The Science of Procrastination—and How to Really Get Stuff Done

Plain English with Derek Thompson

The Ringer

News Commentary, News

4.8 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 20 June 2023

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today’s episode is the first in a new miniseries about getting stuff done. This episode in particular is about NOT getting stuff done. I consider myself an exceptional procrastinator. There are many times when I sit down at my computer to accomplish one task—say, answer my email; write five paragraphs—where I’ll immediately get swept into a text conversation, which will lead to some snooping around ESPN, which will remind me I should check The Atlantic homepage, where I’ll open three articles in separate tabs, and those articles will birth even more tabs, but they’re long articles and I want some coffee as a companion so maybe I should make some coffee, so I listen to a podcast while I do that, and I might as well check Twitter while I’m listening to the show, and three hours later, I’ve written absolutely nothing. I’ve spent way too much time thinking about procrastination, which is why it was such a pleasure to think out loud about it with an actual scientist: Tim Pychyl, a retired professor of psychology at Carleton University and a long-time productivity researcher. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected]. You can find us on TikTok at www.tiktok.com/@plainenglish_ Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Tim Pychyl Producer: Devon Manze Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You may find this hard to believe, but 60 saws that explain the 90s.
0:04.4	America's favorite poorly named music podcast is back with 30 more songs than 120 songs total.
0:11.8	I'm your host Rob Harvilla here to bring you more true musical analysis,
0:15.8	poignant nostalgic reveries, crude personal anecdotes, and rad special guests,
0:21.3	all with even less restraint than usual.
0:24.6	Join us once more on 60 saws that explain the 90s every Wednesday
0:29.6	on Spotify.
1:00.2	Hey guys, it's Mimi Webb. I'm the new brand ambassador for Maybelline.
1:05.1	Make up your mix with the glow-up playlist and shuffle your looks with my favorite Maybelline products.
1:10.9	The new Colatetto eyeshadow sticks only at SuperDug.
1:14.9	Today's episode is the first in a new mini-series about getting stuff done,
1:20.2	and this episode in particular is about not getting stuff done.
1:26.2	I consider myself an exceptional procrastinator.
1:30.4	There are many times when I sit down on my computer to accomplish one task, say,
1:35.1	answer my email, write five paragraphs, and I'll immediately, when I sit at my computer,
1:40.5	get swept up in some text conversation, which will lead maybe to some snooping around ESPN,
1:46.8	basketball reference, which will remind me, I should check the Atlantic homepage where I'll
1:50.5	open three articles and separate tabs, and those articles will birth even more tabs,
1:54.8	but they're long articles, and I want to make some coffee as a companion, so maybe I should
1:58.4	make some coffee, but I should listen to a podcast while I make coffee, right? While I do that,
2:02.4	I might as well check Twitter while I'm listening to a show, and two hours later I've written
2:07.0	absolutely nothing. When scientists initially studied this act of procrastination,
	...

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