes on in the heads of procrastinators,

com funciona la ment dels procrastinadors,

and why we are the way we are.

i per què som així.

Now, I had a hypothesis

Vaig arribar a la teoria

that the brains of procrastinators were actually different

que el cervell del procrastinador és diferent

than the brains of other people.

del de la resta de persones.

And to test this, I found an MRI lab

Volia demostrar-ho amb una IRM.

that actually let me scan both my brain

Un escàner del meu cervell

and the brain of a proven non-procrastinator,

i un altre del d'un "no procrastinador",

so I could compare them.

per poder-los comparar.

I actually brought them here to show you today.

De fet, els he portat avui perquè els veieu.

I want you to take a look carefully to see if you can notice a difference.

Pareu atenció i intenteu trobar la diferència.

I know that if you're not a trained brain expert,

Si no ets un expert en processos cerebrals,

it's not that obvious, but just take a look, OK?

no és tan obvi, però fem-hi un cop d'ull, d'acord?

So here's the brain of a non-procrastinator.

Aquí tenim el del "no procrastinador".

(Laughter)

(Riure)

Now ...

I...

here's my brain.

el meu cervell.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

There is a difference.

Hi ha una diferència.

Both brains have a Rational Decision-Maker in them,

Ambdós poden prendre decisions de manera racional,

but the procrastinator's brain

però el cervell del procrastinador

also has an Instant Gratification Monkey.

compta amb el Mico de la Satisfacció Instantània.

Now, what does this mean for the procrastinator?

Què significa això per al procrastinador?

Well, it means everything's fine until this happens.

Significa que tot va bé fins que passa això.

[This is a perfect time to get some work done.] [Nope!]

[El moment perfecte per fer una mica de feina...] [No!]

So the Rational Decision-Maker will make the rational decision

La part racional pren la decisió racional

to do something productive,

de fer alguna cosa productiva,

but the Monkey doesn't like that plan,

però al Mico no li agrada el pla,

so he actually takes the wheel,

així que agafa el timó,

and he says, "Actually, let's read the entire Wikipedia page

i diu: "Millor, llegim la pàgina sencera de la Viquipèdia

of the Nancy Kerrigan/ Tonya Harding scandal,

sobre l'escàndol de Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya,

because I just remembered that that happened.

perquè tot just recordo que va passar.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

Then --

I després,...

(Laughter)

(Riure)

Then we're going to go over to the fridge,

anirem a la nevera

to see if there's anything new in there since 10 minutes ago.

per veure si hi ha alguna cosa que no hi fos fa 10 minuts.

After that, we're going to go on a YouTube spiral

Després d'això, entrarem al Youtube per veure vídeos

that starts with videos of Richard Feynman talking about magnets

que vagin des del Richard Feynman parlant d'imants

and ends much, much later with us watching interviews

per acabar, més tard, mirant entrevistes

with Justin Bieber's mom.

amb la mare de Justin Bieber.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

"All of that's going to take a while,

Tot això ens portarà una bona estona,

so we're not going to really have room on the schedule for any work today.

així que no ens quedarà temps a l'agenda per fer res més avui.

Sorry!"

Ho sento!"

(Sigh)

(Sospira)

Now, what is going on here?

Bé, doncs, què és el que està passant?

The Instant Gratification Monkey does not seem like a guy

El Mico no té pinta de ser el paio

you want behind the wheel.

que vols al timó.

He lives entirely in the present moment.

Viu totalment pel present.

He has no memory of the past, no knowledge of the future,

No se'n recorda del passat, ni coneix el futur,

and he only cares about two things:

i només té dues coses al cap:

easy and fun.

"fàcil i divertit".

Now, in the animal world, that works fine.

És cert que al món animal això funciona.

If you're a dog

Si ets un gos

and you spend your whole life doing nothing other than easy and fun things,

i et passes la vida fent coses fàcils i divertides,

you're a huge success!

ets un triomfador!

(Laughter)

(Riure)

And to the Monkey,

I pel Mico,

humans are just another animal species.

els humans també som animals.

You have to keep well-slept, well-fed and propagating into the next generation,

Hem de dormir bé, menjar bé, i propagar les noves generacions,

which in tribal times might have worked OK.

cosa que funcionava en temps tribals.

But, if you haven't noticed, now we're not in tribal times.

Però, per si no us heu adonat, ja no vivim en aquell temps.

We're in an advanced civilization, and the Monkey does not know what that is.

Vivim en una civilització avançada, i el Mico no sap què és això.

