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拖延症：你在磨蹭什么？ 第九版《简明牛津辞典》将“procrastination（拖延症）”定义为“延迟行动”，并进一步解释其语义词根来源于拉丁语“crastinus”，意为“明天”，即把应该及时采取的行动推迟到明天、后天、下周或者是之后的某一时刻。 按我们小时候接受的教育，拖延症是不好的，我们要坚决避免养成这个坏习惯。在学校里，拖延症会导致错过各种最后期限，成绩低下，甚至更糟的情况。上班后，拖延症会让老板和同事不爽，让我们丢掉客户或者晋升的机会。即使在家里，拖延症也会让我们受尽没有按时收拾房间之类的数落。 尽管受了这么多教育，拖延症的恶果也再明显不过，但我们还是每天都会“犯病”。我们的头脑盛产各种借口和合理原因，润滑着我们内置的“拖延症App”，编织出无数不能即刻推进某个项目的理由，而且其中某些理由甚至还不无道理。 拖延症不仅源于懒惰。毕竟，我们都很忙，而且程度似乎较以往更甚。地球的自转也许并没有加快，但我们的生活方式和工作节奏的确都变得更加紧凑了，不管是好是坏吧。 对“deadline（最后期限）”一词，该《辞典》的基本释义是“完成某一活动的时间限制”，同时也给出了在监狱背景下的历史释义，即“犯人不能越过的线”。据推测，早期监狱里的 “deadline”是犯人一旦越过该线，就会立刻被处死。 我从事编辑和媒体工作多年，一辈子都在和deadline打交道，也错过了不少deadline。直到今天，我才发现这个词原本在监狱背景下的含义。幸好在媒体业，即使误了交稿期也不至于要处死。我可不想当这种审判官或是自己被判死刑。 想象一下这样的场景： 我：“很遗憾，鲁伯特，这篇稿子昨天就该交。” 雇员：“可是汤姆，昨天我很忙……” 我：“太差劲了！永别了，鲁伯特。”砰的一声，又一个拖延症患者倒地身亡。 在工作和生活中，我们有很多完善自我的当务之急，但都没有提高时间管理水平来得重要。这是一个永恒的、不间断的挑战，一旦加以完善，必然会给工作表现、个人关系、压力管理和个人评价带来极大的回报。 如果你想用杰出的服务给客户（既可以是内部的同事，也可以是外部的客人）带来惊喜，那就在承诺或预期的期限前完成工作吧。如果将此化作常态，你就会树立优质服务的口碑，改善人际关系，并赢得长久的尊重。 更精细地管理你的时间，需要清晰的思路、着眼点、规划和灵活性。最重要的是，一切取决于优先度，以及伴随情况变化要适时作出调整，但这并不难。 不妨尝试一下。这项技能说不定还能救你一命呢！ |
What Are You Waiting for? The Ninth Edition of The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines the word “procrastination” as to “defer action.” It further illuminates the semantic origins of the word as deriving from the Latin “crastinus”, meaning “tomorrow.” In other words, to defer taking timely action until tomorrow, or the day after, or next week, or just some later time. Procrastination, we are taught from an early age, is a bad thing, and a habit to be steadfastly avoided. In school, it can lead to missing deadlines and lower marks, or worse. At work, it will make our boss and colleagues unhappy and could lose us a customer or promotion. At home, we’ll be scolded for such things as not tidying up on time. Despite all this teaching and the clearly negative consequences of procrastinating, we do it every day. The mind is a wonderful source of excuses and rationalizations which grease the wheels of our in-built Procrastinator App, producing lots of reasons why we just can’t get to this or that project right at this moment. Some of those reasons are even valid. Procrastination doesn’t only derive from laziness. After all, we’re busy. And it seems like we’re a lot busier than we used to be. The earth may not be spinning any faster, but our lifestyles and pace of work are, for better or for worse. The same dictionary defines “deadline” firstly as “a time limit for the completion of an activity”. It also gives a more historic definition of “deadline” in the context of prisons as: “a line beyond which prisoners were not allowed to go.” Presumably, the concept of the “deadline” in the prisons of yore was that if a prisoner crossed the “deadline”, that prisoner was going to be a dead one in a hurry. Having spent my career in editing and media, I’ve had a lifetime of living with deadlines. I’ve missed a fair share. I only just discovered the historic meaning of “deadline” in the prison context today. It’s a relief that the death penalty is not assigned to those who miss deadlines in the media context. I would not relish delivering or receiving that penalty. I can just imagine a scene like this: Me: “Sorry, Rupert, this story was due yesterday.” Employee: “But Tom, I was busy with…” Me: “Too bad!” BOOM. “So long, Rupert.” Another procrastinator bites the dust. There are a range of important priorities for self-improvement in our careers and lifestyles, but few are more important than improving our time management skills. It’s a constant, ongoing challenge, but making progress pays great dividends in work and personal relationships, managing stress, and self-esteem. If you want to surprise a customer with great service -- an internal one, such as a colleague, or an external one -- then deliver a job or task ahead of the time it was promised or expected. If you make a habit of doing this, you will build a reputation for excellent service that will enhance your relationships and earn respect in a lasting way. Managing your time more carefully requires clear thinking, focus, planning, and flexibility. Above all it depends on prioritizing, and revisiting those priorities as circumstances change. But it’s not rocket science. Give it a try. Progress in this area might just be a life-saver! |
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