关于拖延症这个老生常谈的话题，我们先来看看下面这篇由撰写的文章，关于他分享的自己如何慢慢克服拖延症的方法。（中英对照可供英语学习者阅读）

Turn off the phone, tune into yourself, and be productive when it counts. 

关掉手机，调入自己的声音，并在需要时提高工作效率  

  

Have you ever found yourself staring at your phone or laptop, mindlessly checking social media or going down an internet rabbit hole when you’re supposed to be doing something else? So have I. 

你有没有发现自己盯着你的手机或笔记本电脑，无意识地查看社交媒体或在你应该做其他事情的时候进入互联网的迷幻世界？我也有。 

 

My name is Brian, and I’m addicted to information. More specifically, I am addicted to the infinite and immediately available mental stimulation the internet offers in the form of information. And, according to scientists, I’m not alone. Information addiction is real, and is a perfect outlet for procrastination. After all, why would I want to perform some unpleasant task when I can sit and laugh at cat memes instead? 

我叫布莱恩，我沉迷于信息。更具体地说，我沉迷于互联网以信息形式提供的无限且立即可用的精神刺激。而且，根据科学家的说法，我并不孤单。信息成瘾是真实存在的，是拖延症的完美出口。毕竟，当我可以坐下来对猫的表情包大笑时，我为什么要执行一些不愉快的任务？  

 

But procrastination can lead to negative consequences, from mental fatigue to missed deadlines that frustrate my manager. How did I become addicted to something so potentially destructive? And how do I recover for the sake of productivity? The answer to both questions is the same: neuroplasticity. 

但拖延会导致负面后果，从精神疲劳到逾期使我的老板生气。我是如何沉迷于如此具有潜在破坏性的东西的？为了产出，我该如何恢复？两个问题的答案都是一样的：神经可塑性。 

  

“What fires together wires together” — Donald Hebb 

“是什么把电线连在一起”——唐纳德·赫布 

  

Neuroplasticity? 

神经可塑性？ 

 

Neuroplasticity, discovered back in the 1940’s by Donald Hebb, is how the brain changes (for better or worse) in response to repeated experience. 

神经可塑性是由唐纳德·赫布在 1940 年代发现的，它是大脑如何响应重复经历而发生变化（无论好坏）。 

 

“Heady” stuff? Here’s a real-world example you might relate to: 

“令人兴奋”的东西？这是一个您可能会涉及到的真实示例： 

  

 My first encounter with the internet was transformative. As I clicked away, my brain thought “this is new and this is awesome!” and released some dopamine to motivate me to seek that rush of unexpected discovery again (and again, and again). As hours of web surfing went by, I became less tolerant of enduring boring, difficult, or stressful tasks and began choosing distraction over productivity. In other words, I wired my brain for procrastination. 

我第一次接触互联网是变革性的。当我点击离开时，我的大脑想“这是新的，这太棒了！”并释放出一些多巴胺来激励我再次（一次又一次）寻求那股意想不到的发现。随着上网时间的流逝，我越来越不能忍受无聊、困难或压力大的任务，并开始选择分心而不是生产力。换句话说，我把我的大脑连接到了拖延症。 

 

Yeah, yeah…I’ll finish reading this later 

是的，是的……我稍后再读完 

  

Procrastination is a fact of life. According to Piers Steel, author of The Procrastination Equation, about 95 percent of people admit to putting off work (perhaps the other 5 percent didn’t get around to completing the survey). So, it’s safe to assume you, like me, are a procrastinator at times…you might even be procrastinating now. The good news is we can learn ourselves out of procrastination the same way we learned ourselves into it — by taking small, consistent actions that offer our brain a reward. 

拖延症是生活的常态。根据《拖延方程》的作者 Piers Steel 的说法，大约 95% 的人承认推迟工作（也许另外 5% 的人没有时间完成调查）。所以，可以安全地假设你和我一样，有时是一个拖延者……你现在甚至可能在拖延。好消息是，我们可以像学习拖延一样从拖延中学习自己——通过采取微小的、持续的行动来为我们的大脑提供奖励。 

 

  

Use your mind to change your mind 

用你的心来改变你的想法 

 

There are seemingly endless strategies to overcome internet-fueled procrastination. I found the process below especially helpful, and hope you will as well. 

