February 27, 2014

The Science Behind Procrastination

It’s convenient that TV shows are 30 minutes long: you can watch one more before cleaning the kitchen after dinner. Just one more. Soon, it’s late, and you decide to go to bed and do the dishes tomorrow. Or will you?

Why do we procrastinate? And how can we trick ourselves into rolling up our sleeves and giving ourselves sparkling clean kitchens? The first step is acknowledging that we all procrastinate. The second step is watching this video to understand the science of procrastination and methods for jumping into action.

Image credit: hang_in_there/Flickr

a computer generated image of a human brain.

Thinking

The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

Who — or what — really controls your mind?

Building destroyed by the Halifax Explosion. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

The Past

The largest accidental explosion of all time

More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

a collage of photos of a man with a hat and a book.

High Culture

6 great books with wildly unreliable narrators

Dive into the twisted truths and concealed realities told by literature’s most unreliable narrators.

a group of five matches on a pink background.

The Well

Signs you’re burned out — and how to bounce back

If you don’t feel better after the weekend, the “burnout paradox” could explain why.

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7 min

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with

Laurie Santos

Starts With A Bang

The trick to instantly identifying JWST images

If you can identify a foreground star, the spike patterns are a dead giveaway as to whether it’s a JWST image or any other observatory.

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