原文链接：
BABAUTAA Guide to Overcoming Procrastination & Finding Focus BY LEO BABAUTA
——说明——
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，这篇文章原文版权还是归属Leo，译文版权归我本人。可以参考译文学习，当然译文只是我的理解，也不一定百分百正确，欢迎发简信或评论讨论，或提供更好译文供参考学习。
——正文——
We all procrastinate. The question is how (or even whether) we overcome the tendency to procrastinate, and if we can find focus.我
我们都会拖延。问题在于我们如何（或是否）能克服拖延的倾向，以及是否能找回专注。
This matters — our lives are brief and limited, and while we don’t need to be productivity robots, running in fear of difficult tasks to distractions and comfort is not the best way to spend our lives.
这很重要——人生短短，我们虽然无需成为高效率的机器人，但害怕完成困难任务，只追求娱乐和舒适也不是度过人生的最好方式。
We can face these fears. We can learn to deal with them mindfully. And in doing so, we can develop an ability to return with courage to the work that matters the most to us, to create something important, something that helps the world at least in a small way.
我们能面对恐惧。学会用意志力对抗。这么做的话，我们就能培养一种能力，能鼓起勇气去做对我们最关键的事，完成一些重要任务，这些任务至少能从小的方面有助于世界。
Distraction and running aren’t useful habits. Let’s learn to overcome them and find focus to create.
精力分散和逃避并非有用的习惯。让我们学习克服它们，找回专注力，开始创造。
The Procrastination Fears
拖延恐惧
Why do we run from hard tasks? Because of fears:
为什么我们逃避困难的任务？因为这些恐惧：
That we don’t know what we’re doing
怕我们不知道做什么
That we’re gonna mess up and look bad
怕我们会搞砸，很丢脸
That we’ll succeed and then have to face a scarier situation
怕我们要是成功了就不得不面对更可怕的情况
That the task will be difficult and uncomfortable
怕这任务很难，让人感到不适
Basically, we fear discomfort and uncertainty. We want comfort and certainty, and distractions like email and social media and reading news and blogs are easy and we know how to do them. Very well. Distractions are always much more tempting than difficult work, much more comforting than facing fears.
基本上，我们想要舒适和确定性，像收发邮件、逛社交媒体、读新闻、看博客这些休闲小事很简单，我们知道怎么做，比面对恐惧舒服多了。
We all have fears, but our habit is to run from them. Avoid even thinking about them. Our minds are very good at this. We get distracted and then forget completely about what we were supposed to be doing. Our minds are good at forgetting and getting lost.
我们都有恐惧，习惯转身逃避。甚至想都不愿意去想。我们的思想特别擅长这个。一开始消遣就心安理得忘了我们该做的事。人类思想擅长遗忘和迷失。
We try to focus, but then immediately we have an urge to switch to something else, because staying is uncomfortable. Our minds love comfort, hate discomfort, and will run to comfort every time, if we let them.
我们试图集中精神，但很快就想转去别的地方，因为专注很不舒服。我们的思维爱舒适，憎恶不适，如果放任自流，则每次都想追求舒适。
So that’s why we procrastinate … but how do we overcome this?
所以这就是为什么我们拖延……但是该如何克服呢？
Overcoming Procrastination
克服拖延
Our minds are very good at running from discomfort, and most of the time we don’t even realize it’s happening. We just have an urge to switch, and follow the urge immediately.
人类思想善于逃离不适，大多数时候我们甚至没意识到这点。我们有一种逃离的冲动，然后立刻就行动了。
The trick then, is to catch ourselves when we’re about to switch. When the urge comes up to switch, we have to notice. Then we have to pause, and deal mindfully instead of mindlessly with the urge.
诀窍在于，当我们即将逃离的时候遏制自己。冲动产生的时候，我们得留心。然后暂停，用心应对而不是无意识的跟随冲动而行。
Here’s how:以下是行动指南
Create a practice space. Do an Unprocrastination Session once a day to practice. Pick an important task (any will do — one you’ve been procrastinating on is a good choice). Set a timer for 5 minutes, or 10 if you feel ambitious. Commit to doing nothing but your important task for that 5 minutes.
创建练习场。每天一次反拖延项目做练习。选择一项重要任务（任何任务都行——你一直在拖延的任务就挺好）。设定5分钟的定时器，或者你感到干劲十足就设10分钟。保证这5分钟除了这项重要任务其他什么也不做。
Don’t let yourself switch. Clear distractions and have nothing that you can do except this one task. You’re single-tasking. When you get the urge to switch (when, not if), notice this! And don’t act on the urge. We can feel an urge and not act on it. How liberating!
别让自己注意力转移！清除消遣，只保留这项任务。你现在处于单任务情境。当你有注意力转移的冲动（实际感到，而非如果），要注意！不要跟从冲动。我们可以感受冲动但不作为。自由自在！
Stay with the urge. Instead of acting on the urge, instead of ignoring the urge … just stay with it. Sit still and feel how it feels. Notice the fear of this task that you’re facing. Notice discomfort. Boredom, dread, feeling intimidated or overwhelmed or confused or incompetent. Just stay with it and be curious about the physical feeling. What does the energy in your body feel like?