似乎有无穷无尽的策略可以克服互联网引发的拖延症。我发现下面的过程特别有用，希望你也能。 

 

Accept reality 

接受现实 

 

You’re going to procrastinate from time to time — you’re only human and can’t do it all. In fact, it’s possible that beating ourselves up leads to more procrastination, making it harder to be effective. Have self-compassion and recognize there is a time for procrastination before and after your task, but for now you must focus. 

你会时不时地拖延——你只是个普通人，不能做所有的事情。事实上，自责可能会导致更多的拖延，从而更难奏效。自我理解并认识到在你的任务之前和之后会有一段时间的拖延，但现在你必须集中注意力。 

 

Disconnect from the internet 

断网

 

The internet and your smartphone will demand your attention subconsciously — you’ve trained your brain for that. Place your phone in another room, with notifications and sound off. If you have to work on your computer, turn Wi-Fi off. 

互联网和您的智能手机会在潜意识中引起您的注意——您已经为此训练了您的大脑。将手机放在另一个房间，通知和声音关闭。如果您必须在计算机上工作，请关闭 Wi-Fi。 

 

Be mindful 

铭记 

 

Take a few minutes to observe your thoughts and emotions. I find mindfulness meditation, particularly breathing meditation, a great tool for insight. When I began meditating, I held the common belief that to meditate “correctly,” my mind had to become totally blank. But to be truly mindful is to be aware of yourself without judgment. Noticing my thoughts and the emotions around them helps me understand what needs to be done next. 

花几分钟观察你的想法和情绪。我发现正念冥想，尤其是呼吸冥想，是一种很好的领悟工具。当我开始打坐时，我有一个共同的信念，即要“正确”打坐，我的头脑必须完全空白。但真正的正念是不加评判地意识到自己。注意我的想法和它们周围的情绪有助于我了解下一步需要做什么。 

 

Prioritize what’s important 

优先处理重要的事情 

  

If, while observing, you noticed fear or anxiety around starting (or not finishing) a particular task, pay attention. These emotions are a great indicator of why you’re procrastinating. Whether you think you’re unable to do something well or simply want to avoid having to deal with it at all, use this insight to prioritize your tasks, and make the decision to work on one that seems especially difficult. Remember, the goal is not only to finish a task, but to make it easier to be productive in the future. Accomplishing difficult tasks will bring you the positive feelings necessary to rewire your brain. 

如果在观察时，您注意到开始（或未完成）某项特定任务时感到恐惧或焦虑，请注意。这些情绪是你为什么拖延的一个很好的指标。无论您认为自己无法做好某事，还是只是想完全避免根本不处理它，请使用这种领悟力来确定您的任务的优先级，并决定去做一个看起来特别困难的事情。请记住，我们的目标不仅是完成一项任务，而且是让未来更容易高效工作。完成困难的任务会给你带来重连大脑所需的积极情绪。 

 

Focus on one thing at a time 

一次只专注一件事 

 

Once you’ve decided where to begin, focus on how to organize the task into small pieces (SMART goals are a great tool here). Don’t think about multi-tasking — this is single-tasking. Keep your focus on one part of the task at a time to avoid being overwhelmed about the outcome of the final product and the work required to get there. 

一旦你决定从哪里开始，专注于如何将任务组织成小块（SMART目标在这里是一个很好的工具）。不要考虑多任务处理——这是单任务处理。一次专注于任务的一个部分，以避免对最终产品的结果和实现目标所需的工作感到不知所措。 

  

Jump in 

进入状态

 

The hardest part of getting started is…getting started. A lot of this is because of the way we judge our thoughts — dismissing our efforts before giving them a chance to develop. Let go of your expectations and judgments and just BEGIN. Sometimes you can find a shortcut to help overcome the initial obstacles to productivity. For instance, templates are a great way to remove the stress of staring at a blank page. Every task likely has a similar hack to ease you into action. 

