中英文稿

現(xiàn)在是下午 5 點(diǎn)，你剛剛意識(shí)到， 那篇你一直拖著沒(méi)有完成的報(bào)告?明天必須提交。?現(xiàn)在該開(kāi)始努力工作了。 于是你打開(kāi)電腦……?又刷了刷手機(jī)。?要不再補(bǔ)看幾段你最鐘愛(ài)的 YouTube 視頻？?說(shuō)實(shí)話，你也許應(yīng)該先準(zhǔn)備晚餐。?你一向喜歡烹飪，?但是有這項(xiàng)工作壓在心上， 你很難享受其中的樂(lè)趣。?哎，其實(shí)時(shí)候已經(jīng)不早了！?也許應(yīng)該等到明天再說(shuō)？?這就是拖延癥的自我循環(huán)，我保證， 咱們都有過(guò)這樣的經(jīng)歷。?明知拖延癥于己無(wú)益， 但是我們?yōu)楹螣o(wú)法克服它呢？

需要明確一點(diǎn)， 推遲行動(dòng)并不總是拖延癥。?可靠有效的時(shí)間管理要求我們 判斷出哪些事是當(dāng)務(wù)之急，?哪些事可以稍后處理。?如果我們承諾完成某項(xiàng)任務(wù)， 也知道不完成任務(wù)會(huì)帶來(lái)負(fù)面影響，?但還是無(wú)緣無(wú)故地避開(kāi)這項(xiàng)任務(wù)， 此時(shí)的表現(xiàn)才是拖延癥。?去做那些明知于己無(wú)益的事 顯然是不合理的。?然而出乎意料的是，拖延癥正是由 身體的自我保護(hù)機(jī)制造成的。?避開(kāi)那些自認(rèn)為具有威脅性的任務(wù) 是其特有的保護(hù)方式。

你意識(shí)到自己需要?jiǎng)邮謱?xiě)那份報(bào)告，?而此時(shí)，你大腦的反應(yīng) 就如同應(yīng)對(duì)一個(gè)即將到來(lái)的威脅。?大腦中有一組稱為杏仁體的神經(jīng)原，?這組神經(jīng)元與管理情緒， 識(shí)別威脅等功能相關(guān)聯(lián)。?杏仁體會(huì)釋放多種荷爾蒙，其中包括了 能夠引發(fā)恐慌反應(yīng)的腎上腺素。?由壓力引發(fā)的恐慌感覆蓋了 大腦前額皮層發(fā)出的脈沖，?而這些脈沖通常有助于長(zhǎng)期性思維， 可以幫助人們控制調(diào)節(jié)情緒。?在戰(zhàn)斗、逃離、僵住這三種 反應(yīng)的膠著中，?你決定做些壓力較小的事情，?以回避的方式來(lái)應(yīng)對(duì)威脅。

這種應(yīng)對(duì)方式看起來(lái)也許很極端，?你面對(duì)的畢竟只是一個(gè)截稿期限， 而非遭到熊的攻擊。?然而，我們最有可能拖延的工作 正是那些引發(fā)負(fù)面情緒的工作，?比如恐懼、無(wú)能、缺乏安全感等。?研究顯示，患有拖延癥的大學(xué)生?更易推遲完成那些給他們帶來(lái)壓力， 或者具有挑戰(zhàn)性的學(xué)習(xí)任務(wù)。?然而你越是拖延，?就越會(huì)覺(jué)得這些任務(wù)難以完成。?有一項(xiàng)實(shí)驗(yàn)，學(xué)生在一天中不斷收到 提醒他們學(xué)習(xí)的提示信息。?學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)程中，大部分學(xué)生反映 情況并不是很糟糕。?但是他們一旦拖延起來(lái)，?就會(huì)堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為，學(xué)習(xí)這個(gè)念頭 讓他們感到很有壓力，?因此，開(kāi)始著手學(xué)習(xí)就變得非常困難。

因?yàn)橥涎影Y是由負(fù)面情緒促成的，?所以有些人就更易受其影響。?對(duì)于那些在調(diào)節(jié)情緒方面有困難，?或者自我評(píng)價(jià)較低的人來(lái)說(shuō)，?不論他們有多么強(qiáng)的時(shí)間管理能力，?都更易患上拖延癥。?然而，認(rèn)為患有拖延癥的人都很懶惰， 則是一種常見(jiàn)的錯(cuò)誤共識(shí)。?懶惰在身體和大腦中呈現(xiàn)的特點(diǎn)是 缺乏精力和總體懈怠。?當(dāng)你感到懶惰的時(shí)候， 你可能會(huì)坐下來(lái)，什么也不做，?而不會(huì)分心去做一些無(wú)足輕重的事。?事實(shí)上，很多人做事拖拉， 是因?yàn)樗麄儜n心過(guò)重。?拖延癥患者常常表示， 自己對(duì)失敗感到極度恐慌，?拖拉是因?yàn)楹ε拢?工作質(zhì)量無(wú)法達(dá)到自己設(shè)定的高標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

