“I love deadlines,” English author Douglas Adams once wrote. “I lovethe whooshing noise they make as they go by.”

“我愛最后期限”，英國作家道格拉斯·亞當斯曾這樣寫道。“我愛它們流逝時發(fā)出的嗖嗖聲。”

We’ve all had the experience of wanting toget a project done but putting it off for later. Sometimes we wait because wejust don’t care enough about the project, but other times we care a lot – andstill end up doing something else. I, for one, end up cleaning my house when Ihave a lot of papers to grade, even though I know I need to grade them.

我們都有過這樣的經(jīng)驗，想要把一個計劃完成卻推延到更晚的時候再做。有時候我們耽擱事情只是因為我們對計劃不夠在乎，但另一些時候我們是非常在乎的，卻以仍然干著別的事告終。我也是其中一個，當有一堆論文等著我評分時，我卻最終去打掃了屋子，哪怕知道我必須去給它們打分。
（譯注：道格拉斯·亞當斯（（Douglas Adams ，1952 – 2001），創(chuàng)作了《銀河系漫游指南》《神秘博士》等）

So why do we procrastinate? Are we built tooperate this way at some times? Or is there something wrong with the way we’reapproaching work?

那么為什么我們會拖延呢？我們是生來就會在某些時候如此行事嗎？還是我們處理工作的方式出了問題？

These questions are central to my researchon goal pursuit, which could offer some clues from neuroscience about why weprocrastinate – and how to overcome this tendency.

這些問題對于我在目標追求方面的研究是居于核心的，該研究能為我們?yōu)槭裁赐涎右约叭绾慰朔@種脾性提供一些神經(jīng)學方面的線索。

To do, or not to do

做，還是不做

It all starts with a simple choice betweenworking now on a given project and doing anything else: working on a differentproject, doing something fun or doing nothing at all.

這都是從一個簡單的選擇開始的，是現(xiàn)在就去完成一個給定的計劃還是做點別的事，比如另一個計劃，什么好玩的事或者什么也不干。
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The decision to work on something is drivenby how much we value accomplishing the project in that moment – whatpsychologists call its subjective value. And procrastination, in psychologicalterms, is what happens when the value of doing something else outweighs thue of working now.

去做某件事這個決定，是被我們在那一刻完成計劃的估值
驅動的，心理學家稱其為某件事的“主觀價值”。而拖延癥
從心理學的角度講，就是當做別的事情的價值超過即刻就工作的價值時發(fā)生的情況。
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This way of thinking suggests a simpletrick to defeat procrastination: find a way to boost the subjective value ofworking now, relative to the value of other things. You could increase thue of the project, decrease the value of the distraction, or somecombination of the two.

這種（內(nèi)在的）思維方式暗示了一種戰(zhàn)勝拖延癥的簡單手法：找個法子，相對于干其他事增加即刻工作的主觀價值。你可以增大計劃的價值，降低那些讓你分心之事的價值，或者雙管齊下。

For example, instead of cleaning my house,I might try to focus on why grading is personally important to me. Or I couldthink about how unpleasant cleaning can actually be – especially when sharing ahouse with a toddler.

舉例來說，我可以想方設法聚焦在為什么評分就個人而言對我很重要，而不是聚焦在打掃屋子。或者我可以想著打掃實際上會有多讓人煩躁，尤其是當和一個學步幼兒共享房子。

It’s simple advice, but adhering to thisstrategy can be quite difficult, mainly because there are so many forces thatdiminish the value of working in the present.

這是很簡單的建議，但遵循這種策略可能會非常困難，主要是因為有太多外力會消減即刻工作的價值。

The distant deadline

遙遠的最后期限

People are not entirely rational in the waythey value things. For example, a dollar bill is worth exactly the same todayas it is a week from now, but its subjective value – roughly how good it wouldfeel to own a dollar – depends on other factors besides its face value, such aswhen we receive it.

人們給事物估值的方式并不完全是理性的。舉例來說，一張一美元美鈔在一周之前和今天的價值是完全一樣的，但它的主觀價值，大致上即是掙到1美金感覺有多好，是取決于和它票面價值無關的其他因素，比如我們是在什么時候得到它的。

The tendency for people to due moneyand other goods based on time is called delay discounting. For example, onestudy showed that, on average, receiving $100 three months from now is worththe same to people as receiving $83 right now. People would rather lose $17than wait a few months to get a larger reward.

人們基于時間流逝對錢和其他貨品價值貶抑的趨勢稱為“延遲折扣”。比如一項研究顯示，平均來說在3個月后得到100美元的價值和立刻得到83美元是一樣的。人們寧可損失17美元也不想在等待幾個月后得到一筆數(shù)目更大的獎賞。
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Other factors also influence subjectivue, such as how much money someone has recently gained or lost. The keypoint is that there is not a perfect match between obxtive value andsubjective value.

還有其他因素影響著主觀價值，比如某人在最近得到或損失了多少錢。這里的關鍵是客觀價值和主觀價值之間無法完美地匹配。
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Delay discounting is a factor inprocrastination because the completion of the project happens in the future.Getting something done is a delayed reward, so its value in the present isreduced: the further away the deadline is, the less attractive it seems to workon the project right now.

“延遲折扣”便是造成拖延癥的一個因素，因為計劃的完成是發(fā)生在未來的。完成某件事是一種延遲的獎賞，所以它在當下的價值就被削減了：最后期限離現(xiàn)在越遙遠，立刻開始工作的吸引力看上去就越小。

Studies have repeatedly shown that thetendency to procrastinate closely follows economic models of delay discounting.Furthermore, people who characterize themselves as procrastinators show anexaggerated effect. They discount the value of getting something done ahead oftime even more than other people.

