Stop Procrastinating on This Lesson: How to Use Tim Urban's TED Talk in Your Classroom

If you've ever found yourself puzzled by your students' chronic procrastination—wondering why they wait until the eleventh hour to start on that major project or why their best work often emerges in a caffeine-fueled, late-night writing session—you're not alone. Understanding procrastination is something many of us grapple with, not just for our students but also for ourselves.

Enter Tim Urban's humorous yet poignant TED Talk, "Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator."

What's it About?

In this hilarious talk, Tim Urban explores the world of procrastination, something most of us are all too familiar with. He navigates us through the quagmires of YouTube binges, Wikipedia rabbit holes, and the addictive allure of ...daydreaming.  More importantly, he encourages us to consider what we're really putting off before time runs out on us!

Why It's Relevant for High School Students

High school is a critical period for academic and personal development. Students are juggling multiple tasks, from academics and extracurricular activities to social lives and part-time jobs. Procrastination is the invisible enemy, sneaking up on them and jeopardizing their success. Urban's talk not only pinpoints why procrastination happens but also offers a lighthearted way to open up a serious discussion about it.

How to Use the Talk in Your Classroom

1. Discussion Starter: Use the talk to initiate a conversation about procrastination, its pitfalls, and how students feel about their own tendencies to put things off.

2. Exploration of Psychological Concepts: If you teach Psychology, this talk can serve as a real-world example to explore cognitive dissonance, motivation, and self-regulation.

3. Time Management Exercise: Use it as a prelude to a time-management exercise, helping students identify their own procrastination triggers and develop strategies to combat them.

4. Journal or Essay Prompt: Have students write about a time they procrastinated and what they learned from it. They could even come up with an action plan to avoid future procrastination.

The Takeaway

Tim Urban's talk provides a fantastic platform to tackle the issue of procrastination in a way that's engaging for high school students. Its humor and relatability make it accessible, while its underlying message resonates on a much deeper level that could very well lead to life-changing insights. Incorporating it into your curriculum could be the catalyst for some transformative classroom discussions and self-reflections among your students.

Check out my lesson on Tim Urban's Talk here!