So in college, I was a government major, which means 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. So, you know --
Na universidade, estudei Ciencias Políticas, iso significa que tiven que escribir moitos artigos, Cando un estudante normal escribe un artigo, debe organizar o traballo un pouco así. Xa saben...
(Laughter)
(Risas)
you get started maybe a little slowly, but you get enough done in the first week that, with some heavier days later on, everything gets done, things stay civil.
Empezas quizais un pouco lento, pero fas bastante a primeira semana así, traballando duro uns días máis, todo estará acabado, todo en orde.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
And I would want to do that like that. That would be the plan. I would have it all ready to go, but then, actually, the paper would come along, and then I would kind of do this.
Encantaríame facelo dese modo. Ese sería o plan. Teríao todo listo, pero despois, chega a hora de escribir o artigo, 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, a paper you're supposed to spend a year on. And I knew for a paper like that, my normal work flow was not an option. It was way too big a project. So I planned things out, and I decided I kind of had to go something like this. This is how the year would go. So I'd start off light, and I'd bump it up in the middle months, and then at the end, I would kick it up into high gear just like a little staircase. How hard could it be to walk up the stairs? No big deal, right?
Entón chegou a tese de 90 páxinas, un artigo ao que se supón que lle dedicas un ano. Sabía que para un traballo así, non era viable o meu ritmo normal. Era un proxecto grande de máis. Entón planifiquei todo, e decidín que debía facer algo coma isto. Así debería ser o ano. Empezaría de forma suave, aumentaría o ritmo nos meses do medio, e logo, o sprint final como unha pequena escaleira. Que traballo ía custar subir unha escaleira? Non moito, verdade?
But then, the funniest thing happened. Those first few months? They came and went, and I couldn't quite do stuff. So we had an awesome new revised plan.
Pero entón, pasou algo moi gracioso. Aqueles primeiros meses? Como viñeron, marcharon, e non puiden facer case nada. Así que fixen un novo plan axustado.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
And then --
E despois...
(Laughter)
(Risas)
But then those middle months actually went by, and I didn't really write words, and so we were here. And then two months turned into one month, which turned into two weeks. And one day I woke up with three days until the deadline, still not having written a word, and so I did the only thing I could: I wrote 90 pages over 72 hours, pulling not one but two all-nighters -- humans are not supposed to pull two all-nighters -- sprinted across campus, dove in slow motion, and got it in just at the deadline.
Pero os meses do medio tamén pasaron, e non escribín nin unha palabra, e aquí estabamos. Despois dous meses convertéronse nun, que se converteu en dúas semanas. E un día espertei e quedaban tres días para a entrega e non tiña nada escrito, de modo que fixen o único que podía: escribín 90 páxinas en 72 horas, pasei dúas noites enteiras sen durmir --os humanos non deberiamos pasar dúas noites en vela-- corrín polo campus, saltei a cámara lenta, e entreguei a tese xusto no límite.
I thought that was the end of everything. But a week later I get a call, and it's the school. And they say, "Is this Tim Urban?" And I say, "Yeah." And they say, "We need to talk about your thesis." And I say, "OK." And they say, "It's the best one we've ever seen."
Pensei que con iso acababa todo, pero unha semana despois chamáronme da universidade. Dixeron: "Tim Urban?" Eu dixen: "Si". Dixeron: "Temos que falar sobre a súa tese". Eu dixen: "Vale". E eles: "É a mellor que vimos na vida".
(Laughter)
(Risas)
(Applause)
(Aplausos)
That did not happen.
Iso non ocorreu.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
It was a very, very bad thesis.
Era unha tese malísima.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
I just wanted to enjoy that one moment when all of you thought, "This guy is amazing!"
Só quería gozar dese momento en que todos pensaron: "Este tipo é incrible!"
