BYR Achieve · 镜像论坛

‍http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2011/110407/full/nj7341-127a.html FromWaiting for the motivation fairy by Hugh Kearns & MariaGardiner Most people have a fundamental misunderstanding: we like to think that motivation leads to action, or, more simply, that when you feel like doing something, you’ll do it. This model might work for things you enjoy doing, such as watching a film or going for a walk. But it’s not particularly good for huge tasks with fuzzy deadlines. The problem is that you may never feel motivated to revise and resubmit that paper—at least not until a hard-and-fast deadline appears. You need a different model. Some psychology research shows that action leads to motivation, which in turn leads to more action. You have to start before you feel ready; then you’ll feel more motivated, and then you’ll take more action. You’ve probably had this experience yourself. You put off running an analysis for ages; eventually, you decide to do it, and once you start, you say to yourself,“This isn’t as bad as I thought. Why not keep going while I’m at it?” Of course, starting before you feel motivated is difficult. But certain strategies can directly tackle the conditions that lead to procrastination in the first place. First, big projects need to be broken down into steps. Not just small steps, but tiny steps. Instead of saying you’ll make the revisions to the paper — which probably seems overwhelming —the tiny step could be that you’ll read the reviewer’s comments or you’ll make the first two changes. Second, you need to set a time or deadline by which to perform that tiny step. Saying you’ll do it later or tomorrow isn’t enough—the deadline needs to have an‘o’clock’attached to it. Third, you need to build in an immediate reward. If you finish reading the comments by your deadline at 10:00 a.m., you can allow yourself to have a coffee, a brief chat or a quick e-mail exchange. It’s highly likely that once you start the task, your motivation will kick in and you’ll find yourself wanting to spend longer at it. So if the motivation fairy hasn’t been stopping off at your lab or desk very frequently, perhaps you should give her a hand. The next time you catch yourself engaging in displacement activities, remember that there’s a way to recover that elusive drive. Follow our three rules and watch your motivation grow. 参考解释：人们往往简单以为动力引发行动，总是等着想做一件事时才去行动。对于你喜欢做的事情确实可以如此，比如看电影，散步。对于这些你感兴趣又轻松愉快的事情，不用别人逼着，你也会想着马上去做。可对于那些比较麻烦的任务，如果没有一个期限要求，你便会一拖再拖，直到不能再拖。一提到修改论文脑袋就大，怎么会有动力，除非有人告诉你必须几时几时交稿。可见这两种情况是不同的模式，必须采取不一样的对待方式。心理学研究表明行动带来动力，动力激发更多的行动。不要等到感觉自己准备好了才采取行动。先勉强自己去做，做的过程中渐渐你会得到反馈，有更多的动力继续做下去。你一定有过这样的经历，一件事情你一拖再拖，直到不能再拖，最后你决定不要再拖，终于去做，“并没有想象中那么糟嘛，也挺有意思的，既然做了就坚持下去吧”。往往投入时间精力，我们就会发现乐趣。投入心血越多，得到的培养越多，乐趣越茁壮成长，而且和上瘾有些相像，我们期望得到更多乐趣。我们会采取更多的行动来满足这种需要，渐渐这种乐趣成为我们的一部分，在大脑里有它自己牢固的地盘了。当然为什么很多时候苗子没有培养起来，这又涉及到庄稼杂草之间对能量资源的争夺，是一个技术问题，又要另当别论。潜意识非常狡猾，对于不愿意做不愿面对的事情，总是想方设法避开拖延，用一些貌似有意义却更轻松的事情来进行替代。古人就有“明日复明日，明日何其多，我生待明日，万事成蹉跎”的《明日歌》，可见自古“蹉跎”难对付。心理学家有如下几条建议，目的在于第一时间破坏拖延的条件，不给蹉跎留任何机会。1大项目要分成小块，越细越好。做计划时忌讳粗略的大线条，不要只是说我要修改论文，这样容易把自己吓倒，老虎吃天，无处下口。要把任务细分，从哪下口，按照怎样的套路步骤一口一口把它吃掉，细到一步一步容易落实，看起来不是那么可怕了。比如可以首先阅读对论文的修改意见，或者先试着做两处修改。2对每一步要设定严格清楚的启动和完成时间。不要说一会儿我就做，也不要说我明天做。这样模糊的语言体现你不够清醒，没有决心，依然被拖延控制，给拖延恶习留下了许多生存土壤。要具体到某个时间，几点几点。3及时奖励自己。如果你在截止时间，比如10点，把论文的修改意见都读完了，可以奖励自己一下，喝杯咖啡，和别人聊两句，或迅速的处理一下邮件。但记住保持清醒，控制好时间，稍微放松即可，不要又堕入下一个蹉跎的轮回。往往一旦你开始一项任务，你的干劲会越来越足，你会想着继续保持并投入更多时间。所以，如果你的士气不高，对自己该做的事情提不起兴趣，你可以采取点“行动”，不要总是坐等状态的降临。好状态是干出来的。

对付拖延