创始人的信#10：拖延症仅代表当下的心理状态（疫情版本）

Foreword

前言

With the recent Covid outbreak, many people might feel even more anxious than before, feeling lost, insecure about their future.

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随着最近疫情重新爆发，许多人可能会比以前更加焦虑，感到失落，对自己的未来感到不安全。

This type of feeling makes it easy for us to fall victims to procrastination, creating even more struggles and frustration than before, thus making our overall psychological state worse. 

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这种感觉使我们很容易成为拖延症的受害者，造成比以前更多的挣扎和挫折，从而使我们的整体心理状态变得更糟。

How many times have you felt demoralized because of procrastination, feeling guilty that you are not doing as much work as you could or would have to do, even before the new Covid outbreak put you in lockdown again? 

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甚至在新冠疫情再次让你陷入封锁之前，你有多少次因为拖延而感到士气低落，因为没有完成必须做的工作而感到内疚？

Procrastination is THE ENEMY for a lot of people, even without Covid, so it is easy to assume that things got a lot worse during the recent outbreak when a lot of people were in lockdown for days.

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即使没有疫情，拖延症是很多人的敌人，所以很容易假设在最近的疫情期间，在很多人被封锁了好几天期间，情况变得更糟。

But what if I told you there are ways to make procrastination work to your benefit and use it as a self-reflection tool? 

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但是，如果我告诉你有一些方法可以让拖延对你有益，并将其作为一种自我反思的工具，会怎么样？

Let's embark on a life-changing journey!

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让我们开始一段改变人生的旅程吧！

Procrastination is understood as the action of delaying or postponing something. 

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拖延症被理解为拖延或推迟某事的行为。

With a simple search on Google, all you can find is advice on how to fight against procrastination, being considered as a really bad thing to do. 

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只需在谷歌上进行简单搜索，你就能找到关于如何对抗拖延症的建议，因为拖延症被认为是一件非常不好的事情。

But actually, there is evidence showing that some of the most creative people are also the biggest procrastinators. 

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但事实上，有证据表明，一些最有创造力的人也是最大的拖延者。

Even though I don't consider myself as an extremely creative person, but I am also a massive procrastinator, so I've learnt to embrace it.

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虽然我不认为自己是一个非常有创造力的人，但我也是一个拖延的人，反而我学会了接受并利用它。

Let's see first what are some of the reasons that might lead people to procrastinate. 

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让我们先看看哪些原因可能会导致人们拖延。

With a quick search on the internet you will find: 1) Perfectionism, 2) Fear of the Unknown, 3) Difficulty to Prioritize,  4) Lack of Motivation, 5) Lack of Clarity About How to Get Started, 6) Often Distractions or 7) Just being tired, listed as the most common ones. 

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在互联网上快速搜索，你会发现：1）完美主义，2）对未知的恐惧，3）难以确定优先顺序，4）缺乏动力，5）对如何开始缺乏清晰的认识，6）经常分心或7）只是疲劳，被列为最常见的问题。

So how can procrastination be actually good for us?

那么，拖延到底如何对我们有益呢？

Procrastination is wonderful for our mental well-being, silences our inner critic and even makes us more productive and creative.

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拖延症对我们的精神健康很有好处，它会让我们内心的批评变得沉默，甚至让我们更有效率和创造力。

It seems that Greeks and Romans had a high regard for procrastination, expecting people in positions of power to procrastinate until they absolutely needed to make a decision. 

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希腊人和罗马人似乎非常重视拖延，他们希望处于权力地位的人拖延，直到他们绝对需要做出决定为止。

Why were they expecting this? 

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他们为什么想要这么做呢？

Because it allowed those people the opportunity to think things over, make connections and come up with ideas. 

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这是因为拖延可以让这些人有机会思考问题，建立联系，提出想法。

It is not clear when procrastination began to be considered as a waste of time. 

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现在还不清楚拖延是什么时候开始被认为是浪费时间的事情。

I would assume that happened in the industrialization period when everybody's focus was on producing more and turning everyone into a working machine, which we kind of are even today, even if the Covid arrival did start shaking things a bit.  

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我认为这发生在工业化时期，当时每个人的注意力都需要集中在生产更多的产品，并把每个人变成一台工作机器上，而且这在今天都是如此，即使疫情的到来确实开始让这个现象发生一些变化。

Having previously allowed ourselves time to reflect on the tasks at hand, working under the pressure of a time constraint, actually shuts our inner critic up. 

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给我们自己留出时间提前反思任务，并在时间限制的压力下工作，实际上将关闭我们内心的批评者。

We stop being judgmental of our own creations, expecting everything to be perfect and just get things done. 