(Laughter)
(Risas)
No, no, it was very, very bad. Anyway, today I'm a writer-blogger guy. I write the blog Wait But Why. And a couple of years ago, I decided to write about procrastination. My behavior has always perplexed the non-procrastinators around me, and I wanted to explain to the non-procrastinators of the world what goes on in the heads of procrastinators, and why we are the way we are. 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. I actually brought them here to show you today. I want you to take a look carefully to see if you can notice a difference. I know that if you're not a trained brain expert, it's not that obvious, but just take a look, OK? So here's the brain of a non-procrastinator.
Non, non, era malísima. En calquera caso, hoxe escribo un blog. Escribo o blog Wait But Why. E hai un par de anos, decidín escribir sobre a procrastinación. A miña conduta sempre desconcertou os non procrastinadores do redor, e quería explicarlles aos non procrastinadores do mundo que pasa pola cabeza dun procrastinador, e por que somos así. Eu tiña a hipótese de que o cerebro dos procrastinadores era realmente distinto do cerebro do resto da xente. Para probalo, encontrei un laboratorio con RMI que me deixou facer unha resonancia do meu cerebro e unha do cerebro dun non procrastinador, para que as puidese comparar. E hoxe tróuxenas aquí para mostrárllelas. Observen con atención a ver se encontran a diferenza. Se non son expertos en procesos cerebrais, non é algo tan obvio, pero só observen, de acordo? Velaquí o cerebro dun non procrastinador.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
Now ... here's my brain.
Agora... este é o meu cerebro.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
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.
Hai unha diferenza. Os dous teñen alguén que toma decisións racionais, pero o cerebro do procrastinador tamén ten un Mono da Gratificación Instantánea. Que significa isto para o procrastinador? 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 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.
O Tomador de Decisións Racionais tomará a decisión racional de facer algo produtivo, pero ao Mono non lle gusta o plan, por iso colle o temón, e di: "Mellor, vamos ler a páxina enteira da Wikipedia do escándalo Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding, porque xusto me acabo de lembrar diso.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
Then --
Entón...
(Laughter)
(Risas)
Then we're going to go over to the fridge, to see if there's anything new in there since 10 minutes ago. After that, we're going to go on a YouTube spiral that starts with videos of Richard Feynman talking about magnets and ends much, much later with us watching interviews with Justin Bieber's mom.
Despois imos ir á neveira, para ver se hai algo novo alí desde os últimos 10 minutos. Logo, imos entrar nunha espiral de YouTube que comeza con vídeos de Richard Feynman falando de imáns e remata moitísimo despois mirando entrevistas da nai de Justin Bieber.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
"All of that's going to take a while, so we're not going to really have room on the schedule for any work today. Sorry!"
"Todo iso vai levar un anaco, así que non imos ter tempo de facer ningún traballo hoxe. Síntoo!"
(Sigh)
(Suspira)
Now, what is going on here? 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.
Pero, que está pasando aquí? O Mono da Gratificación Instantánea non parece ser o tipo que queremos ter ao timón. Vive totalmente o momento actual. Non ten memoria do pasado, non coñece o futuro, e só lle importan dúas cousas: o fácil e o divertido.
Now, in the animal world, that works fine. If you're a dog and you spend your whole life doing nothing other than easy and fun things, you're a huge success!
No mundo animal iso funciona. Se es un can e pasas toda a vida facendo só cousas fáciles e divertidas, tes un éxito enorme!
(Laughter)
(Risas)
And to the Monkey, humans are just another animal species. You have to keep well-slept, well-fed and propagating into the next generation, which in tribal times might have worked OK. But, if you haven't noticed, now we're not in tribal times. We're in an advanced civilization, and the Monkey does not know what that is. Which is why we have another guy in our brain, the Rational Decision-Maker, who gives us the ability to do things no other animal can do. We can visualize the future. We can see the big picture. We can make long-term plans. And he wants to take all of that into account. And he wants to just have us do whatever makes sense to be doing right now. Now, sometimes it makes sense to be doing things that are easy and fun, like when you're having dinner or going to bed or enjoying well-earned leisure time. That's why there's an overlap. Sometimes they agree. 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. And for the procrastinator, that conflict tends to end a certain way every time, leaving him spending a lot of time in this orange zone, an easy and fun place that's entirely out of the Makes Sense circle. I call it the Dark Playground.
