Why you procrastinate even when it feels bad

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

It’s 5 p.m. and you’ve just realized that report you’ve been putting off

現在是下午五點，

你剛發現你一直在推遲的那份報告

is due tomorrow.

明天就得交了。

It’s time to buckle down, open your computer...

該是埋頭苦幹的時候了， 去打開電腦……

and check your phone.

還有……滑滑你的手機。

Maybe catch up on your favorite YouTube channel?

也許去看看你最喜歡的 YouTube 頻道有什麼新內容？

Actually, you should probably make dinner first.

事實上，你可能應該先弄晚餐。

You usually like cooking,

你通常很喜歡烹飪，

though it’s hard to enjoy with this work hanging over your head,

不過心頭一直有工作的事 讓烹飪變得很難享受。

and oh— it’s actually pretty late!

且，喔——時間相當晚了！

Maybe you should just try again in the morning?

也許應該早上再來試一次？

This is the cycle of procrastination, and I promise you, we have all been there.

這就是拖延的循環，

我向你保證，大家都拖延過。

But why do we keep procrastinating even when we know it’s bad for us?

但為什麼我們明知拖延 對我們不好，還是不斷拖延？

To be clear, putting something off isn’t always procrastinating.

先說清楚，推遲某件事 不見得一定是拖延。

Responsible time management requires deciding which tasks are important

負責任的時間管理 需要決定哪些工作任務很重要，

and which ones can wait.

哪些可以等。

Procrastination is when we avoid a task we said we would do, for no good reason,

拖延是避而不做 說好要去做的事，

不但沒有好理由，

despite expecting our behavior to bring negative consequences.

還明知行為會帶來負面的後果。

Obviously, it’s irrational to do something you expect to harm you.

很明顯，去做你預期會傷害 自己的事是不理性的。

But ironically, procrastination is the result of our bodies trying to protect us,

諷刺的是，

拖延其實是身體試圖自我保護 所造成的結果，

specifically by avoiding a task we see as threatening.

具體來說就是避開被我們 視為是威脅的工作任務。

When you realize you need to write that report,

當你想到你得去撰寫那份報告時，

your brain responds like it would to any incoming threat.

你的大腦會把它當成即將 發生的威脅來做出反應。

Your amygdala, a set of neurons involved in emotional processing

你的杏仁核

是一組和情緒處理 及威脅辨識相關的神經元，

and threat identification,

releases hormones including adrenaline that kick off a fear response.

它會釋放荷爾蒙，包括會造成 恐懼反應的腎上腺素。

This stress-induced panic can overpower the impulses from your prefrontal cortex,

這種由壓力引起的慌張，

有可能會壓過 來自前額葉皮質的脈衝，

which typically help you think long term and regulate your emotions.

這些脈衝通常是用來協助你 做遠程思考和控管情緒。

And it’s in the midst of this fight, flight, or freeze response

而在這戰或逃的反應中，

that you decide to handle the threat

你決定處理這威脅的方式

by avoiding it in favor of some less stressful task.

就是避開它，去做比較 沒有壓力的工作任務。

This response might seem extreme—

這種反應似乎有點極端——

after all, it’s just a deadline, not a bear attack.

畢竟，只是交期到了， 又不是被熊攻擊。

But we’re most likely to procrastinate tasks that evoke negative feelings,

但遇到會引發負面 感覺的工作任務時，

我們就很有可能會拖延，

such as dread, incompetence, and insecurity.

負面感覺包括恐懼、 無能，和不安全感。

Studies of procrastinating university students have found participants

針對會拖延的大學生所做的研究發現，

受試者比較可能推遲他們認為 有壓力或很困難的工作任務。

were more likely to put off tasks they perceived as stressful or challenging.

And the perception of how difficult the task is

而對於工作任務難度的感受，

increases while you’re putting it off.

會隨著推遲而不斷增加。

In one experiment, students were given reminders to study throughout the day.

在一項實驗中，一整天 學生都會被提醒要讀書。

While they were studying, most reported that it wasn’t so bad.