Which is why we have another guy in our brain,

Per això tenim l'altre paio al nostre cervell,

the Rational Decision-Maker,

la part que pren les decisions racionals,

who gives us the ability to do things no other animal can do.

que ens permet fer coses que no poden fer altres animals.

We can visualize the future.

Podem visualitzar el futur.

We can see the big picture.

Mirar les coses amb perspectiva.

We can make long-term plans.

Fer plans a llarg termini.

And he wants to take all of that into account.

Aquesta part vol que tinguem totes aquestes coses en compte.

And he wants to just have us do

I vol que fem

whatever makes sense to be doing right now.

allò que cal fer en el moment que toca.

Now, sometimes it makes sense

Bé, de vegades,

to be doing things that are easy and fun,

cal fer coses fàcils i divertides,

like when you're having dinner or going to bed

com sopar o anar a dormir,

or enjoying well-earned leisure time.

o gaudir d'un descans merescut.

That's why there's an overlap.

Per això, coincideixen.

Sometimes they agree.

De vegades, es posen d'acord.

But other times, it makes much more sense

Tanmateix, altres cops, el que cal

to be doing things that are harder and less pleasant,

és fer coses que són més dures i no tant agradables,

for the sake of the big picture.

pel bé del nostre objectiu.

And that's when we have a conflict.

I aquí es quan es dóna el conflicte.

And for the procrastinator,

I per al procrastinador,

that conflict tends to end a certain way every time,

el conflicte sempre sol acabar de la mateixa manera:

leaving him spending a lot of time in this orange zone,

passant un munt de temps a la zona taronja,

an easy and fun place that's entirely out of the Makes Sense circle.

un lloc on tot és fàcil i divertit, fora del cercle del "cal".

I call it the Dark Playground.

Jo l'anomeno el Pati Obscur.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

Now, the Dark Playground is a place

El Pati Obscur és un lloc

that all of you procrastinators out there know very well.

que els procrastinadors coneixen molt bé.

It's where leisure activities happen

Un lloc on passen activitats de lleure

at times when leisure activities are not supposed to be happening.

en moments en què no hi hauria d'haver activitats de lleure.

The fun you have in the Dark Playground

La diversió al Pati Obscur

isn't actually fun, because it's completely unearned,

no és diversió de veritat. No te l'has guanyat.

and the air is filled with guilt, dread, anxiety, self-hatred --

I l'aire té regust de culpabilitat, por, ansietat, ràbia...

all of those good procrastinator feelings.

Sentiments agradables del procrastinador.

And the question is, in this situation, with the Monkey behind the wheel,

I, en aquesta situació, la pregunta és: quan el Mico pren el timó,

how does the procrastinator ever get himself over here to this blue zone,

com pot arribar mai el procrastinador aquí, a la zona blava,

a less pleasant place, but where really important things happen?

un lloc menys agradable, però on passen les coses importants?

Well, turns out the procrastinator has a guardian angel,

Bé, resulta que el procrastinador té un àngel de la guarda,

someone who's always looking down on him and watching over him

que sempre vigila i cuida d'ell

in his darkest moments --

en els moments més obscurs...

someone called the Panic Monster.

algú anomenat el Monstre del Pànic.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

Now, the Panic Monster is dormant most of the time,

Bé, la majoria del temps, el Monstre està adormit.

but he suddenly wakes up anytime a deadline gets too close

però sempre es desperta quan s'acosta una data d'entrega

or there's danger of public embarrassment,

o existeix perill d'avergonyiment públic,

a career disaster or some other scary consequence.

un desastre profesional o altres perills.

And importantly, he's the only thing the Monkey is terrified of.

I, important: és l'única cosa de la qual el Mico té por.

Now, he became very relevant in my life pretty recently,

De fet, fa no gaire, va esdevenir molt significatiu a la meva vida,

because the people of TED reached out to me about six months ago

perquè l'equip de TED em va contactar ara fa sis mesos

and invited me to do a TED Talk.

i em van convidar a fer una TED Talk.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

Now, of course, I said yes.

Evidentment, vaig acceptar.

It's always been a dream of mine to have done a TED Talk in the past.

Haver fet una TED Talk sempre ha sigut un dels meus somnis.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

(Applause)

(Aplaudiment)

But in the middle of all this excitement,

Però enmig de tant entusiasme,

the Rational Decision-Maker seemed to have something else on his mind.

la part racional tenia una altra cosa en ment.

He was saying, "Are we clear on what we just accepted?

Ell deia: "Estem segurs d'això que acabem d'acceptar?

Do we get what's going to be now happening one day in the future?

Sabem com anirá la cosa d'ara endavant?

