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

Translator: Susana Brandariz Reviewer: Alicia Ferreiro

So in college,

Na universidade,

I was a government major,

estudei Ciencias Políticas,

which means I had to write a lot of papers.

iso significa que tiven que escribir moitos artigos,

Now, when a normal student writes a paper,

Cando un estudante normal escribe un artigo,

they might spread the work out a little like this.

debe organizar o traballo un pouco así.

So, you know --

Xa saben...

(Risas)

(Laughter)

you get started maybe a little slowly,

Empezas quizais un pouco lento,

but you get enough done in the first week

pero fas bastante a primeira semana

that, with some heavier days later on,

así, traballando duro uns días máis,

everything gets done, things stay civil.

todo estará acabado, todo en orde.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

And I would want to do that like that.

Encantaríame facelo dese modo.

Ese sería o plan.

That would be the plan.

I would have it all ready to go,

Teríao todo listo,

but then, actually, the paper would come along,

pero despois, chega a hora de escribir o artigo,

and then I would kind of do this.

o que realmente fago é isto.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

And that would happen every single paper.

E iso pasa con tódolos artigos.

But then came my 90-page senior thesis,

Entón chegou a tese de 90 páxinas,

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

un artigo ao que se supón que lle dedicas un ano.

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

Sabía que para un traballo así, non era viable o meu ritmo normal.

It was way too big a project.

Era un proxecto grande de máis.

So I planned things out,

Entón planifiquei todo,

e decidín que debía facer algo coma isto.

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

This is how the year would go.

Así debería ser o ano.

So I'd start off light,

Empezaría de forma suave,

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

aumentaría o ritmo nos meses do medio,

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

e logo, o sprint final

just like a little staircase.

como unha pequena escaleira.

How hard could it be to walk up the stairs?

Que traballo ía custar subir unha escaleira?

No big deal, right?

Non moito, verdade?

Pero entón, pasou algo moi gracioso.

But then, the funniest thing happened.

Those first few months?

Aqueles primeiros meses?

They came and went,

Como viñeron, marcharon,

and I couldn't quite do stuff.

e non puiden facer case nada.

So we had an awesome new revised plan.

Así que fixen un novo plan axustado.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

And then --

E despois...

(Laughter)

(Risas)

But then those middle months actually went by,

Pero os meses do medio tamén pasaron,

and I didn't really write words,

e non escribín nin unha palabra,

and so we were here.

e aquí estabamos.

And then two months turned into one month,

Despois dous meses convertéronse nun,

que se converteu en dúas semanas.

which turned into two weeks.

And one day I woke up

E un día espertei

with three days until the deadline,

e quedaban tres días para a entrega

still not having written a word,

e non tiña nada escrito,

and so I did the only thing I could:

de modo que fixen o único que podía:

I wrote 90 pages over 72 hours,

escribín 90 páxinas en 72 horas,

pasei dúas noites enteiras sen durmir

pulling not one but two all-nighters --

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

--os humanos non deberiamos pasar dúas noites en vela--

sprinted across campus,

corrín polo campus,

dove in slow motion,

saltei a cámara lenta,

and got it in just at the deadline.

e entreguei a tese xusto no límite.

I thought that was the end of everything.

Pensei que con iso acababa todo,

pero unha semana despois

But a week later I get a call,

and it's the school.

chamáronme da universidade.

And they say, "Is this Tim Urban?"

Dixeron: "Tim Urban?"

And I say, "Yeah."

Eu dixen: "Si".

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

Dixeron: "Temos que falar sobre a súa tese".

And I say, "OK."

Eu dixen: "Vale".

And they say,

E eles:

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

"É a mellor que vimos na vida".

(Risas)

(Laughter)

(Aplausos)

(Applause)

That did not happen.

Iso non ocorreu.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

It was a very, very bad thesis.

Era unha tese malísima.

(Risas)

(Laughter)

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

Só quería gozar dese momento en que todos pensaron:

"This guy is amazing!"

