What Are You Waiting for?

拖延症：你在磨蹭什么？

The Ninth Edition of The Concise¹ Oxford² Dictionary defines the word “procrastination” as to “defer⁴ action.” It further illuminates⁵ the semantic origins of the word as deriving⁶ 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.

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。

Procrastination³, we are taught from an early age, is a bad thing, and a habit to be steadfastly⁷ 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 promotion⁸. At home, we’ll be scolded for such things as not tidying up on time.

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。

Despite all this teaching and the clearly negative consequences of procrastinating⁹, we do it every day. The mind is a wonderful source of excuses and rationalizations which grease the wheels of our in-built Procrastinator¹⁰ 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 valid¹¹.

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。

Procrastination doesn’t only derive¹² 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.

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。

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.

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。

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 relish¹³ delivering or receiving that penalty.

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。

I can just imagine a scene like this:

想象一下这样的场景：

Me: “Sorry, Rupert, this story was due yesterday.”

我：“很遗憾，鲁伯特，这篇稿子昨天就该交。”

Employee: “But Tom, I was busy with…”

雇员：“可是汤姆，昨天我很忙……”

Me: “Too bad!” BOOM. “So long, Rupert.” Another procrastinator bites the dust.

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。

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, ongoing¹⁴ challenge, but making progress pays great dividends¹⁵ in work and personal relationships, managing stress, and self-esteem.

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。

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 lasting¹⁶ way.

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。

Managing your time more carefully requires clear thinking, focus, planning, and flexibility¹⁷. Above all it depends on prioritizing, and revisiting those priorities as circumstances change. But it’s not rocket science.

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。

Give it a try. Progress in this area might just be a life-saver!

不妨尝试一下。这项技能说不定还能救你一命呢！