不論拖延癥的成因是什么， 其結(jié)果往往都是一樣的。?經(jīng)常拖延的人很可能會(huì) 飽受焦慮抑郁之苦，?忍受持續(xù)不斷的羞恥感，?還要承受比別人更大的壓力， 以及各種因壓力而引起的身體不適。?最糟糕的是，拖延癥雖然 會(huì)給我們?cè)斐砷L(zhǎng)期傷害，?但可以暫時(shí)減輕我們的壓力，?這就更加強(qiáng)化了身體在應(yīng)對(duì) 高壓工作時(shí)的拖延反應(yīng)。?那么，我們?cè)撛鯓訑[脫 拖延癥的惡性循環(huán)呢？

傳統(tǒng)觀念認(rèn)為，患有拖延癥的人?需要培養(yǎng)自我控制能力， 執(zhí)行嚴(yán)格的時(shí)間管理計(jì)劃。?但如今，許多研究人員認(rèn)為， 情況恰恰相反。?對(duì)自己要求太苛刻會(huì)增添 任務(wù)帶來(lái)的不良情緒，?從而使任務(wù)的威脅性顯得更加強(qiáng)烈。?為了能夠繞過(guò)這種抗壓反應(yīng)，?我們需要應(yīng)付并減少這些負(fù)面情緒。?這里有一些簡(jiǎn)單的策略， 比如將任務(wù)化整為零，?或者記錄下焦慮的原因，?然后著手解決那些深層顧慮。?盡力消除身邊容易 引起沖動(dòng)性拖延的各種干擾。?更有助益的方法是培養(yǎng)自憫心態(tài)。?原諒自己，為下一次 取得進(jìn)步作出規(guī)劃。?那種將壓力與拖延之間的 循環(huán)關(guān)系固化的文化觀念，?會(huì)對(duì)所有人造成長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)的傷害。

It’s 5 p.m. and you’ve just realized that report you’ve been putting off is due tomorrow. It’s time to buckle down, open your computer... and check your phone. Maybe catch up on your favorite YouTube channel? Actually, you should probably make dinner first. You usually like cooking, though it’s hard to enjoy with this work hanging over your head, and oh— it’s actually pretty late! Maybe you should just try again in the morning? This is the cycle of procrastination, and I promise you, we have all been there. But why do we keep procrastinating even when we know it’s bad for us?

To be clear, putting something off isn’t always procrastinating. Responsible time management requires deciding which tasks are important and which ones can wait. Procrastination is when we avoid a task we said we would do, for no good reason, despite expecting our behavior to bring negative consequences. Obviously, it’s irrational to do something you expect to harm you. But ironically, procrastination is the result of our bodies trying to protect us, specifically by avoiding a task we see as threatening.

When you realize you need to write that report, your brain responds like it would to any incoming threat. Your amygdala, a set of neurons involved in emotional processing and threat identification, releases hormones including adrenaline that kick off a fear response. This stress-induced panic can overpower the impulses from your prefrontal cortex, which typically help you think long term and regulate your emotions. And it’s in the midst of this fight, flight, or freeze response that you decide to handle the threat by avoiding it in favor of some less stressful task.

This response might seem extreme— after all, it’s just a deadline, not a bear attack. But we’re most likely to procrastinate tasks that evoke negative feelings, such as dread, incompetence, and insecurity. Studies of procrastinating university students have found participants were more likely to put off tasks they perceived as stressful or challenging. And the perception of how difficult the task is increases while you’re putting it off. In one experiment, students were given reminders to study throughout the day. While they were studying, most reported that it wasn’t so bad. But when they were procrastinating, they consistently rated the idea of studying as very stressful, making it difficult to get started.

Because procrastination is motivated by our negative feelings, some individuals are more susceptible to it than others. People who have difficulty regulating their emotions and those who struggle with low self-esteem are much more likely to procrastinate, regardless of how good they are at time management. However, it's a common misconception that all procrastinators are lazy. In the body and brain, laziness is marked by no energy and general apathy. When you’re feeling lazy, you’re more likely to sit around doing nothing than distract yourself with unimportant tasks. In fact, many people procrastinate because they care too much. Procrastinators often report a high fear of failure, putting things off because they’re afraid their work won’t live up to their high standards.

Whatever the reason for procrastination, the results are often the same. Frequent procrastinators are likely to suffer from anxiety and depression, ongoing feelings of shame, higher stress levels and physical ailments associated with high stress. Worst of all, while procrastination hurts us in the long run, it does temporarily reduce our stress level, reinforcing it as a bodily response for coping with stressful tasks. So, how can we break the cycle of procrastination?

Traditionally, people thought procrastinators needed to cultivate discipline and practice strict time management. But today, many researchers feel the exact opposite. Being too hard on yourself can layer additional bad emotions onto a task, making the threat even more intense. To short-circuit this stress response, we need to address and reduce these negative emotions. Some simple strategies include breaking a task into smaller elements or journaling about why it's stressing you out and addressing those underlying concerns. Try removing nearby distractions that make it easy to impulsively procrastinate. And more than anything, it helps to cultivate an attitude of self-compassion, forgiving yourself, and making a plan to do better next time. Because a culture that perpetuates this cycle of stress and procrastination hurts all of us in the long term.