"Este tipo é incrible!"

(Laughter)

(Risas)

No, no, it was very, very bad.

Non, non, era malísima.

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

En calquera caso, hoxe escribo un blog.

I write the blog Wait But Why.

Escribo o blog Wait But Why.

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

E hai un par de anos, decidín escribir sobre a procrastinación.

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

A miña conduta sempre desconcertou os non procrastinadores do redor,

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

e quería explicarlles aos non procrastinadores do mundo

what goes on in the heads of procrastinators,

que pasa pola cabeza dun procrastinador,

and why we are the way we are.

e por que somos así.

Now, I had a hypothesis

Eu tiña a hipótese

de que o cerebro dos procrastinadores era realmente distinto

that the brains of procrastinators were actually different

than the brains of other people.

do cerebro do resto da xente.

And to test this, I found an MRI lab

Para probalo, encontrei un laboratorio con RMI

that actually let me scan both my brain

que me deixou facer unha resonancia do meu cerebro

and the brain of a proven non-procrastinator,

e unha do cerebro dun non procrastinador,

para que as puidese comparar.

so I could compare them.

I actually brought them here to show you today.

E hoxe tróuxenas aquí para mostrárllelas.

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

Observen con atención a ver se encontran a diferenza.

Se non son expertos en procesos cerebrais,

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

non é algo tan obvio, pero só observen, de acordo?

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

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

Velaquí o cerebro dun non procrastinador.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Agora...

Now ...

here's my brain.

este é o meu cerebro.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

There is a difference.

Hai unha diferenza.

Both brains have a Rational Decision-Maker in them,

Os dous teñen alguén que toma decisións racionais,

but the procrastinator's brain

pero o cerebro do procrastinador

also has an Instant Gratification Monkey.

tamén ten un Mono da Gratificación Instantánea.

Que significa isto para o procrastinador?

Now, what does this mean for the procrastinator?

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

Significa que todo está ben ata que pasa isto.

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

[É o momento ideal para traballar un pouco.] [Non!]

So the Rational Decision-Maker will make the rational decision

O Tomador de Decisións Racionais tomará a decisión racional

to do something productive,

de facer algo produtivo,

but the Monkey doesn't like that plan,

pero ao Mono non lle gusta o plan,

so he actually takes the wheel,

por iso colle o temón,

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

e di: "Mellor, vamos ler a páxina enteira da Wikipedia

of the Nancy Kerrigan/ Tonya Harding scandal,

do escándalo Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding,

because I just remembered that that happened.

porque xusto me acabo de lembrar diso.

(Risas)

(Laughter)

Entón...

Then --

(Laughter)

(Risas)

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

Despois imos ir á neveira,

para ver se hai algo novo alí desde os últimos 10 minutos.

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

Logo, imos entrar nunha espiral de YouTube

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

que comeza con vídeos de Richard Feynman falando de imáns

that starts with videos of Richard Feynman talking about magnets

and ends much, much later with us watching interviews

e remata moitísimo despois mirando entrevistas

da nai de Justin Bieber.

with Justin Bieber's mom.

(Risas)

(Laughter)

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

"Todo iso vai levar un anaco,

así que non imos ter tempo de facer ningún traballo hoxe.

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

Sorry!"

Síntoo!"

(Sigh)

(Suspira)

Now, what is going on here?

Pero, que está pasando aquí?

The Instant Gratification Monkey does not seem like a guy

O Mono da Gratificación Instantánea non parece ser o tipo

you want behind the wheel.

que queremos ter ao timón.

He lives entirely in the present moment.

Vive totalmente o momento actual.

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

Non ten memoria do pasado, non coñece o futuro,

and he only cares about two things:

e só lle importan dúas cousas:

o fácil e o divertido.

easy and fun.

Now, in the animal world, that works fine.

No mundo animal iso funciona.

If you're a dog

Se es un can

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

e pasas toda a vida facendo só cousas fáciles e divertidas,

tes un éxito enorme!

you're a huge success!

