Hello everyone! Have you ever wondered what goes on inside a procrastinators mind? Well everyone is a procrastinator at something. Some people procrastinate for a really really long time and some people are not like that. Read this post to find out what it is like for some people that procrastinate a lot. Hope you enjoy!
First watch this Ted video.
All people have a part of their brain that encourages you to do whatever makes sense. Even the procrastinators.
This whatever makes sense part of your brain makes logical choices. It’s not about having fun or doing whatever seems most stimulating, it just does whatever makes sense.
This part of the brain, however, can be taken over…
by the instant gratification monkey. The instant gratification monkey only cares about things that are easy and fun and this monkey only wants to do things that'll make you happy right then in that moment.
But the gratification monkey does not have any knowledge of the future. And so most of the time when you are trying to do rational things, he keeps distracting you and turns the wheel so that you keep procrastinating, and procrastinating.
The instant gratification monkey is the guy who does things that are easy and fun, and the rational decision-maker is the guy who does things that make sense. Some of the times they disagree but other times the gratification monkey and the rational decision-maker do agree!
Sometimes it makes sense to do easy and fun things. For example, playing with legos on the weekend when there is nothing else you have to do, or taking a short walk in the morning.
But for a procrastinator, when they disagree, it always turns out a certain way...
In the dark playground. Dark playground is a place where you do only easy and fun things. But when you are in the dark playground you aren't actually having fun. when you are procrastinating a lot you don't feel good when you are doing it.
When your mind is in the dark playground you feel emotions like self-hate, dread and all those negative emotions, which is the reason why you don't want to be in the dark playground.
The instant gratification monkey runs the dark playground, but thankfully there is one person that the gratification monkey is scared of called...
The panic monster!!
Sometimes when you keep procrastinating and procrastinating and you get too close to some kind of deadline then the Panic monster wakes up.
The Panic monster is the only thing the monkey is terrified of. And when the monkey runs away the rational decision-maker can take the wheel and start to make rational decisions.
But sometimes there is no deadline. And so then the Panic monster has nothing to wake up to... and so the instant gratification monkey keeps delaying, and delaying things you should do forever. Dun dun duuuuuuuun! *dramatic moosic/music*
So when that happens you have to gather up your strength and put your mind in the place where you do hard things. When you do hard things, you don’t procrastinate and you do the things that make sense.
This is not a very enjoyable place to be. And even the rational decision maker does not like making that choice. However, after you do it, you feel really good to get it out of the way!
But sometimes you do not have any choice. Maybe it is when you are studying for a test, or when you are doing some kind of chore.
Hopefully now you know what goes on inside a procrastinators head. But like I said everyone is a procrastinator at something sometimes. By understanding the procrastinator's mind, you will improve your decision making by not letting the instant gratification money take over the wheel! Thank you for your interest. Stay safe!
by Aila McPhail on 07/20/2020