第1435期:Just get on with it!

Do you ever have a task you need to complete but however urgent it may be, you just don't get on and do it?

您是否曾经有一项任务需要完成，但无论它多么紧迫，您就是不去做吗？ 

From doing the housework to writing an assignment, there's always something I can put off until tomorrow.

从做家务到写作业，总有一些事情我可以推迟到明天。

Being a procrastinator is quite easy. 

成为拖延者很容易。

There are so many other more interesting distractions such as watching funny cat videos on the internet or catching up with friends on social media! 

还有很多其他更有趣的干扰，例如在互联网上观看有趣的猫视频或在社交媒体上与朋友聊天！

But Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, once wisely said that: 'You may delay, but time will not', in other words, the time we waste now is gone forever,但美国国父之一本杰明·富兰克林曾睿智地说：“你可以拖延，但时间不会”，换句话说，我们现在浪费的时间已经一去不复返了，

so maybe I should pull my socks up and get on with what I should be doing.

所以也许我应该拉起袜子，继续我应该做的事情。

The reason why many of us delay doing something is that we live for the present not the future. 

我们中的许多人延迟做某事的原因是我们为现在而不是未来而活。

We are reluctant to engage in tasks that relate to the future – sorting something out now that will benefit us in the future doesn't seem like a priority.

我们不愿意从事与未来相关的任务——现在整理出对我们未来有益的事情似乎并不是一个优先事项。 

Daphna Oyserman, Professor of Psychology at the University of Southern California, says that "many things that are quite important about the future require that we start doing things now rather than waiting for later to happen ... waiting till later means that we won't have much time."

南加州大学心理学教授 Daphna Oyserman 说：“许多对未来非常重要的事情要求我们现在就开始做事，而不是等到以后发生……等到以后就意味着我们赢了。”时间不多。”

 So get on with it now rather than have a last-minute panic later!But it's hard to muster any enthusiasm when there are tedious chores to be done, so how can I control my lack of focus and knuckle down to what really needs to be done?

所以现在就开始吧，而不是等到最后一刻惊慌失措！但是当有繁琐的家务要做时，很难调动任何热情，那么我该如何控制自己的注意力不集中并专注于真正需要做的事情呢？ 

One idea is temptation bundling – doing two activities together – one that is boring but essential and one that you enjoy but isn't so productive. 

一个想法是诱惑捆绑——一起做两项活动——一项无聊但必不可少，另一项你喜欢但效率不高。

Planning is essential too and we should never underestimate how long things will take us. 

计划也是必不可少的，我们永远不应低估事情需要多长时间。

However, Dr Catherine Loveday from Westminster University warns us about a 'planning fallacy' thinking we can get something done quickly. 

然而，威斯敏斯特大学的凯瑟琳·洛夫戴博士警告我们注意“计划谬误”，认为我们可以快速完成某事。

She says "We never seem to get any better at judging time in the future and how long things will take us."

她说：“我们在判断未来的时间和事情需要多长时间方面似乎从来没有变得更好。”

Maybe for now, I'll make a cup of tea, and ponder on these thoughts before I crack on with some important tasks – anyway, there's always tomorrow.

也许现在，我会泡一杯茶，在我开始做一些重要的任务之前，好好思考一下这些想法——不管怎样，明天总会有的。

词汇表

task 任务
put off 延后，拖延
procrastinator 托拉的人
distraction 分心的事，分散注意力的东西
pull my socks up 努力加油干，加把劲儿
live for the present 活在当下
reluctant 勉强的，不情愿的
engage  参与
priority 优先考虑的事情，重要的事情
last-minute 最后一刻的
muster 激起（某种感情）
knuckle down  开始努力工作
temptation bundling 诱惑捆绑（把一件需要做但枯燥的事情和一件有趣的事情连在一起做，合二为一）
productive  有效率的
underestimate 低估
fallacy 谬论，谬见
ponder 沉思，考虑
to crack on 赶快加速继续（工作）