Procrastination

In this episode of I Didn't Know, Maybe You Didn't Either, B Dhat dives into the science behind procrastination. Is it laziness? A fear of failure? Or just our brains tricking us? From temporal discounting to the Pomodoro technique, we break down why we procrastinate and how to beat it.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
All right, so digg it full transparency. I've been procrastinating
on doing this episode like heavy. I kept putting it off,
kept telling myself, I'll do it later, I'll do it later,
and later has become now so fast it was like
daylight savings time for this episode. I lost an hour
and that got me wondering, like why do we procrastinate?
Like is it just laziness? Is it a lack of discipline?

(00:23):
Is it a secret government experiment to keep us from
reaching our full potential? Get probably not the last one.
But I did do some digging, and here's what I
didn't know about procrastination. Maybe you didn't either. I didn't know.
I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know. I

(00:47):
didn't I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know.
It turns out procrastination is not just about being lazy.
It's about how our brains process tasks. There's this thing
called temporal discounting, which basically means we prefer immedia pleasure
over a future benefit. So when we have a deadline

(01:08):
that's two weeks away, our brain says, oh, that's plenty
of time. Then suddenly it's the night before and we sweat,
like we just ran from a dog that wasn't even
chasing us. Fear of failure also plays a huge part.
Sometimes we don't start things because we're afraid that we
won't do them well. I think I can relate to
that just in this expanded version. If I didn't know,

(01:29):
maybe you didn't either, just wanting it to be great,
you feel me. It's like when you buy a brand
new notebook and the first page gotta be perfect, so
you just don't end up writing in a notebook at all.
And let's not forget task a version. Oh yeah, that's
just a fancy will of saying. If it ain't fun,
I don't want none. That's why you can scroll social
media for two hours with no problem, but struggle to

(01:51):
answer one email. Now, how do we beat the big
bad wolf called procrastination? I got a few tricks. Break
it down. Big tasks overwhelming, so break them down into
bite sized portions. My uncle Tyrone used to always say,
how do you eat an elephant? I would say, why
would you eat an elephant? He said, that's not the point.

(02:11):
If you had to eat an elephant, how would you
eat an elephant? I would say, how? Uncle Tyrone he
would say, bite by bite. Now, have you ever heard
of the Palmerduro technique, because I had. The Palmadoro technique
says you work for twenty five minutes, then you take
a five minute break, then you repeat. It tricks your
brain into thinking, oh, it's just twenty five minutes, I

(02:34):
can do that next thing. You know, you then knocked
out an hour's worth for work. Also, change the scenery.
If your couch is your comfort zone like me, it's
also your danger zone. Try out a black onned coffee
shop in your area. Maybe go sit at the park
or the library, or maybe just sit at a desk
like a responsible adult. Another tip on beating procrastination set

(02:58):
fake deadline. If some is due Friday, tell yourself is
due Wednesday. Your brain might fall for it. Mine does
it all the time. And one final tip, reward yourself
and see that way you're tricking your brain into associating
work with good things. Yeah, almost treating yourself like a puppy. Look,
the moral of the episode is, at the end of

(03:20):
the day, procrastination isn't about being lazy. It's about how
we're wired. But once we understand that, we can hack
our own brains and get stuff done. And before I
get up out of here, I want to let you
know you can definitely hit us up in DM fashion
on Instagram idk myde with an underscore in the front
and the back. But we also got a hit in

(03:41):
history hotline. Yeah, you can call me and leave a
message if it's something you want me to talk about,
or ask me if I knew about, or just want
to add value to the podcast. Hit me up nine
two nine two six five eleven twelve. That's nine two
nine two six five eleven twelve. Now, if you'll excuse me,

(04:02):
I gotta go applyau these tips to my own life.
This episode, I just wanted to share some things with
that I didn't know about procrastination. Maybe you didn't either,