E para o Mono, os humanos somos só outra especie animal. Tes que durmir ben, comer ben e propagarte na seguinte xeración. Isto en tempos tribais pode que funcionase ben. Pero, por se non o notaron, non estamos nos tempos tribais. Estamos nunha civilización avanzada, e o Mono non sabe que é iso. Por iso temos outro tipo no noso cerebro, o Tomador de Decisións Racionais, que nos permite facer cousas que ningún outro animal pode. Podemos visualizar o futuro. Podemos ver as cousas en perspectiva. Facer plans a longo prazo. E esta parte quere ter todo iso en conta. E quere que fagamos o que teña sentido facer xusto agora. Ás veces ten sentido facer cousas fáciles e divertidas, como cear ou ir durmir, ou gozar dun merecido descanso. Por iso hai un solapamento. Ás veces están de acordo. pero outras veces, ten moito máis sentido facer cousas máis difíciles e menos pracenteiras, polo ben da perspectiva. E aí é cando se xera o conflito. Para o procrastinador, ese conflito adoita rematar sempre da mesma maneira, pasando unha morea de tempo nesta zona laranxa, un lugar fácil e divertido totalmente fóra do círculo da Lóxica. Eu chámolle o Patio Escuro.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
Now, the Dark Playground is a place that all of you procrastinators out there know very well. It's where leisure activities happen at times when leisure activities are not supposed to be happening. The fun you have in the Dark Playground isn't actually fun, because it's completely unearned, and the air is filled with guilt, dread, anxiety, self-hatred -- all of those good procrastinator feelings. And the question is, in this situation, with the Monkey behind the wheel, how does the procrastinator ever get himself over here to this blue zone, a less pleasant place, but where really important things happen?
O Patio Escuro é un lugar que todos os procrastinadores coñecedes moi ben. Alí teñen lugar actividades de ocio en momentos nos que non deberían ter lugar. A diversión que se obtén no Patio Escuro non é diversión real, porque é totalmente inmerecida, e o aire está cargado de culpa, temor, ansiedade, auto odio... todos os sentimentos do bo procrastinador. E a pregunta é: nesta situación, co Mono ao timón, como é que o procrastinador consegue chegar a esta zona azul, un lugar menos pracenteiro pero onde ocorre o realmente importante?
Well, turns out the procrastinator has a guardian angel, someone who's always looking down on him and watching over him in his darkest moments -- someone called the Panic Monster.
Pois, resulta que o procrastinador ten un anxo da garda, alguén que sempre o vixía e vela por el nos momentos máis escuros... alguén chamado o Monstro do Pánico.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
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. And importantly, he's the only thing the Monkey is terrified of. Now, he became very relevant in my life pretty recently, because the people of TED reached out to me about six months ago and invited me to do a TED Talk.
O Monstro do Pánico está durmido a maior parte do tempo, pero acorda de súpeto sempre que se aproxima o fin dun prazo ou hai perigo de vergonza pública, un desastre na carreira ou outra consecuencia aterradora. E, o máis importante, é a única cousa da que ten medo o Mono. Volveuse moi relevante na miña vida recentemente, porque a xente de TED contactou comigo hai uns seis meses e invitoume a dar unha charla TED.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
Now, of course, I said yes. It's always been a dream of mine to have done a TED Talk in the past.
E, claro, dixen que si. Para min sempre foi un soño ter dado unha charla TED no pasado.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
(Applause) But in the middle of all this excitement, the Rational Decision-Maker seemed to have something else on his mind. He was saying, "Are we clear on what we just accepted? 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." And the Monkey said, "Totally agree, but let's just open Google Earth and zoom in to the bottom of India, like 200 feet above the ground, 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."