(Laughter)

(Risas)

And to the Monkey,

E para o Mono,

humans are just another animal species.

os humanos somos só outra especie animal.

Tes que durmir ben, comer ben e propagarte na seguinte xeración.

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

which in tribal times might have worked OK.

Isto en tempos tribais pode que funcionase ben.

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

Pero, por se non o notaron, non estamos nos tempos tribais.

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

Estamos nunha civilización avanzada, e o Mono non sabe que é iso.

Which is why we have another guy in our brain,

Por iso temos outro tipo no noso cerebro,

the Rational Decision-Maker,

o Tomador de Decisións Racionais,

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

que nos permite facer cousas que ningún outro animal pode.

We can visualize the future.

Podemos visualizar o futuro.

We can see the big picture.

Podemos ver as cousas en perspectiva.

We can make long-term plans.

Facer plans a longo prazo.

And he wants to take all of that into account.

E esta parte quere ter todo iso en conta.

E quere que fagamos

And he wants to just have us do

whatever makes sense to be doing right now.

o que teña sentido facer xusto agora.

Now, sometimes it makes sense

Ás veces ten sentido

to be doing things that are easy and fun,

facer cousas fáciles e divertidas,

like when you're having dinner or going to bed

como cear ou ir durmir,

or enjoying well-earned leisure time.

ou gozar dun merecido descanso.

That's why there's an overlap.

Por iso hai un solapamento.

Sometimes they agree.

Ás veces están de acordo.

But other times, it makes much more sense

pero outras veces, ten moito máis sentido

to be doing things that are harder and less pleasant,

facer cousas máis difíciles e menos pracenteiras,

polo ben da perspectiva.

for the sake of the big picture.

And that's when we have a conflict.

E aí é cando se xera o conflito.

Para o procrastinador,

And for the procrastinator,

that conflict tends to end a certain way every time,

ese conflito adoita rematar sempre da mesma maneira,

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

pasando unha morea de tempo nesta zona laranxa,

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

un lugar fácil e divertido totalmente fóra do círculo da Lóxica.

I call it the Dark Playground.

Eu chámolle o Patio Escuro.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Now, the Dark Playground is a place

O Patio Escuro é un lugar

que todos os procrastinadores coñecedes moi ben.

that all of you procrastinators out there know very well.

It's where leisure activities happen

Alí teñen lugar actividades de ocio

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

en momentos nos que non deberían ter lugar.

The fun you have in the Dark Playground

A diversión que se obtén no Patio Escuro

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

non é diversión real, porque é totalmente inmerecida,

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

e o aire está cargado de culpa, temor, ansiedade, auto odio...

todos os sentimentos do bo procrastinador.

all of those good procrastinator feelings.

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

E a pregunta é: nesta situación, co Mono ao timón,

como é que o procrastinador consegue chegar a esta zona azul,

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

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

un lugar menos pracenteiro pero onde ocorre o realmente importante?

Pois, resulta que o procrastinador ten un anxo da garda,

Well, turns out the procrastinator has a guardian angel,

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

alguén que sempre o vixía e vela por el

in his darkest moments --

nos momentos máis escuros...

someone called the Panic Monster.

alguén chamado o Monstro do Pánico.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

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

O Monstro do Pánico está durmido a maior parte do tempo,

but he suddenly wakes up anytime a deadline gets too close

pero acorda de súpeto sempre que se aproxima o fin dun prazo

or there's danger of public embarrassment,

ou hai perigo de vergonza pública,

a career disaster or some other scary consequence.

un desastre na carreira ou outra consecuencia aterradora.

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

E, o máis importante, é a única cousa da que ten medo o Mono.

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

Volveuse moi relevante na miña vida recentemente,

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

porque a xente de TED contactou comigo hai uns seis meses

and invited me to do a TED Talk.

e invitoume a dar unha charla TED.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

E, claro, dixen que si.

