BY LEO BABAUTA
LEO BABAUTA是博客-禅习惯（Zenhabits）创始人，专注写作25年，博客文章版权全部公开。
这篇文章原文版权归属Leo，译文版权归我。译文只是我的理解，也不一定百分百正确，欢迎讨论，或提供更好译文供参考学习。
——Article——
This week, I am cramming out work, because I’m leaving on a cruise that’s going to last almost a month.
我这周疲于满满的工作，因为我将参加一次为期一个月的游轮航行。
I am not usually this productive, but I’m really killing it because I want to get all my work done before I leave.
通常我没这么高效，但我真心想在走之前把工作都搞定，所以效率高到飞。
On the cruise, I have two big projects I’ve set for myself, with a deadline to finish them before the cruise ends.
在游轮上，我给自己设置了两个大项目，航行结束时间就是项目截止时间。
Before the cruise, I also have a challenge to finish the first 60 lessons of the Pimsleur Spanish course, which I’ve tried and failed to do a few times before (!) but am now going to complete.
在这次航行之前，我也给自己设定了一项挑战，要学完皮姆斯勒西班牙语课的前60节，我以前试图学过好几次都没学完，不过这次我马上就要学完了。
How am I able to complete it this time? I gave myself a deadline to finish the lessons by the cruise, or my friend Tynan will get to punch me in the face if I don’t.
我这次是如何完成的呢？我给自己设置了“航行前完成”这个截止线，完不成的话我朋友tynan就会一拳揍我脸上。
These are self-imposed deadlines, and they’re absolutely working.
这是自我强制的截止线，绝对有用。
I’m not always a fan of deadlines and goals, but it’s good to be able to use whatever works best for you. If you’re working great without deadlines and goals, then by all means, keep going. But if you’re struggling to push a project forward (or a learning project like language lessons), then you might try a self-imposed deadline.
我也不是一直喜欢截止线和目标设定，但能应用最适合你的方法还是好的。如果你不用截止线和目标设定，也能工作很棒，那么坚持下去。但如果你挣扎于推进项目（或者完成学习，比如语言课），你可以试试自我强制设定截止线。
Here are some things that work for me:
以下几点对我有用：
1. Have an external motivation for meeting the deadline. For example, leaving for my trip is a deadline for all the work I have to do, because I won’t have good internet connections on the trip, so I really need to get pretty much everything done. Having Tynan punch me in the face if I don’t do all my Spanish lessons means I’m definitely going to do my lessons.
1. 为按期完成找到外部动力。
比如说，去旅行就是我必须完成的所有工作的截止线，因为旅行中我网络不好，所以我真的需要把所有工作都做完。让tynan在我完不成所有西班牙语课时揍我也就意味着我必须完成所有课程。
2. But have a stronger internal motivation. The external motivation helps a lot to give you that extra push, but if you really don’t care about a project, your heart won’t be in it. The heart is the important part. So for me, I know that I’m doing all my work because I want to help people who are struggling, and that connection with them and intention to help is what really motivates me. For the Spanish lessons, I’m motivated by a desire to connect more deeply with locals when I travel, rather than just being a tourist and expecting everyone to speak English to me.
2. 但也要有更强烈的内部动力。
外部动力能给你很大的外部推力，不过如果你自己不在乎项目，也无法全心投入。心之所向很重要。所以对我来说，我知道我做的所有工作都是因为我想帮助那些纠结的人们，与他们的关联和助人的意愿是真正激励我的。而学西班牙语的动力在于我渴望在旅行中与当地人联系更紧密，而不是只能作个游客，盼着别人都跟我讲英语。
3. Set yourself up for success. Just having the motivation and deadline won’t do the trick … you have to figure out how you’re going to execute. When exactly will you do the Spanish lessons? What parts of your day will you block off for doing the work? Actually block them off, and learn to focus while you’re in those blocks. For me, remembering my deeper motivation and the external deadline reasons will usually pull me into focus when I want to run to distraction.
3. 为获取成功设定自己
只有动力和截止线也不够用……你得明白你如何操作。你具体几点学西班牙语？为完成工作你锁定了一天中的哪个时间段？确定下来，在锁定时间内全神贯注。通常，我通过牢记更深刻的初心和外部截止线集中注意力，避免走神。
There are two big reasons why all of this works, even if it seems extrinsic and excessive.
