Here's the thing about bad habits. Many of them can hurt you when taken to the extreme. But in small doses, those same "bad" habits can be part of a healthy lifestyle.

关于坏习惯是这样的。极端情况下，很多坏习惯都是对你有害的。但时不时的做出“坏”习惯却能成为健康生活的一部分。

As in, you don't want to live like a total slob -- but a desk in slight disarray¹ could make you more creative. Who knew? Below, we've rounded up 3 supposedly negative behaviours that can -- contrary to what your mum, your teacher, and your know-it-all coworker said -- be good for you.

例如，你不想像懒汉一样生活——但稍微有些混乱的桌子却能让你看上去更有创造力。谁知道呢？下面，我们列出了3个被视作负面的行为——但实际上这些行为却与你母亲、老师以及无所不知的同志所说的相反——完全是对你好的。

Procrastinating²

拖延症

There's a growing body of literature dedicated³ to why people procrastinate⁴ -- and how to stop it.

越来越多的文献致力于解释人们为什么会拖延——以及如何不再拖延。

But Wharton professor and 'Originals' author Adam Grant argues that we should expand our conception of procrastination⁵ to include not just laziness, but also waiting for the right time. In other words, procrastination can help boost creativity because you give yourself a chance to develop your big idea.

但沃顿商学院教授以及《本源》一书的作者亚当•格兰特认为我们应该扩大自己的拖延观念，不仅要包括懒惰，而且还要包括等待合适的时机。换言之，拖延症有助于促进创造力，因为你给了自己想出好主意的机会。

In an interview with Business Insider's Rachel Gillett, Grant pointed⁶ to Apple's Steve Jobs as an example of someone who benefited from delaying certain tasks:

在接受Business Insider期刊瑞秋•吉列的采访时，格兰特指出苹果公司创始人史蒂夫•乔布斯就常常从延迟某些任务中受益。

'The time Steve Jobs was putting things off was time well spent in letting more divergent ideas come to the table, as opposed to diving right in with the most conventional, the most obvious, the most familiar.'

‘乔布斯拖延事情的时候，正是汇集更多想法的时候，而这与用最传统、最明显、最熟悉的方式长驱直入恰恰相反。’

Biting your nails

啃指甲

Researchers recently followed about 1,000 kids starting when they were five years old. When the kids were five, seven, nine, and 11, the researchers asked their parents whether they bit their nails or sucked their thumb. About one-third of the kids displayed one or both habits.

近年来，研究人员对1000名5岁大的儿童进行跟踪研究。当孩子5岁、7岁、9岁和11岁时，研究员询问他们的父母，问他们是否会啃指甲或吸大拇指。大约三分之一的儿童都表现出这样的习惯（有的人只有一个，有的人两个习惯都有）。

When the kids were 13 and then 32 years old, the researchers performed allergy⁷ tests. Sure enough, the group that had habitually⁸ bit their nails and/or sucked their thumb as kids were less likely to have developed allergies⁹.

当孩子13岁和32岁时，研究员开始对他们进行过敏测试。果然，小时候习惯性咬指甲/吮吸大拇指的那一组过敏的可能性更小。

At the same time, one of the study authors advised parents not to encourage nail-biting or thumb-sucking in their kids.

同时，研究的一位作者建议父母不要鼓励自己的孩子咬指甲或吮吸大拇指。

Running late

迟到

Being chronically¹⁰ tardy¹¹ can interfere¹² with both your personal and professional relationships, making you look disorganized or worse, disrespectful. At the same time, an oft-cited tidbit from Diana DeLonzor, author of 'Never Be Late Again,' sheds some light on the upsides of lateness.

老是迟到可能会影响你的个人生活和职业，让你看起来没有条理，甚至不尊重人。同时，《永不迟到》的作者戴安娜•德龙索以一个趣闻揭示了迟到了原因。