Now, of course, I said yes.

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

Para min sempre foi un soño ter dado unha charla TED no pasado.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

But in the middle of all this excitement,

Pero no medio de toda esta euforia,

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

o Tomador de Decisións Racionais parecía ter outra cousa en mente.

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

Dicía: "Temos claro o que acabamos de aceptar?

Entendemos o que vai ocorrer un destes días no futuro?

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

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

Hai que sentarse e traballar nisto agora mesmo".

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

E o Mono dicía: "Totalmente de acordo, pero só imos abrir Google Earth,

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

e facer zoom ata o fondo da India, como a uns 60 metros do solo,

e subir durante dúas horas e media ata chegar á cima do país,

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

so we can get a better feel for India."

para ter un mellor coñecemento da India".

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Iso foi o que fixemos ese día.

So that's what we did that day.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

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

A medida que seis meses pasaban a catro, e logo a dous e logo a un,

the people of TED decided to release the speakers.

o equipo de TED decidiu anunciar os oradores.

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

E eu abrín a páxina web e alí estaba a miña cara mirándome.

staring right back at me.

And guess who woke up?

E adiviñan quen espertou?

(Laughter)

(Risas)

So the Panic Monster starts losing his mind,

Entón, o Monstro do Pánico comeza a perder a cabeza,

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

e uns segundos máis tarde, todo o sistema entra en caos.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

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

E o Mono -lembren que ten un medo inmenso do Monstro do Pánico-

boom, he's up the tree!

bum! chimpa para a árbore!

And finally,

E, finalmente,

finally, the Rational Decision-Maker can take the wheel

o Tomador de Decisións Racionais pode coller o timón,

and I can start working on the talk.

e eu podo comezar a traballar na charla.

Now, the Panic Monster explains

O Monstro do Pánico explica

all kinds of pretty insane procrastinator behavior,

todo tipo de comportamentos absurdos do procrastinador,

explica como alguén coma min pode pasar 2 semanas

like how someone like me could spend two weeks

unable to start the opening sentence of a paper,

sen conseguir escribir a frase inicial dun artigo,

and then miraculously find the unbelievable work ethic

e logo atopa milagrosamente unha ética de traballo incrible

to stay up all night and write eight pages.

para estar en pé toda a noite e escribir oito páxinas.

And this entire situation, with the three characters --

Toda esta situación, cos tres personaxes...

this is the procrastinator's system.

é o sistema do procrastinador.

Non é marabilloso, pero ao final, funciona.

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

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

Sobre isto decidín escribir no blog hai un par de anos.

When I did, I was amazed by the response.

Cando o fixen, abraioume a resposta.

Literally thousands of emails came in,

Recibín literalmente miles de correos,

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

de todo tipo de persoas de todo o mundo,

doing all different kinds of things.

que facían todo tipo de cousas.

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

Había enfermeiros, banqueiros, pintores, enxeñeiros

and lots and lots of PhD students.

e unha morea de estudantes de doutoramento.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

And they were all writing, saying the same thing:

Todos escribían dicindo o mesmo:

"Tamén teño ese problema".

"I have this problem too."

Pero o que me chocou foi o contraste entre o ton superficial do que publiquei

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

and the heaviness of these emails.

e a melancolía dos correos.

These people were writing with intense frustration

Estas persoas escribían cunha frustración intensa

sobre os efectos da procrastinación nas súas vidas,

about what procrastination had done to their lives,

about what this Monkey had done to them.

sobre os efectos do Mono nas súas vidas.

And I thought about this, and I said,

E pensei nisto, e dixen para min:

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

Se o sistema do procrastinador funciona, entón que está pasando?

Por que todas estas persoas están tan deprimidas?

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

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

Pois resulta que hai dous tipos de procrastinación.

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

Todo o que expliquei hoxe, os exemplos que dei,

they all have deadlines.

todos teñen prazos.

