本文選自專欄《謀生的工具》（Tools of the Trade）。在這個每周更新一次的專欄中，各領域的專家會提供可行建議，幫助你在工作效率到募資等方面迅速且高效地見到成果。本周，渥太華卡爾頓大學心理學教授提摩西·皮奇樂為我們解釋為什么會有拖延癥，并提供了一些解決拖延癥的方法。

作為一名研究拖延癥長達二十多年的心理學家，我思考了很多關于效率的問題，以及我們效率低下的原因。人們普遍把拖延癥歸因于糟糕的時間管理。這種觀點認為，無法達成目標是因為不善于安排時間。

但多年的研究讓我相信，拖延癥的根源不在于此：歸根結底，拖延與情緒有關。我們會回避消極情緒，努力讓自己感覺良好。

想想你上次是怎樣毫無必要地去推遲某件你知道自己得去做的事情。當時，你的腦海里可能有“我不喜歡它”，“我不想去做”，“我明天再做”等想法。產生這種抗拒的原因是，你此時此刻不愿去體驗消極情緒。

我們的研究發現，我們拖延的往往是那些被定義為枯燥無味、令人沮喪或困難的任務。它們會喚起恐懼、焦慮和煩躁的情緒。減輕這種情緒的辦法很簡單：拖延。讓未來的自己來做吧！然而，就如荷馬·辛普森曾對未來的自己說的那樣：“嘿，我一點都不羨慕這小子?！?/p>

換句話說，拖延癥不是時間管理的問題，而是情緒管理的問題，后者往往會再次困擾我們。盡管逃避能帶來一時的快感，但研究表明，這種刺激轉瞬即逝。拖延不僅會給未來的自己帶來時間壓力，而且在你意識到自己拖延必要的工作是多么不理性之后，還會導致愧疚，自我價值感降低。

以下是解決方法。

對付拖延癥有許多辦法，不過最關鍵的是學會控制我們的情緒。這并不簡單。從生物學的角度來看，拜大腦邊緣系統（最古老的神經系統結構之一，大腦的情緒控制中心）所賜，感受總是先一步襲來。

相反，我們的前額皮質——大腦進行“執行功能”的關鍵區域，也就是我們計劃、組織、必要時抑制沖動的能力——會晚一步產生作用。

佛教僧侶對神經科學所知甚少，但他們充分理解迅速的情緒反應與緩慢、更加艱辛、往往讓人筋疲力盡的沖動抑制和思想控制過程之前的沖突，并把這種沖突比喻為“猿心”。若要成功，就得給猿猴安排它可以應對的任務。

所以，下一次你感到內心的抵觸，覺得“我不喜歡它”或僅僅是“我不想做”，想拖延時，要知道這只是你的大腦邊緣系統在起作用。你不必推遲整個復雜的項目，而應當把它拆成很多小的、可以控制的步驟，這樣不會嚇到你的“猿心”。要問自己，這個任務我接下來可以怎么做？

把任務拆成小而具體的步驟。把門檻降低。下一步做什么？知道了嗎？現在開始這個步驟，只關注這一步。從情感上看，開始從事任務的門檻要低得多。不要向前看得太遠。低下頭來，專注于這一小步，而不是完成整個任務。這樣一來，你就進入了任務，變得有效率起來。

早在十多年前，社會心理學家就已經證明，在目標上取得進展，即便是微小的進展，也會讓人感到幸福。他們將此稱為“幸福的螺旋式上升”。這也會帶來效率的螺旋式上升。邁出第一步，感到投入其中，而不是逃避任務、陷入愧疚和焦慮的螺旋，會增加我們的幸福感，幫助我們積極地采取下一步行動。過不了不久，我們就能充分投入，效率十足了。（財富中文網）

譯者：嚴匡正

審校：任文科

This article is part of Tools of the Trade, a weekly series in which a variety of experts share actionable tips for achieving fast and effective results on everything from productivity to fundraising.

This week Timothy Pychyl explains why we procrastinate, and what we can do about it. Pychyl is a psychology professor at Carleton University, in Ottawa.

As a psychological scientist who has researched procrastination for over 20 years, I think a lot about productivity and the reasons we fail to achieve it. A common belief is that procrastination stems from poor time management — we fall short of accomplishing our goals, this line of thinking goes, because we’re bad at budgeting our hours.

But my research has led me to believe the root cause is different: At its core, procrastination is about emotions. We use avoidance to deal with negative feelings — we give in to feel good.

Think about the last time you needlessly put off something you knew you needed to get done. Chances are, thoughts like “I don’t feel like it,” “I don’t want to,”or “I’ll feel more like it tomorrow,” ran through your head. This resistance is coming from your present-self’s desire not to experience negative emotions.

Our research shows we typically characterize tasks on which we procrastinate as boring, frustrating, or difficult. They inspire feelings of dread, anxiety, and annoyance. There’s an easy solution to mitigate these feelings, however: Simply put the task off. Future self can do it! And, as Homer Simpson once remarked about his own future self, “Man, I don’t envy that guy!”

In other words, procrastination is not a time-management problem; it’s an emotion-regulation problem, one that comes back to haunt us. While avoidance can feel good in the moment, studies have shown this emotional boost is fleeting. In addition to the time pressure it creates down the line,procrastination causes feelings of guilt and a diminished sense of self as we recognize how irrational we’ve been in delaying a necessary action.

Here’s what to do about it.

There are many strategies for fighting procrastination, but the most essential is learning to regulate our emotions. This isn’t easy. Biologically, thanks to our limbic system, one of the oldest neurological structures and the brain’s emotional center, we’re primed to feel first.

In contrast, the prefrontal cortex — the part of our brain that plays a key role in performing “executive functions,” i.e. our ability to plan, organize and inhibit impulses as necessary — developed later.

Buddhist monks knew little about neuroscience, butthey understood the internal battle between quick, emotional reactions and the slower, more laborious,often exhausting processes of inhibition and thought control. They sum up this tension by saying that we humans have “monkey mind.” To be successful, it helps if you give the monkey a task it can handle.

So, the next time you feel that internal resistance and think, “I don’t feel like it,” or, simply, “I don’t want to” along with the temptation to procrastinate, understand that it’s just your limbic system acting out. Instead of putting off a complex project entirely, start by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable steps that won’t scare your monkey mind. Ask yourself, what is the next action I could take on this task?

Make it a small action. Make it a concrete action. Keep the threshold low. What’s the next action? Got it? Now just get started on that action, and that action alone.Getting started is a much lower threshold emotionally. Don’t look too far ahead. Keep your head down and focus on the work, not the finish line. Do that, and you’re on task. Do that, and you’re being productive.

For over a decade ago now, social psychologists have demonstrated that achieving progress on our goals, even a little progress, fuels well-being. They called it an upward spiral of happiness. It’s also an upward spiral of productivity. Feeling engaged after taking that first step, as opposed to avoiding the task and descending into a spiral of shame and anxiety, increases our well-being and helps motivate us to take the next step. It doesn’t take long before we’re fully engaged and productive.