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我们不再评判自己的创作，并期待一切都完美，而只想把事情做好。

This actually leads to more original thinking, making ourselves less inhibited, more creative and expressive.

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这实际上会带来更具独创性的思维，使我们自己更少地受到抑制，更具创造性和表达能力。

How can procrastination be actually good for us? 

拖延为什么好呢？

It is very important to self-reflect on your own reasons to procrastinate, as different situations have different solutions to actually make procrastination useful for you.

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自我反省自己拖延的原因是非常重要的，因为不同的拖延情况有不同的解决方案，才能让拖延对你有用。

This makes procrastination a great tool to understand our psychological state in the moment.

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这使得拖延成为了解我们当下心理状态的一个很好的工具。

In other words, by identifying the reason that causes us to procrastinate, we can have a better understanding of how we feel at any given moment and what to do about it.

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换句话说，通过找出导致我们拖延的原因，我们可以更好地了解我们在任何特定时刻的感受以及如何应对。

01

Perfectionism

完美主义

In this case the problem is actually not procrastination, but the lack of self-confidence and the fear of making mistakes or of others criticizing.

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在这种情况下，问题实际上不是拖延，而是缺乏自信和怕犯错或怕别人批评。

This problem might be rooted in the home environment and the relationship with parents. 

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这个问题可能植根于家庭环境和与父母的关系。

If that's the case, then asking yourself where this fear comes from might be helpful! 

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如果是这样的话，那么问问自己这种恐惧来自哪里可能会有所帮助！

At the same time, creating a measurable standard for the desired final outcome would be helpful to deal wth perfectionism too. 

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同时，为期望的最终结果制定一个可衡量的标准也有助于处理完美主义。

Different people have different understandings of what perfection means, so it is important to define what is "the perfect outcome" for yourself.

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不同的人对完美的含义有不同的理解，所以定义什么是你自己的“完美结果”很重要。

A good tool to use for that is the SMARTER goal (click the blue text to open a related article).

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可以帮助你做到的一个好工具是SMARTER目标（点击蓝色的单词打开相关的文章）。

02

Fear of the unknown

对未知事物的恐惧

In this case, asking yourself a few questions about what is actually scary about the task at hand would help figuring things out.

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在这种情况下，要问自己几个问题，手里的任务具体有哪些可以让自己害怕的结果，这样将有助于自己更清晰。 

For example, are you afraid that others will judge your outcome?

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比如说，你害怕别人会评判你的结果吗？

Are you afraid that others will take credit for your work after you finish?

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你害怕别人在你完成工作后会把你的功劳据为己有吗？

Are you afraid that you don't have enough skills to complete the task？

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你是否担心自己没有足够的技能来完成任务？

Whatever the reason is, this might not be a procrastination issue, but also something rooted in previous unhappy experiences and again, it's worth exploring, so that it doesn't affect performance in the future.

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无论原因是什么，这可能不是拖延，很可能是植根于以前不愉快的经历，因此，值得探索，这样就不会影响未来的表现。

03

Difficulty to prioritize

难以优先考虑

In this case, some thought about the 80/20 rule would be helpful. 

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在这种情况下，一些人考虑采用80/20规则将会很有帮助。

For those of you who haven't heard about this rule, it simply means figuring out what gets 80% of the work done with only 20% effort. 

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对于那些还没有听说过这个规则的人来说，这仅仅意味着弄清楚哪些任务只需要20%的努力就能完成80%的工作。

There are plenty of self-help books out there about this, so it shouldn't be too difficult to figure this one out.

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关于这个问题有很多自助式的书籍，所以要弄清楚这个问题应该并不难。

04

Lack of motivation

缺乏动力

In this situation it is important to ask yourself if that work is actually worth doing, in general! 

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在这种情况下，一般重要的是要问自己，这项工作是否真的值得做！

Whether it is your job or some courses that you are taking, it's worth thinking whether that is really what you want to be doing!

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无论是你的工作还是你正在上的一些课程，都值得考虑，这是否真的是你想做的事情！

Lack of motivation is usually the first sign that you might be doing a job that is not suitable for you!

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缺乏动力通常是你做不适合自己的工作的第一个迹象！

05

Lack of clarity about how to get started

不知如何开始

In this case, it's very helpful to ask questions to more experienced professionals, do some more research online (searching for things online is actually an awesome way to procrastinate because one actually gets inspired while documenting their own work) and break the project into specific, quantifiable tasks (preferably with a time table associated). 

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在这种情况下，向更有经验的专业人士请教，在网上做更多的搜索是非常有帮助的（网络上搜索信息实际上是一种很好的拖延方式，因为这是一个人在为自己的工作做研究时实际上将得到灵感的方式)，并将项目分解成具体的、可量化的任务(最好也搭配时间表）。

It will make a great difference!

