Okay, I’ll admit it.
好吧，我承认这一点。
I procrastinate… a lot.
我拖延...很严重。
It’s just that watching Netflix or filling up my Pokedex is much more interesting than cleaning or paying my bills.
窝在家里看DVD或刷下口袋精灵总比搞卫生或者还信用卡账单要有趣得多吧。
But let’s face it, we all procrastinate.
然而，事实是，我们每个人都在拖延。
And the question is: why?
那么问题来了：为么子尼？
Why do we put things off when we know those tasks will still need to be done later?
我们知道这些任务迟早是要完成的，那为什么我们还是要要把事情推迟呢?
Well American Psychologist Joseph Ferrari said that “We all procrastinate, but we aren’t all procrastinators.”
美国心理学家约瑟夫·法拉利指出："我们都拖延，但我们并不都是拖延症患者。”
His research has found that approximately 20% of people are what he defines as procrastinators those who chronically procrastinate.
他的研究发现，有拖延行为的群体中大约有20%的人是拖延症患者。
So what’s the difference between a person who procrastinates and a chronic procrastinator?|
那么，拖延症的人和拖延症患者之间有什么区别呢?
Research suggests it may have a lot to do with the brain’s prefrontal cortex.
研究表明，这可能与大脑的前额叶皮层有很大的关系。
Inside your brain, there’s a constant battle between two areas: The prefrontal cortex and the limbic system.
你的大脑里，在:前额叶皮层和边缘系统两个区域之间进行着一场旷日持久的战役。
The prefrontal cortex handles your executive functions: planning, problem-solving and paying attention. And the limbic system is involved in emotion, motivation, and reward.
前额叶皮层负责处理你的执行机能:如计划、解决问题和专注度等。边缘系统则涉及情感，动机和奖励等。
When you’re doing something kind of boring, like washing the dishes, your limbic system immediately reacts to the task as being undesirable.
当你在做一些看似无聊的事情时，比如洗菜时，你的大脑边缘系统会立即对此做出反应，这尼玛真没意思哇！
Since that task probably won’t make you happy, it seems less important than something that will: like watching YouTube videos.
因为这一任务可能不会让你开心愉悦，所以它的重要性不像撸片来得那么重要。
But, your prefrontal cortex realizes that doing the dishes now will prevent food from getting crusty and gross, meaning the job’s easier now than it will be later.
但是，你的前额叶皮层意识到，现在把这些菜neng好，可以防止食物变得发霉变质，也就是说现在搞肯定比后面放坏了搞容易。
And this is this the battle: These two areas are in competition, and more than we like to admit, it’s the limbic system that comes out on top.
这就是这场战役:这两个领域处于竞争中，而我们不愿意承认的是，小黑人边缘系统总是能把小白人前额叶皮层摁倒脑浆里摩擦！
That’s especially true for those chronic procrastinators.
对于那些晚期拖延癌患者来说更是如此。
Research has found people who had lower executive function in skills like planning, task initiation, behavioural inhibition, and organization also scored higher on a procrastination scale.
研究发现，那些在计划、任务启动、行为抑制和组织等技能上执行能力较低的人，在拖延量表上得分也更高。
It starts to explain why some people’s limbic systems may win that neural tug-of-war more than others’.
这就解释了为什么有些人的边缘系统可能比其他人更易赢得这场“神经拉锯战”的胜利。
And while we might say, “it’s not that bad!
尽管我们可能经常会说，“这没啥吧！
Some people are just procrastinators!” this completely hides the fact that procrastinating is kinda bad for your health.
有些人生来就拖延啊！”这种论调完全掩盖了拖延症对你自身健康有害的事实。”
In one study that tracked students for a semester, those who procrastinated initially reported lower levels of stress.
在一项针对学生为期一学期的跟踪研究中，报告显示那些拖延的人最初的压力水平较低。
But by the end of the semester, procrastinators ended up with, on average, lower grades, higher overall levels of stress and higher incidents of illness.
但在学期末的时候，拖延症患者，平均成绩较低，整体压力水平更高，疾病发病率也更高。
The students didn’t do well under pressure and the stress caused by procrastinating made some more prone to getting sick.
学生们在压力下表现不会太好，而拖延造成的压力使他们更容易生病。
It’s probably no surprise that procrastinating is bad.
所以说拖延是坏事也就不足为奇了。
But how do we beat our limbic systems and just do a task, especially if we’re a chronic procrastinator?
但是我们怎样才能打败我们的边缘系统并完成一项任务，尤其是如果我们是一个拖延癌患者呢?
Setting personal deadlines is one way to help us get things done.
设定个人期限是帮助我们完成任务的一种方式。
And external deadlines are even better!
要是外部的截止期限那就更好了！
If you’re a student working with a group, set small deadlines for everyone over the length of the project.
如果你是一个学生，和一个小组一起工作，根据项目长度为每个人设定一个小的截止期限。
And if deadlines don’t work, try to reframe the situation.
如果最后期限眼看完犊子了，那就试着重新规划一下形势。
Sure paying bills is kind of boring, but having your finances in order does make you feel more relaxed, and accomplishing a task can feel just as good as avoiding one.
当然，还账单有点无聊，但是你的财务状况会让你感觉更轻松，完成一项任务就像避免一件事一样好。
And if you know a chronic procrastinator, like me, don’t enable them!
如果你知道一个长期拖延症的人，像我一样，不要纵容他们滋生了！
Let them experience the consequences of their actions.
让他们体验他们行动的后果。
The negative emotions associated with a poor test score, overdue bill notice or insect-infested kitchen might be enough to teach the limbic system that procrastination is bad!
一个糟糕的测试分数，过期的账单通知，或者小强遍地的厨房，这些负面情绪可能足以教会边缘系统，拖延症是不好的！
And they’ll be less likely to procrastinate in the future.
而且他们将来也不太可能拖延。
Let me know if you have any amazing strategies to avoid procrastinating.
如果你有什么惊人的策略来避免拖延，请告诉我。
I need all the help I can get.
我需要我能得到的一切帮助。
For now, I guess I should get to that cleaningI’ve been putting off.
现在，我想我应该去处理我一直在拖延的工作了。