We need to sit down and work on this right now."

Seiem i comencem a treballar ara mateix."

And the Monkey said, "Totally agree, but let's just open Google Earth

I el Mico va dir: "Totalment d'acord, però obrim el Google Earth

and zoom in to the bottom of India, like 200 feet above the ground,

fem zoom in a la part de sota de l'Índia, a uns 61 metres del sòl,

and scroll up for two and a half hours til we get to the top of the country,

i tirem cap amunt durant dues hores i mitja fins arribar a la part de dalt,

so we can get a better feel for India."

per conèixer millor l'Índia."

(Laughter)

(Riure)

So that's what we did that day.

Això vam fer aquell dia.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

As six months turned into four and then two and then one,

Mentre sis mesos es van convertir en quatre... en dos... i en un,

the people of TED decided to release the speakers.

l'equip de TED va publicar la llista de conferenciants.

And I opened up the website, and there was my face

Vaig obrir la web, i allà estava la meva cara

staring right back at me.

mirant-me als ulls.

And guess who woke up?

Adivineu qui es va despertar?

(Laughter)

(Riure)

So the Panic Monster starts losing his mind,

Bé, el Monstre del Pànic comença a perdre el cap,

and a few seconds later, the whole system's in mayhem.

i uns segons més tard, tot el sistema entra en caos.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

And the Monkey -- remember, he's terrified of the Panic Monster --

I el Mico, que té por del Monstre del Pànic,

boom, he's up the tree!

puja a dalt de l'arbre!

And finally,

I finalment,

finally, the Rational Decision-Maker can take the wheel

la part racional pot prendre el timó

and I can start working on the talk.

i treballar en la xerrada.

Now, the Panic Monster explains

Bé, el Monstre del Pànic explica

all kinds of pretty insane procrastinator behavior,

tot tipus de conductes esbojarrades del procrastinador,

like how someone like me could spend two weeks

com ara: passar dues setmanes

unable to start the opening sentence of a paper,

sense ser capaç de començar la primera frase d'un treball,

and then miraculously find the unbelievable work ethic

i després rebre la il·luminació d'ètica de treball

to stay up all night and write eight pages.

que et permet estar despert tota la nit i escriure vuit pàgines.

And this entire situation, with the three characters --

Aquesta situació, amb els tres personatges...

this is the procrastinator's system.

Aquest és el sistema del procrastinador.

It's not pretty, but in the end, it works.

No és maco, però, al final, funciona.

This is what I decided to write about on the blog a couple of years ago.

D'això és del que vaig decidir escriure fa un parell d'anys.

When I did, I was amazed by the response.

I quan ho vaig fer, vaig quedar sorprès per la resposta.

Literally thousands of emails came in,

Em van arribar milers d'e-mails,

from all different kinds of people from all over the world,

de gent de tot tipus i d'arreu del món,

doing all different kinds of things.

amb feines d'allò més diverses:

These are people who were nurses, bankers, painters, engineers

infermers, banquers, pintors, enginyers

and lots and lots of PhD students.

i un bon munt d'estudiants de doctorat.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

And they were all writing, saying the same thing:

Tots m'escrivien i em deien el mateix:

"I have this problem too."

"Jo també tinc aquest problema."

But what struck me was the contrast between the light tone of the post

Però, em va xocar el contrast del to suau de la publicació

and the heaviness of these emails.

i la serietat d'aquells e-mails.

These people were writing with intense frustration

Aquelles persones escrivien amb frustració

about what procrastination had done to their lives,

sobre els efectes de la procrastinació a les seves vides,

about what this Monkey had done to them.

sobre allò que el Mico els hi havia fet.

And I thought about this, and I said,

I vaig pensar sobre això, i vaig dir:

well, if the procrastinator's system works, then what's going on?

"Bé, si el sistema del procrastinador funciona, què està passant?

Why are all of these people in such a dark place?

Per què aquestes persones se senten tan malament?"

Well, it turns out that there's two kinds of procrastination.

Doncs, resulta que existeixen dos tipus de procrastinació.

Everything I've talked about today, the examples I've given,

Tot allò que he explicat avui, els exemples que he donat...

they all have deadlines.

tenen data d'entrega.

And when there's deadlines,

I, amb dates d'entrega,

the effects of procrastination are contained to the short term

els efectes de la procrastinació es contenen a curt termini

because the Panic Monster gets involved.

perquè el Monstre s'involucra.

But there's a second kind of procrastination

Però n'existeix un segon tipus

that happens in situations when there is no deadline.

que esdevé en situacions sense data d'entrega.

