如何克服拖沓

如何克服拖沓

 拖沓是一种隐患。它悄悄潜伏着，甚至在我们认为最好的时刻却给予致命的一击。事实上，我们很多人甚至不知道自己经常拖沓。例如，当您在读本文时，您也许正推迟着某些重要事情呢。也许那就是给你老板的报告、一个新客户的电话，或者打给朋友的道歉电话。

但无论如何，拖沓是可以克服的。这其实很简单...只要做就行了！

Procrastination¹ is an insidious² thing. It creeps up and strikes even the best of us from time to time. In fact many of us may not even realize that we are procrastinating³. As you read this, for instance, you may be putting off doing something important. Maybe it’s that report to your boss, a new sales call, or that phone call to apologize to a friend.

Whatever it is, procrastination can be overcome. It’s actually quite simple…Just do it!

我知道你在说什么...难道你不希望它是如此简单。事实上，当我们拖沓的时候，往往是因为我们有太多的事情要做，却没有足够的时间。在现代社会，我们有来自四面八方的大量事情要做。手机铃声正响着、电子邮件正等待回复、日程安排正在催促、老板正站在你门口，等等。

各个方面都得关照！

I know what you’re saying… Don’t you wish it was that simple. The fact is we procrastinate⁴ because we have too much to do and not enough time to do it. In our modern society we have a huge amount of things coming at us from all directions. The cell phone is ringing, e-mail is notifying, your calendar is screaming, and your boss is standing⁵ in your doorway⁶.

Something’s got to give!

拖沓的定义就是...

将一项活动推迟或拖延或顺延到以后的时间。

将我们都必须做的一大堆活让步，这是很自然的事情，我们不得不将一些事情拖延到以后来做，或者干脆不做。

所以，真正的问题是...什么是我们现在要做的？什么是我们要推迟做的？

1、我们做紧急的？

2、我们做重要的？

3、我们做能让我们现在就感觉心情舒畅的？

The definition of procrastination is…

Putting off or delaying or deferring⁷ an action to a later time.

Given the amount of stuff we all have to do, it’s just natural that we have to put off some things toa later time or just not do them at all.

So the real question is… what do we do now and what do we put off until later?

Do we do the urgent?

Do we do the important?

Do we do what makes us feel good now?

The answers to these questions can really affect our future.

对于上述这些问题的回答真的会影响到我们的未来！

丹·艾瑞里在他的新书《怪诞行为学》中以一组学生的实验来揭示什么样的结构导致拖沓。他的试验结果非常有趣，并有助于我们了解如何克服这些拖沓隐患。

丹给他的三个班级学生分配了不同的标准，要求在为期12周的一个学期内提交论文。

Dan Ariely, in his new book, Predictably Irrational⁸ did some experiments with a group of students to find out how structure effects procrastination. The results of his test are interesting and may give us some insight on overcoming this insidious problem.

Dan gave three of his classes different criteria⁹ for submitting their papers during a 12 week semester

第一个班根本没有明确提交的期限。他们只需要在学期末提交论文。他们可以提前交，但不会加分。

第二个班可以在课程开始前为他们的论文确定最后期限。他们可以将最后期限设定在期中，也可以设定在期末。但是，一旦他们设定了最后期限就不能改变，而且每拖延一天学生将会受到扣除1%分数的惩罚。

第三个班则严格限定最后期限。他们必须在第4周、第8周和第12周分别提交三份论文。他们没有选择性，也没有一点灵活性。

然后，在学期末记录各个班级的成绩。结果，严格设定最后期限的班级做得最好，其次是自行设定最后期限的班级，而采取自由形式的班级则最差。

The first class had no deadlines at all. They merely needed to submit their papers by the last class. They could turn the papers in early but there was no grade benefit in doing so.

The second class could pick their own deadlines for each paper at the beginning of the course. They could set them at intervals¹⁰ throughout the semester or just set them all for the last day of the class. Once the deadlines were set they could not be changed. Students would be penalized¹¹ 1% of the grade for each day it was late.

The third class was given dictatorial¹² orders. They would have to submit their three papers on week 4, 8, and 12 respectively. Their was no choice or flexibility¹³.

At the end of the semester, the grades were tallied¹⁴ for each group. The group with the dictatorial structure did the best, followed by the class that set its own deadlines, with the free form group comingin last.

结构对于班级的整体成绩是很重要的。那个被允许自行选择最后期限的班级最后决定的提交形式却是老师提供的。

可取之处就是这样的顺序...人们往往以限定的方式来使事情做得更好：

1、外部强加最后期限

2、自行设定最后期限

3、顺其自然没有期限

这就是我多年来针对不同类别、不同目标、或其他结果所采取不同方式而造成不同拖沓结果的经验。在接下来的几天里，我们将会让您看到在一些不同生活领域所采取的结构化方式而获得成功的项目，包括从饮食到资金管理方面。

让我们开始吧...现在！

Structure was very important to the overall grades of the class. The class that was allowed to pick its own deadlines decided¹⁵ to follow a scheduling form that the teacher provided.

The take away is this… people do better in this order

Externally imposed deadlines

Personally imposed deadlines

No deadlines at all along the way

This has been my experience over the years with many different classes, goals, or other accomplishments¹⁶. Over the next few days we’ll look at some structured ways to overcome procrastination in differentareas of life. From diet to money management we'll take a look at some successful programs that let you say…

Let’s get started… now!

1 procrastination   

n.拖延，耽搁

参考例句：

• Procrastination is the father of failure. 因循是失败的根源。
• Procrastination is the thief of time. 拖延就是浪费时间。

2 insidious   

adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧

参考例句：

• That insidious man bad-mouthed me to almost everyone else.那个阴险的家伙几乎见人便说我的坏话。
• Organized crime has an insidious influence on all who come into contact with it.所有和集团犯罪有关的人都会不知不觉地受坏影响。

3 procrastinating   

拖延，耽搁( procrastinate的现在分词 )； 拖拉

参考例句：

• Begin while others are procrastinating. Save while others are wasting. 当别人拖延时你开始。当别人浪费时你节约。
• Before adjourning, councillors must stop procrastinating and revisit this controversial issue. 在休会之前，参议员必须停止拖延，重新讨论这个引起争议的问题。

4 procrastinate   

v.耽搁，拖延

参考例句：

• Most often we procrastinate when faced with something we do not want to do.面对不想做的事情，我们经常拖延。
• It's easy to procrastinate when the deadline seems infinitely far away.当最终期限总是遥遥无期时是很容易延期的。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

7 deferring   

v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的现在分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• Recently, the Supreme Court has focused on an additional reason for deferring to administrative agencies. 最近，最高法院强调了尊重行政机构的另一种理由。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Think of it as deferring part of the compiler's job to runtime. 可以认为这是将编译器的部分工作延迟到了运行时。 来自互联网

8 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

9 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

10 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

11 penalized   

对…予以惩罚( penalize的过去式和过去分词 )； 使处于不利地位

参考例句：

• You will be penalized for poor spelling. 你拼写不好将会受到处罚。
• Team members will be penalized for lateness. 队员迟到要受处罚。

12 dictatorial   

adj. 独裁的，专断的

参考例句：

• Her father is very dictatorial.她父亲很专横。
• For years the nation had been under the heel of a dictatorial regime.多年来这个国家一直在独裁政权的铁蹄下。

13 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

14 tallied   

v.计算，清点( tally的过去式和过去分词 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• The girl tallied them with her eyes for a moment. 新娘用目光把这些化妆品清点了一下。 来自教父部分
• His account of the accident tallied with hers. 他对事故的陈述和她的相吻合。 来自辞典例句

15 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

16 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》