即便它们看上去来自外部（而非内部）又很过分，这些为什么会起作用有两大原因。
The first reason is that it pushes you past the fear. Even if we have good internal motivation, we put off the work or learning projects we really want to do because of fear. We fear failure, discomfort, not knowing, not being good at something. In other words, we fear uncertainty. And we run from uncertainty, every day, throughout the day. But the deadline, set up in this way, helps push past this fear. That puts you where you want to be, doing the work and not thinking about whether you should do it. Not trying to run from it.
第一个原因是它能推动我们跨越恐惧。即便我们内心动力十足，也会因为恐惧而拖延真心想做的工作或学习项目。我们害怕失败，恐惧不适，惧怕未知，或做不好。换句话说，我们害怕不确定性。每天从早到晚，我们都在避免不确定性。但是这种设定好的截止线有助于推动我们克服恐惧。它让我们及时出发，埋头做事，不去想是否应该这么做，也不试图逃避。
The second reason is that it takes away choice. All day, we have choices — check email, check social media, read blogs and news sites, clean the house, do an errand, or do the work we want to do. We’re exhausted by all this choice, and when push comes to shove, we often choose not to do the things we really want to do but are afraid of.
第二个原因是它让我们别无选择。我们总是有很多选择——收邮件，浏览社交媒体，读博客和新闻网，打扫屋子，买日用品，或者做我们想做的工作。选择太多让人疲惫，于是受到推动力压迫时，我们经常是感到害怕而不是选择自己真正想做的事。
Deadlines with strong motivators (like getting punched in the face, or losing $10,000 if you don’t do it) will remove the choice. Suddenly, you know for sure that you’re going to do the work, or do the language lessons. You’ll sit down, and just do it, without thinking about it, because the choice has been made for you.
带有强烈刺激的截止线（比如脸上挨揍，或者做不到就罚一万块） 会驱散其他选择。突然之间，你明确的知道你将完成工作，或学完语言课。你会坐下来，投入工作，因为决定已下达。
You don’t need deadlines every day, all the time. But sometimes, setting up a powerful deadline to remove choice and push you past the fear is exactly what you need.
你不一定每天时刻都需要截止线。但有时候，设定强有力的截止线，驱除过多选择，推动你克服恐惧，正是你需要的。
——Thoughts——
确实！说得太对了！
有时候尽管我们知道自己该做什么，内心也确实是想做的，但总是行动力不足，设定一个截止线（deadline也直白的被叫做死线哈哈）可以作为外部约束力量，无论是到期要参加的考试，还是周五要上交的报告，或者像里奥一样马上要乘游轮出去玩，时钟滴答响，越来越近给人一种必须做点什么的紧迫感。比如笔译考试11月6号进行，还有两个月零十天的时间提升英语水平，报了名的小伙伴们，想想就觉得时间很紧迫啊，动力十足！
——vocabulary——
1. cram
US[kræm] UK[kræm]
n.克拉姆；填塞；填鸭式用功；考试前临时硬记
v.把…塞进；挤满；塞满；（为应考）临时死记硬背
2. cruise
US[kruz] UK[kruːz]
n.航行；乘船游览
v.乘船游览；以平稳的速度行驶；巡行；轻而易举赢得
3. self-imposed
US[.self ɪm'poʊzd]
UK[.self ɪm'pəʊzd]
adj.自愿承担的
4. by all means
na.必定；千方百计；不惜一切；好的
5. intention
US [ɪn'tenʃ(ə)n]
UK [ɪn'tenʃ(ə)n]
n.意图；打算；目的；计划
6. set up
na.建立；创立；发起；开办
7. block off
v.挡住
8. extrinsic
US[eks'trɪnsɪk]
UK[eks'trɪnsɪk]
adj.非固有的；非本质的；外在的；外来的
9. excessive
US[ɪk'sesɪv]
UK[ɪk'sesɪv]
adj.过分的；过度的
10. put off
na.延期，辩解
11. shove
US[ʃʌv]UK[ʃʌv]
v.猛推；乱挤；推撞；乱放n.猛推
12. Pimsleur
皮姆斯勒(Pimsleur)语言学习系统是一套语言学习方法，由保罗·皮姆斯勒博士研创，依据四个原则而成。
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