So if you wanted a career where you're a self-starter --

Així, si volguessis treballar per compte propi,

something in the arts, something entrepreneurial --

alguna cosa artística o emprenedora,

there's no deadlines on those things at first, because nothing's happening,

no existeixen les dates d'entrega al prinicipi, perquè no passa res

not until you've gone out and done the hard work

fins que surts fora i fas la feina dura

to get momentum, get things going.

perquè la cosa funcioni.

There's also all kinds of important things outside of your career

Hi ha moltes altres coses importants a part de la teva carrera

that don't involve any deadlines,

que no impliquen dates d'entrega,

like seeing your family or exercising and taking care of your health,

com veure la teva familia, fer exercici, tenir cura d'un mateix

working on your relationship

i de la relació de parella,

or getting out of a relationship that isn't working.

o deixar la relació si no funciona.

Now if the procrastinator's only mechanism of doing these hard things

Bé, si l'únic mecanisme del procrastinador per fer aquestes coses

is the Panic Monster, that's a problem,

és el Monstre del Pànic, malament,

because in all of these non-deadline situations,

perquè en aquests contextos "sense entrega",

the Panic Monster doesn't show up.

el Monstre del Pànic no apareix.

He has nothing to wake up for,

No té raons per despertar-se,

so the effects of procrastination, they're not contained;

així que els efectes de la procrastinació no es limiten;

they just extend outward forever.

sinó que s'allarguen per sempre.

And it's this long-term kind of procrastination

I aquesta procrastinació a llarg temini,

that's much less visible and much less talked about

menys visible i no tan coneguda com

than the funnier, short-term deadline-based kind.

la més divertida, a curt termini i subjecta a entregues,

It's usually suffered quietly and privately.

és la que es pateix en silenci i en privat.

And it can be the source

I pot ser l'arrel

of a huge amount of long-term unhappiness, and regrets.

d'un munt d'infelicitat i penediment a llarg termini.

And I thought, that's why those people are emailing,

Aquella era la raó per la qual aquelles persones escrivien,

and that's why they're in such a bad place.

per això se sentien tan malament.

It's not that they're cramming for some project.

No es tracta de què es preparin per a un projecte.

It's that long-term procrastination has made them feel like a spectator,

Es tracta de què la procrastinació els ha convertit en espectadors,

at times, in their own lives.

a vegades, de la seva vida.

The frustration is not that they couldn't achieve their dreams;

la frustració no és perquè no puguin assolir els seus somnis;

it's that they weren't even able to start chasing them.

sinó perquè no són capaços ni de començar a cercar-los.

So I read these emails and I had a little bit of an epiphany --

Així que mentre llegia els e-mails, em vaig il·luminar;

that I don't think non-procrastinators exist.

no crec que els "no procrastinadors" existeixin.

That's right -- I think all of you are procrastinators.

Exacte. Tots vosaltres sou procrastinadors.

Now, you might not all be a mess,

Potser no sou un desastre,

like some of us,

com alguns de nosaltres,

(Laughter)

(Riure)

and some of you may have a healthy relationship with deadlines,

i alguns de vosaltres conviviu en pau amb les dates d'entrega,

but remember: the Monkey's sneakiest trick

però recordeu: la trampa més astuta del Mico

is when the deadlines aren't there.

és quan no hi ha data d'entrega.

Now, I want to show you one last thing.

Bé, vull ensenyar-vos una última cosa.

I call this a Life Calendar.

Ho anomeno: Calendari de Vida.

That's one box for every week of a 90-year life.

Hi ha un quadradet per cada setmana d'una vida de 90 anys.

That's not that many boxes,

No són tants quadradets,

especially since we've already used a bunch of those.

sobretot perquè ja n'hem utilitzat un munt.

So I think we need to all take a long, hard look at that calendar.

Així que hauríem de mirar amb atenció aquest calendari.

We need to think about what we're really procrastinating on,

Hauríem de pensar en les coses que estem postergant,

because everyone is procrastinating on something in life.

perquè tots posterguem coses a la vida.

We need to stay aware of the Instant Gratification Monkey.

Hem d'anar amb compte amb el Mico de la Satisfacció Instantània.

That's a job for all of us.

Tots ho hem de fer.

And because there's not that many boxes on there,

I, ja que no ens queden tants quadradets,

it's a job that should probably start today.

és una tasca que hauríem de començar avui mateix.

Well, maybe not today, but ...

Bé, potser no avui, però...

(Laughter)

(Riure)

You know.

Ja sabeu...

Sometime soon.

Aviat.

Thank you.

Gràcies.

(Applause)

(Aplaudiment)