已經(jīng)有各種研究再三顯示出，拖延的傾向緊密遵循著延遲折扣的經(jīng)濟學模型。而且，把自己刻畫為拖延癥患者的人們（在這方面）顯示出一種增大了的效果。他們比別的人更大程度地貶抑了提前完成某事的價值。

One way to increase the value of completinga task is to make the finish line seem closer. For example, vividly imagining afuture reward reduces delay discounting.

提升完成目標的價值有一種方式，就是讓終點線看上去更近。比如說，去鮮活地想象在未來發(fā)生的獎賞會減少延遲折扣。

No work is ‘effortless’

沒有什么工作是不費力氣的

Not only can completing a project bedued because it happens in the future, but working on a project can also beunattractive due to the simple fact that work takes effort.

完成一項計劃會因為它的完成發(fā)生在未來而被貶損價值，實施計劃也會因為工作需要付出努力這個簡單的事實而失去吸引力。

New research supports the idea that mentaleffort is intrinsically costly; for this reason, people generally choose towork on an easier task rather than a harder task. Furthermore, there aregreater subjective costs for work that feels harder (though these costs can beoffset by experience with the task at hand).

新近的研究支持了腦力勞動帶來的內(nèi)在耗費很大的看法；因為這個原因，人們通常會選擇去做更簡單的任務而不是更難的任務。而且，感覺上更困難的工作帶來更大的主觀上的耗費（盡管這些耗費能夠在手頭任務帶來的體驗中得到補償）。

This leads to the interesting predictionthat people would procrastinate more the harder they expect the work to be.That’s because the more effort a task requires, the more someone stands to gainby putting the same amount of effort into something else (a phenomenoneconomists call opportunity costs (lix is external)). Opportunity costs makeworking on something that seems hard feels like a loss.

這就引出了這個有意思的預測：對工作困難度的預期越高，人就越會拖延。那是因為一項任務需要花的功夫越多，那么把同樣多的功夫拿去做別的事獲得的收益一定會更大（這種現(xiàn)象在經(jīng)濟學家那里稱為“機會成本”）?！皺C會成本”使得去做看上去困難的工作感覺起來像是一種損失。

Sure enough, a group of studies shows thatpeople procrastinate more on unpleasant tasks. These results suggest thatreducing the pain of working on a project, for example by breaking it down intomore familiar and manageable pieces, would be an effective way to reduceprocrastination.

果不其然，一組研究顯示人們在令人討厭的差事上更容易拖延。這些結果表明減少做某項工作的痛苦，比如把一項工作拆解成許多熟悉可勝任的部分，會是一種減少拖延的有效方法。

Your work, your identity

你的工作，你的身份

When we write that procrastination is aside effect of the way we value things, it frxs task completion as a productof motivation, rather than ability.

當我們寫道拖延癥是我們對事物估值方式產(chǎn)生的副作用，所表達的是任務的完成是動機的產(chǎn)物，而不是能力的。

In other words, you can be really good atsomething, whether it’s cooking a gourmet meal or writing a story, but if youdon’t possess the motivation, or sense of importance, to complete the task,it’ll likely be put off.

換句話說，你可以非常擅長某件事，不管是烹飪美味佳肴還是編寫故事，但如果你缺少完成任務的動機或重要感，它就很有可能被推延。

It was for this reason that the writerRobert Hanks, in a recent essay for the London Review of Books, describedprocrastination as “a failure of appetites.”

正因為這個原因，作家羅伯特·漢克斯才會在一篇給《倫敦書評》的文章中把拖延癥描述為“一種倒胃口”。

The source of this “appetite” can be a bittricky. But one could argue that, like our (real) appetite for food, it’ssomething that’s closely intertwined with our daily lives, our culture and oursense of who we are.

這里“胃口”的出處可能有點不好找。但你可以主張說，如同我們對于食物的胃口，它是和我們的日常生活、我們的文化以及我們是誰的感覺緊密糾纏在一起的。

So how does one increase the subjectivue of a project? A powerful way – one that my graduate students and I havewritten about in detail – is to connect the project to your self-concept. Ourhypothesis is that projects seen as important to a person’s self-concept willhold more subjective value for that person.

那么，一個人要如何增加一個計劃的主觀價值呢？有個強力的方法（我和我的研究生寫過具體的），就是把這個計劃和你的自我認知聯(lián)系起來。我們的假設是，被看成和一個人的自我認知同樣重要的計劃能為那個人保留住更多的主觀價值。

It’s for this reason that Hanks also wrotethat procrastination seems to stem from a failure to “identify sufficientlywith your future self” – in other words, the self for whom the goal is mostrelevant.

也是緣于此，漢克斯也寫道，拖延癥貌似起源于無法“充分認識未來的自我”，換句話說，對自我來說目標是最相關的。

Because people are motivated to maintain apositive self-concept, goals connected closely to one’s sense of self or identitytake on much more value.

因為人們有著去保持一種正面的自我認知的動機，緊密聯(lián)系著一個人自我感知或自我形象的那些目標具有更多的價值。

Connecting the project to more immediatesources of value, such as life goals or core values, can fill the deficit insubjective value that underlies procrastination.

把計劃聯(lián)系到更即時的價值來源上，比如人生目標或核心價值，就能夠填補引起拖延癥的主觀價值虧空。