(Aplausos) Pero no medio de toda esta euforia, o Tomador de Decisións Racionais parecía ter outra cousa en mente. Dicía: "Temos claro o que acabamos de aceptar? Entendemos o que vai ocorrer un destes días no futuro? Hai que sentarse e traballar nisto agora mesmo". E o Mono dicía: "Totalmente de acordo, pero só imos abrir Google Earth, 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, para ter un mellor coñecemento da India".
(Laughter)
(Risas)
So that's what we did that day.
Iso foi o que fixemos ese día.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
As six months turned into four and then two and then one, the people of TED decided to release the speakers. And I opened up the website, and there was my face staring right back at me. And guess who woke up?
A medida que seis meses pasaban a catro, e logo a dous e logo a un, o equipo de TED decidiu anunciar os oradores. E eu abrín a páxina web e alí estaba a miña cara mirándome. E adiviñan quen espertou?
(Laughter)
(Risas)
So the Panic Monster starts losing his mind, and a few seconds later, the whole system's in mayhem.
Entón, o Monstro do Pánico comeza a perder a cabeza, e uns segundos máis tarde, todo o sistema entra en caos.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
And the Monkey -- remember, he's terrified of the Panic Monster -- boom, he's up the tree! And finally, finally, the Rational Decision-Maker can take the wheel and I can start working on the talk.
E o Mono -lembren que ten un medo inmenso do Monstro do Pánico- bum! chimpa para a árbore! E, finalmente, o Tomador de Decisións Racionais pode coller o timón, e eu podo comezar a traballar na charla.
Now, the Panic Monster explains all kinds of pretty insane procrastinator behavior, like how someone like me could spend two weeks unable to start the opening sentence of a paper, and then miraculously find the unbelievable work ethic to stay up all night and write eight pages. And this entire situation, with the three characters -- this is the procrastinator's system. 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.
O Monstro do Pánico explica todo tipo de comportamentos absurdos do procrastinador, explica como alguén coma min pode pasar 2 semanas sen conseguir escribir a frase inicial dun artigo, e logo atopa milagrosamente unha ética de traballo incrible para estar en pé toda a noite e escribir oito páxinas. Toda esta situación, cos tres personaxes... é o sistema do procrastinador. Non é marabilloso, pero ao final, funciona. Sobre isto decidín escribir no blog hai un par de anos.
When I did, I was amazed by the response. Literally thousands of emails came in, from all different kinds of people from all over the world, doing all different kinds of things. These are people who were nurses, bankers, painters, engineers and lots and lots of PhD students.
Cando o fixen, abraioume a resposta. Recibín literalmente miles de correos, de todo tipo de persoas de todo o mundo, que facían todo tipo de cousas. Había enfermeiros, banqueiros, pintores, enxeñeiros e unha morea de estudantes de doutoramento.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
And they were all writing, saying the same thing: "I have this problem too." But what struck me was the contrast between the light tone of the post and the heaviness of these emails. These people were writing with intense frustration about what procrastination had done to their lives, about what this Monkey had done to them. And I thought about this, and I said, well, if the procrastinator's system works, then what's going on? Why are all of these people in such a dark place?
Todos escribían dicindo o mesmo: "Tamén teño ese problema". Pero o que me chocou foi o contraste entre o ton superficial do que publiquei e a melancolía dos correos. Estas persoas escribían cunha frustración intensa sobre os efectos da procrastinación nas súas vidas, sobre os efectos do Mono nas súas vidas. E pensei nisto, e dixen para min: Se o sistema do procrastinador funciona, entón que está pasando? Por que todas estas persoas están tan deprimidas?
Well, it turns out that there's two kinds of procrastination. Everything I've talked about today, the examples I've given, they all have deadlines. And when there's deadlines, the effects of procrastination are contained to the short term because the Panic Monster gets involved. But there's a second kind of procrastination that happens in situations when there is no deadline. So if you wanted 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 momentum, 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.
