#283: Managing Procrastination, Predicting the Future, and Finding Happiness - Tim Urban
The Tim Ferriss Show
Tim Ferriss: Bestselling Author, Human Guinea Pig
4.6 • 17.4K Ratings
🗓️ 30 November 2017
⏱️ 97 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Tim Urban (@waitbutwhy) is the author of the blog Wait But Why and has become one of the Internet's most popular writers. According to Fast Company, Tim has "captured a level of reader engagement that even the new-media giants would be envious of." Wait But Why receives more than 1.5 million unique visitors per month and has over 550,000 email subscribers.
Tim has gained a number of prominent readers as well, like authors Sam Harris (page 365 in Tribe of Mentors) and Susan Cain (page 10), Twitter co-founder Evan Williams (page 401), TED curator Chris Anderson (page 407), and Brain Pickings' Maria Popova.
Tim's series of posts after interviewing Elon Musk has been called by Vox's David Roberts "the meatiest, most fascinating, most satisfying posts I've read in ages." You can start with the first one, Elon Musk: The World's Raddest Man. Tim's TED Talk, Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator, has received more than 21 million views.
Enjoy!
This podcast is brought to you by Peloton, which has become a staple of my daily routine. I picked up this bike after seeing the success of my friend Kevin Rose, and I've been enjoying it more than I ever imagined. Peloton is an indoor cycling bike that brings live studio classes right to your home. No worrying about fitting classes into your busy schedule or making it to a studio with a crazy commute.
New classes are added every day, and this includes options led by elite NYC instructors in your own living room. You can even live stream studio classes taught by the world's best instructors, or find your favorite class on demand.
Peloton is offering listeners to this show a special offer. Visit onepeloton.com and enter the code "TIM" at checkout to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase. This is a great way to get in your workouts or an incredible gift. Again, that's onepeloton.com and enter the code TIM.
This podcast is also brought to you by ConvertKit. After trying the competition, this is the only email tool that has made email marketing easy for my team without sacrificing any of the features and benefits I need to run a profitable business. It's got easy-to-use systems, split testing, resending technology, automation, targeted content, high rates of deliverability, integration with more than 70 services -- like WordPress, Shopify, and Sumo -- and excellent customer service.
Whether you have a thousand subscribers or a million, whether you run a simple blog or a whole company, ConvertKit has a plan that's scaled to fit your budget and requirements. Go to ConvertKit.com/Tim to try it out and get your first month for free! Test the platform, kick the tires, and make sure it works for you and your business.
***
If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading the reviews!
For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.
Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday.
For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.
Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Visit tim.blog/sponsor and fill out the form.
Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.
Follow Tim:
Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss
Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss
Facebook: facebook.com/timferriss
YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss
Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | optimal minimal |
| 0:02.0 | at this altitude i can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking |
| 0:06.3 | can i also your personal question? |
| 0:08.4 | now i just sit in the perfect time |
| 0:10.5 | what if i did the other time? |
| 0:12.0 | i'm a cyber nettie organism living this show where metal hinges go |
| 0:15.6 | me too |
| 0:18.0 | ferris show |
| 0:24.0 | this episode is brought to you by athletic greens |
| 0:26.9 | i get asked all the time what i would take if i could only take one supplement |
| 0:31.6 | the answer is invariably athletic greens i view it as all in one nutritional insurance |
| 0:36.8 | i recommended it in fact in the four hour body this is more than 10 years ago |
| 0:41.1 | and i did not get paid to do so with approximately 75 vitamins minerals and whole food source |
| 0:46.4 | ingredients you'd be very hard pressed to find a more nutrient dense and comprehensive formula |
| 0:51.0 | on the market it has multi vitamins multi mineral greens complex probiotics and prebiotics for |
| 0:56.5 | gut health and immunity formula digestive enzymes adaptogens and much more i usually take it once or |
| 1:03.0 | twice a day just to make sure i've covered my bases if i missed anything i'm not aware of |
| 1:07.9 | of course i focus on nutrient dense meals to begin with that's the basis but athletic greens |
| 1:13.2 | makes it easy to get a lot of nutrition when whole foods aren't readily available from travel |
| 1:17.7 | packets i always have them in my bag when i'm zipping around right now athletic greens is giving |
| 1:23.0 | my audience a special offer on top of their all-in-one formula which is a free vitamin D supplement |
| 1:29.1 | and five free travel packs with your first subscription purchase many of us are deficient in vitamin D |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Tim Ferriss: Bestselling Author, Human Guinea Pig, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Tim Ferriss: Bestselling Author, Human Guinea Pig and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.