E cando hai prazos,

And when there's deadlines,

os efectos da procrastinación están acoutados na curta duración

the effects of procrastination are contained to the short term

porque o Monstro do Pánico intervén.

because the Panic Monster gets involved.

Pero hai outro tipo de procrastinación

But there's a second kind of procrastination

que acontece en situacións nas que non hai un prazo límite.

that happens in situations when there is no deadline.

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

Por iso, se alguén quere unha carreira independente

something in the arts, something entrepreneurial --

--algunha cousa artística ou emprendedora--

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

non hai prazos nesas cousas ao principio, porque non pasa nada,

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

ata que se sae fóra e se fai o traballo duro

to get momentum, get things going.

para coller pulo e mover as cousas.

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

Tamén hai cousas importantes fóra da carreira

that don't involve any deadlines,

que non teñen prazos,

como visitar a familia, facer exercicio e coidar da saúde,

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

working on your relationship

ocuparse dunha relación

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

ou rematar unha relación que non funciona.

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

Pero se o único mecanismo do procrastinador para facer estas cousas

is the Panic Monster, that's a problem,

é o Monstro do Pánico, hai un problema,

because in all of these non-deadline situations,

porque en todas estas situacións sen prazos,

the Panic Monster doesn't show up.

non aparece o Monstro do Pánico.

Non ten motivos para espertar,

He has nothing to wake up for,

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

por iso os efectos da procrastinación non se acoutan;

they just extend outward forever.

simplemente se prolongan para sempre.

And it's this long-term kind of procrastination

E esta procrastinación de longa duración

that's much less visible and much less talked about

é menos visible e menos comentada

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

ca a divertida, a de curta duración, a que ten prazos.

It's usually suffered quietly and privately.

Polo xeral padécese en silencio e en privado.

And it can be the source

E pode ser a fonte

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

dunha inmensa infelicidade a longo prazo e de remorsos.

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

E, pensei, por iso me escribían todas aquelas persoas,

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

e por iso se sentían tan mal.

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

Non se trata de que estean apurados con algún proxecto.

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

É que a procrastinación de longa duración fainos sentir coma espectadores,

at times, in their own lives.

ás veces, das súas propias vidas.

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

A frustración non vén de que non poidan alcanzar os seus soños;

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

senón do feito de non poder sequera comezar a perseguilos.

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

Por iso, ao ler estes correos tiven unha pequena epifanía...

that I don't think non-procrastinators exist.

non creo que existan os non procrastinadores.

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

Así é... Penso que todos vostedes son procrastinadores.

Now, you might not all be a mess,

Pode que non sexan todos un desastre,

like some of us,

coma algúns de nós,

(Laughter)

(Risas)

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

e algúns de vostedes pode que teñan unha relación saudable cos prazos,

pero lembren: a trampa máis raposeira do Mono

but remember: the Monkey's sneakiest trick

is when the deadlines aren't there.

é cando os prazos non existen.

Now, I want to show you one last thing.

Agora quero mostrarlles unha última cousa.

I call this a Life Calendar.

A isto chámolle Calendario da Vida.

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

Hai unha caixa por cada semana dunha vida de 90 anos.

That's not that many boxes,

Non son tantas caixas,

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

sobre todo porque xa usamos unha morea delas.

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

Creo que todos temos que mirar con moita atención este calendario.

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

Precisamos pensar sobre as cousas que estamos procrastinando,

porque todos procrastinamos cousas na vida.

because everyone is procrastinating on something in life.

We need to stay aware of the Instant Gratification Monkey.

Temos que estar atentos ao Mono da Gratificación Instantánea.

That's a job for all of us.

É unha tarefa para todos nós.

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

E visto que non quedan tantas caixas por diante,

it's a job that should probably start today.

é un traballo que, probablemente, debería comezar hoxe.

Well, maybe not today, but ...

Ben, quizais non hoxe, pero...

(Laughter)

(Risas)

You know.

Xa saben...

Sometime soon.

En breve.

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)