与冲动共存。不是随冲动而行，也不是忽略冲动……只是与之共存。沉静安坐，体会当下感受。注意到你面对任务的恐惧，那种不适，无聊，担心，胆怯，被淹没，疑惑，或无力感。只感受，对身体的反应持好奇态度。你体内这股能量感觉如何？
Return to the task. After sitting for a minute with the urge and the discomfort, they’ll probably die down. Simply return your focus to your task. You didn’t scratch the itch, and the itch wasn’t that big of a deal.
重回任务。在安坐体会冲动和不适一分钟后，它们大概就消散了。（这时）很容易回头专注于任务。你不去抓，也就没那么痒。
By working on this once a day, you can begin to develop trust that you’ll be OK if you don’t scratch the itch, that you’ll be able to handle the urge without acting on it, that you’ll be fine if you deal with the discomfort of a difficult task. This is quite an accomplishment!
每天这么做一次，你就会建立自信，如果不随冲动而行你也没事，可以应对冲动而不作为，能对付困难任务的不适感。真是个成就啊！
Finding Focus
找回专注
Focusing on one thing is an incredibly difficult thing to do. Whether you want to focus on writing a report or a book chapter, focus on drawing or practicing music, focus on reading or meditating on your breath … your mind is in the habit of switching to something else.
专注于一件事是相当难的。无论你想专注于写报告或写书，专心画画或练习歌曲，集中精力阅读或冥想式呼吸……你总想转去做别的。
Focusing, then, is a matter of practicing staying.
专注力，是一个练习持久度的问题。
In the Unprocrastination Sessions I described above, we talked about how to practice staying. In addition, I’d like to offer a few more practical tips:
在上面我描述的反拖延项目中，我们讲了如何练习坚持。我想进一步再提供一些实操技巧：
Have a deeper motivation. The thing you are focusing on shouldn’t just be "nice to do," but should really feel meaningful to you.
找到深层内驱力。你专注做的事不应该只是“做完好棒”，而应该对你真的有意义。
Remember your motivation as you get started. This task doesn’t just have fear in it … there’s a great deal of love as well. Let the love drive you past the fear.
一开始就牢记内驱力。任务不仅让人恐惧……它也包含很多爱。让爱引导你战胜恐惧。
Use external motivation if needed. While love is the best motivator, sometimes you just aren’t feeling up to it. So use external deadlines and accountability. Promise to email something to a friend or colleague by a deadline or you have to do something embarrassing. Put your reputation on the line. Join an accountability group. Don’t let yourself off the hook.
如有必要，运用额外的驱动力。尽管热爱是最佳驱动力，但有时你的感受并不强烈。所以采用设定截止日期和责任制。答应截止日期前向你的朋友或同事邮件汇报，否则就要受到丢脸的惩罚。押上你的名誉作保。参加一个责任小组。别让自己轻易摆脱。
Allow yourself to get into Flow. This is the state of mind where you are lost in the task. It’s easy to only be halfway into a task, with your mind flitting around and wanting to do something else. But if you can get fully into a task, you’ll truly love doing it. That means clearing all distractions, and really putting your mind into the task. I find it helpful to have a challenging task, and one that requires me to visualize. For example, if I’m writing a story, I should be imagining how the story is going, visually, not just thinking about the words.
让自己进入心流状态。这是一种你全身心投入时的思想状态。任务到一半时很容易注意力转移，想做其他事。但如果你全身心投入完成任务，你就会真的爱做这件事。那意味着清空所有娱乐消遣，一心一意投入。我发现做一项有挑战性的任务很有用，需要视觉化预想。举个例子，如果我写一个故事，我需要想象故事如何发展，视觉化，而不是只想着遣词造句。
Focus isn’t a magical quality that you can just acquire. It is a skill that takes daily practice, and you get better at it but never completely master it. You’ll slip up and get discouraged, but you can just practice some more.
专注力不是一种你能直接获得的魔法品质。它是种技能，需要每日锻造，你会越来越好，但绝不会彻底掌握。你可能犯错，有可能沮丧，但你可以继续练习。
In the end, all the practice will be worth it, because you’ll learn to focus on things that truly matter. And that is a life worth living, in my experience.
最终，所有的练习都会物有所值，因为你将学会集中精力在真正重要的事上。以我的经验，生命值得如此。
Need Some Help?
需要帮助吗？
If you’d like to go deeper into this practice, and learn to overcome the obstacles you might face, I’m teaching a six-week course called Unprocrastination + Focus in my Sea Change program.
如果你想深入练习，学习克服你可能面对的障碍，我在sea change项目（没找到官方中文翻译，我以前曾翻为灯塔项目）中教授一门为期六周的“反拖延＋专注”的课程。
We’ll have twice-weekly video lessons to go deeper into motivation, distractions, dealing with urges, focusing on important tasks (and how to choose them), Flow, and more. We’ll get into some skills like interval training, pausing, resetting and more.
我们将有一周两次的视频课，深入挖掘动力，消遣，应对冲动，专注重要任务（以及如何选择），心流等等内容。我们将学习一些技巧，比如内在训练，暂停及重置等等。
In addition, we’ll have:
在此之外，我们还有：
Daily challenges and reminder emails每日挑战和提醒邮件
A forum to discuss the lessons and problems you’re having讨论课程和你面对的问题的论坛
A live video webinar with me where you can ask questions在线研讨会，你可以向我提问
A challenge to do a daily Unprocrastination Session for the duration of the course课程期限内的每日反拖延挑战项目
I hope you’ll join me — try Sea Change for a week for free (then $19/month after that). 我希望你们会来——尝试一周的sea change是免费的（之后每周19美刀）。
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