开始最难的部分是……开始。这在很大程度上是因为我们判断自己的想法的方式——在给它们一个机会发展之前就放弃我们的努力。放下你的期望和判断，开始吧。有时，你可以找到一条捷径来帮助克服最初的生产力障碍。例如，模板是消除盯着空白页面的压力的好方法。每项任务可能都有类似的技巧，可以让您轻松采取行动。 

 

Take a (timed) break 

休息一下（定时） 

  

If you feel yourself getting overwhelmed, take a break. Set a timer for five minutes and do something else. You could return to breathing to clear your mind again, do some jumping jacks to get your blood flowing, or go outside for some fresh air — but do not allow yourself to check the internet or your phone. 

如果你觉得自己不知所措，请休息一下。将计时器设置为五分钟，然后做其他事情。您可以恢复呼吸以再次清醒头脑，做一些跳跃运动来让血液流动，或者出去呼吸新鲜空气——但不要让自己查看互联网或手机。 

  

CYA: Celebrate Your Accomplishments 

CYA：庆祝你的成就 

 

When your task is finished, pat yourself on the back; you’ve earned some self-esteem. Procrastination is usually a response to the unpleasant feelings associated with a task. Rewiring your brain requires sending yourself different messages. Recognizing that you can move through difficult emotions and accomplish your tasks is crucial to replacing your negative thought patterns. Each success rewires your brain so that the next time you’re faced with a difficult task, you will approach it with more confidence, patience, and focus — and less urge to check your phone. 

任务完成后，拍拍自己的背，你获得了一些成就感。拖延通常是对与任务相关的不愉快感觉的反应。重新连接你的大脑需要向自己发送不同的信息。认识到你可以克服困难的情绪并完成你的任务对于取代你的消极思维模式至关重要。每次成功都会重新连接您的大脑，以便下次您面临艰巨的任务时，您会更加自信、耐心和专注地处理它——并且不那么急于查看手机。 

 

Don’t worry about perfection 

不要过度追求完美 

 

Once your task is done, let it go. I could write this blog a million times, a million ways, and it would never be perfect — that’s just part of the deal. Accept imperfection, value the effort, and keep moving onto your next task. 

一旦你的任务完成，就继续下一个吧。我可以写这个博客一百万次，一百万种方式，它永远不会是完美的——接受不完美，重视努力，并继续进行下一项任务。 

 

Speaking of perfection, you likely won’t do any of these steps perfectly, but you’ll make progress. With repeated effort, you’ll become skilled at being productive when it matters, just like you became skilled at procrastinating. Be patient and kind to yourself as you grow. And, of course, give yourself a few minutes after you’re done with your task to hop on the internet for that sweet, sweet dopamine rush. Which reminds me, I was so busy writing this that I haven’t checked Facebook all day… 

说到完美，你可能不会完美地完成这些步骤中的任何一个，但你会取得进步。通过反复努力，你会在重要的时候变得富有成效，就像你变得擅长拖延一样。在成长过程中对自己保持耐心和友善。而且，当然，在完成任务后给自己几分钟时间，让自己在互联网上享受甜蜜、甜蜜的多巴胺冲动。这让我想起了，我忙着写这篇文章，以至于一整天都没有查看 Facebook …… 

其实你会发现拖延症是当今社会年轻人身上很常见的症状，它同样也是一种习惯，只是这种习惯比较容易养成而已。克服它的方式可以类比我们摆脱其他坏习惯的方式，例如：你想戒掉每天喝奶茶的坏习惯，你可以限制自己可以支配的钱，把钱交给信任的人保管，买必需品的时候才可以动用；或者你可以培养另一个好习惯来逐渐替代它，比如喝养生茶或者鲜榨果汁。同样地，你可以用一些任务管理和计时工具相结合的软件来辅助你不要拖延，类似这种——

或者找到做这件事的兴趣和动力，比如找到一个大家一起学习的场所，激励你花时间学习。

在线自习室是疫情之后大家偏好的学习方式，用手机计时同时可以实时看到一起学习的人同样有学习的动力，在一定程度上也减少了刷手机掉入会的时间，就像Brian说的你也可以像擅长拖延一样变得擅长自律和达成目标。