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这么做会有很大的改变！

06

Often distractions

经常分心

If this is the reason, then you just need to change your working environment. 

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如果这是原因，只需要更改工作环境。

Go to a coffee shop, turn your phone on silent while you are there and don't think that the world will crash without you! 

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去一家咖啡厅，关掉手机，也不要认为没有你，这个世界就会崩溃！

If you have to work at home due to the lockdown, then just turn off your phone to be able to focus on the tasks at hand without being interrupted by messages. 

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如果因为疫情小区封闭，你必须在家工作，那么只需关掉手机，就可以专注于手头的工作，而不会被信息打断。

Colleagues will figure things out even if you are not always around the clock for them. 

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即使你不在一段时间，同事们也可以自己解决一些问题。

You will suddenly find yourself full of inspiration. 

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这么做，你会突然发现自己充满了灵感。

If part of your work also involves sending and replying messages, then just allocate a dedicated time for this type of work, keeping the phone on silent for the rest of the time.

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如果你的部分工作还涉及发送和回复信息，那么只需为这类工作分配一段专用时间，其余时间保持手机静音。  

07

Just being tired

疲惫

There are times when procrastination just tells us that we are tired and that our brains just need to rest. 

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有时候拖延症只是告诉我们我们累了，我们的大脑需要休息。

In psychology this state is called cognitive fatigue and appears after we have done a lot of cognitive tasks involving a lot of thinking for a long time. 

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在心理学中，这种状态被称为认知疲劳，是在我们长时间完成大量涉及大量思考的任务后出现的。

In other words, from time to time our brains need some "no-think time" to have a rest and recover. 

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换句话说，我们的大脑有时需要一些“不思考的时间”来休息和恢复。

Just like your body would need some rest after you have done an intensive workout in the gym.

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就像你在健身房做了一次高强度运动后，你的身体也需要休息一样。

How to procrastinate in a purposeful way?

拖延计划

Finally, below you may find some tips on how to start making procrastination useful for you.

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最后，下面你会发现一些关于如何让拖延对你有用的建议。

After you have analyzed the reasons of your procrastination:

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分析了你拖延的原因之后：

01

Anticipate for these moments and make the most of them.

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要预料并充分利用这些可能发生拖延的时刻。

Take a look at the overall tasks that you have to do so that you have them in the back of your mind. 

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看看你必须做的总体任务有哪些，这样它们就会留在你的脑海里。

Once you start procrastinating, your brain will actually still make connections and you will be able to come up with great ideas for your work. 

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一旦你开始拖延，你的大脑实际上仍然会建立关联，你将能够为你要做的任务而想到更有创意的主意。

It will definitely boost your creativity!

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这绝对会提升你的创造力！

02

Watch TED Talks (or any other inspiring stuff), make a list with all the friends you haven't contacted in a while and send them a message to ask them how they've been, go for a mindful walk in the city and try to observe what the other people are doing, look closely at buildings, go for a walk in the park and actually give yourself time to reflect on what needs to be done and how. 

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拖延期间，要观看TED演讲（或任何其他鼓舞人心的内容），把所有你很久没有联系的朋友列一张清单，给他们发短信，问他们过得怎么样，在城市里有意识散步，注意建筑细节，试着观察其他人做什么。

It is when our brains are relaxed that they are actually making the connections we need to be more creative and efficient.

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正是当我们的大脑放松时，它才真正建立起我们需要的联系，让我们更有创造力和效率。

Of course, there is much more to say about this topic, but you have enough to start exploring with and see what works and what doesn't for your own situation. 

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当然，关于这个话题还有很多可以说的，但是你现在有足够的信息开始探索，看看以上分享的内容，有哪些对你自己的情况有帮助，哪些没有帮助。

Additional Support

额外支持

If you feel you need additional support and guidance to get to know yourself better and master tools to make you clearer about what you want and more productive, then you are welcome to sign up for the coming "Me and my environment" Private Group Online Mentoring Program.

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如果你觉得需要额外的支持和指导来更好地了解自己，掌握工具来让你更清楚地了解自己想要什么，提高工作效率，那么欢迎你报名参加即将开始的“我和我的环境”私人小组在线引导计划。

Next group starts on April 1st, so make sure to book your spot before March 28th, 23:59, by scanning the QR Code on either of the below posters.

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下一组将于4月1日开始，所以欢迎你在3月28日23:59之前通过扫描以下任何海报上的二维码报名才能保留名额。

Opinion 互动

What is your experience with procrastination?

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你与拖延症的经历是什么？

Please write your answer in the comments section below and join the conversation!

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欢迎在评论区写下自己的观点，我们一起交流，共同成长~

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