Pois resulta que hai dous tipos de procrastinación. Todo o que expliquei hoxe, os exemplos que dei, todos teñen prazos. E cando hai prazos, os efectos da procrastinación están acoutados na curta duración porque o Monstro do Pánico intervén. Pero hai outro tipo de procrastinación que acontece en situacións nas que non hai un prazo límite. Por iso, se alguén quere unha carreira independente --algunha cousa artística ou emprendedora-- non hai prazos nesas cousas ao principio, porque non pasa nada, ata que se sae fóra e se fai o traballo duro para coller pulo e mover as cousas. Tamén hai cousas importantes fóra da carreira que non teñen prazos, como visitar a familia, facer exercicio e coidar da saúde, ocuparse dunha relación ou rematar unha relación que non funciona.
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. He has nothing to wake up for, so the effects of procrastination, they're not contained; they just extend outward forever. 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. It's usually suffered quietly and privately. And it can be the source of a huge amount of long-term unhappiness, and regrets. And I thought, that's why those people are emailing, and that's why they're in such a bad place. It's not that they're cramming for some project. It's that long-term procrastination has made them feel like a spectator, at times, in their own lives. The frustration is not that they couldn't achieve their dreams; it's that they weren't even able to start chasing them.
Pero se o único mecanismo do procrastinador para facer estas cousas é o Monstro do Pánico, hai un problema, porque en todas estas situacións sen prazos, non aparece o Monstro do Pánico. Non ten motivos para espertar, por iso os efectos da procrastinación non se acoutan; simplemente se prolongan para sempre. E esta procrastinación de longa duración é menos visible e menos comentada ca a divertida, a de curta duración, a que ten prazos. Polo xeral padécese en silencio e en privado. E pode ser a fonte dunha inmensa infelicidade a longo prazo e de remorsos. E, pensei, por iso me escribían todas aquelas persoas, e por iso se sentían tan mal. Non se trata de que estean apurados con algún proxecto. É que a procrastinación de longa duración fainos sentir coma espectadores, ás veces, das súas propias vidas. A frustración non vén de que non poidan alcanzar os seus soños; senón do feito de non poder sequera comezar a perseguilos.
So I read these emails and I had a little bit of an epiphany -- that 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,
Por iso, ao ler estes correos tiven unha pequena epifanía... non creo que existan os non procrastinadores. Así é... Penso que todos vostedes son procrastinadores. Pode que non sexan todos un desastre, coma algúns de nós,
(Laughter)
(Risas)
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.
e algúns de vostedes pode que teñan unha relación saudable cos prazos, pero lembren: a trampa máis raposeira do Mono é cando os prazos non existen.
Now, I want to show you one last thing. I call this a Life Calendar. That's one box for every week of a 90-year life. That's not that many boxes, especially since we've already used a bunch of those. So I think we need to all take a long, hard look at that calendar. We need to think about what we're really procrastinating on, because everyone is procrastinating on something in life. We need to stay aware of the Instant Gratification Monkey. That's a job for all of us. And because there's not that many boxes on there, it's a job that should probably start today.
Agora quero mostrarlles unha última cousa. A isto chámolle Calendario da Vida. Hai unha caixa por cada semana dunha vida de 90 anos. Non son tantas caixas, sobre todo porque xa usamos unha morea delas. Creo que todos temos que mirar con moita atención este calendario. Precisamos pensar sobre as cousas que estamos procrastinando, porque todos procrastinamos cousas na vida. Temos que estar atentos ao Mono da Gratificación Instantánea. É unha tarefa para todos nós. E visto que non quedan tantas caixas por diante, é un traballo que, probablemente, debería comezar hoxe.
Well, maybe not today, but ...
Ben, quizais non hoxe, pero...
(Laughter)
(Risas)
You know. Sometime soon.
Xa saben... En breve.
Thank you.
Grazas.
(Applause)
(Aplausos)