當他們在讀書時，大部分人 回報的感受都不太差。

But when they were procrastinating,

但當他們拖延時，

they consistently rated the idea of studying as very stressful,

他們都很一致地認為想到 要讀書就覺得很有壓力，

making it difficult to get started.

導致很難踏出第一步。

Because procrastination is motivated by our negative feelings,

因為拖延背後的動機 是我們的負面感受，

some individuals are more susceptible to it than others.

而有些人又比其他人 更容易受到影響。

People who have difficulty regulating their emotions

不太能控管好情緒的人 以及為自卑所苦的人

and those who struggle with low self-esteem

are much more likely to procrastinate,

拖延的可能性就高很多，

regardless of how good they are at time management.

不論他們有多擅長時間管理。

However, it's a common misconception that all procrastinators are lazy.

然而，大家常會誤解，

以為拖延的人就很懶散。

In the body and brain, laziness is marked by no energy and general apathy.

就身體和大腦來說，

懶散的特徵是沒有能量 和一般性的冷淡。

When you’re feeling lazy, you’re more likely to sit around doing nothing

當你覺得很懶的時候，你比較 有可能會只是坐著不幹嘛，

than distract yourself with unimportant tasks.

而不是用不重要的 工作任務來讓自己分心。

In fact, many people procrastinate because they care too much.

事實上，許多人拖延 是因為他們太在乎了。

Procrastinators often report a high fear of failure,

拖延者通常會描述 他們極度害怕失敗，

putting things off because they’re afraid their work

把事情推遲是因為他們怕他們所做的

won’t live up to their high standards.

無法達到他們的高標準。

Whatever the reason for procrastination, the results are often the same.

不論拖延的理由為何，

結果通常都一樣。

Frequent procrastinators are likely to suffer from anxiety and depression,

經常拖延的人比較有可能 面臨的困擾包括焦慮及憂鬱、

ongoing feelings of shame,

持續的羞恥感、

higher stress levels and physical ailments associated with high stress.

更高的壓力，

以及和高壓力相關的身體病痛。

Worst of all, while procrastination hurts us in the long run,

最糟糕的是，雖然 長期來看拖延對我們不利，

it does temporarily reduce our stress level,

但它確實能暫時降低我們的壓力，

reinforcing it as a bodily response for coping with stressful tasks.

讓它成為在處理高壓工作任務時

更強大的身體反應。

So, how can we break the cycle of procrastination?

那麼，要如何打破拖延的循環呢？

Traditionally, people thought procrastinators needed to cultivate

傳統上，

大家認為拖延者需要培養紀律

discipline and practice strict time management.

並練習嚴格的時間管理。

But today, many researchers feel the exact opposite.

但現今，許多研究者的看法相反。

Being too hard on yourself can layer additional bad emotions onto a task,

對自己太苛可能會把額外的 壞情緒加疊到工作任務上，

making the threat even more intense.

讓威脅的強度更強。

To short-circuit this stress response,

要讓這種壓力反應短路，

we need to address and reduce these negative emotions.

我們得要處理和減少

這些負面的情緒。

Some simple strategies include breaking a task into smaller elements

簡單的策略包括：

將一項工作任務拆開成較小的元素；

or journaling about why it's stressing you out

或者寫下為什麼它讓你感到焦慮，

and addressing those underlying concerns.

並去處理那些背後的憂慮；

Try removing nearby distractions that make it easy to impulsively procrastinate.

試著除去那些很容易造成 衝動式拖延的分心事物。

And more than anything, it helps to cultivate an attitude of self-compassion,

最重要的是，

去培養自我疼惜的態度也很有幫助，

forgiving yourself, and making a plan to do better next time.

要能原諒自己，

並制訂計畫讓下次能夠做得更好。

Because a culture that perpetuates this cycle of stress and procrastination

因為，讓這種壓力循環和拖延 會一直存在的文化，

hurts all of us in the long term.

長遠來說，對所有人都不利。