“Procrastination（拖延）” 往往让我们在必须处理的事务面前止步不前。拖延的诱因多种多样，认知僵化便是其中之一。比如，有的人认为需要尽可能完美地完成一件事，而这种想法会让原本简单的任务变得令人生畏。因此，培养认知灵活性或许能帮助我们克服拖延。本文浅谈拖延行为的成因和潜在的应对方法。

词汇：work tasks 工作任务

1  Is your house at its tidiest when you've got a deadline coming up? Do you have a list of jobs that you really need to do, but you really don't want to start doing? Procrastination can mean that we spend more time putting off a job than we'd ever actually spend completing it. Understanding why we do it might help us to understand how to stop doing it.

2  There are different reasons why people procrastinate. Some people avoid tasks if they can relate them to traumatic situations in their past. Sometimes we don't do certain tasks because we're swamped with other things. If people are unhappy about being asked to do something, they might put it off to feel like they are regaining some control. Another common reason for procrastination is just the worry that doing something will be unpleasant or that we will not be able to do it well enough to satisfy ourselves.

3  This last kind of procrastination can be a result of our mindset. People with a perfectionist mindset are likely to have a very rigid idea of what success in a task looks like. This is coupled with being anxious not to fail at that task. Psychology lecturer Annemiecke Apergis-Schoute points out that procrastination can be the result of a struggle between our brain's reward and threat systems. If the threat of failure or discomfort is greater than the potential reward from doing the task, we're likely to avoid it.

4  Cognitive flexibility could help us to avoid procrastinating. If we change the way that we think about a task, it can be easier to start working on it. If we can challenge our expectation of what succeeding could be, and how uncomfortable working on the task will be, it can seem less threatening. Breaking down tasks into small components also makes them less daunting as well as providing a feeling of achievement when each of these steps is completed. It can also be useful to consider what triggers procrastination for you. Having a better understanding of this can help you get things done.

测验与练习

一、将标题和段落配对。

Paragraph 1 _______
Paragraph 2 _______
Paragraph 3 _______
Paragraph 4 _______

a. Why we avoid doing things
b. Time management
c. When it feels too hard to start working
d. Think differently
e. The need to be perfect

二、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. Tidying is a good way to avoid procrastinating.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

2. Procrastination can be a way that people use to take back _______.
a. rewards
b. control
c. time

3. Procrastination can make people's time management worse.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

4. What does 'it' refer to in this sentence. If the threat of failure or discomfort is greater than the potential reward from doing the task, we're likely to avoid it.
a. failure
b. discomfort
c. a task

5. Splitting tasks up makes them less threatening.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

三、用下列单词完成对本文的总结。

You might find yourself often 1) _______ the tasks that you need to do. Sometimes people procrastinate because they feel like they are 2) _______ with important tasks. Sometimes, tasks can seem 3) _______. This can often be the case if you are a bit of a 4) _______. It can help to develop a more flexible 5) _______ in order to see your tasks in a different way.

perfectionist
rigid
threatening
putting off
mindset
swamped
deadline

（答案见词汇表后）

词汇表

deadline 截止日期
put off 推迟
avoid 逃避
swamped 忙得不可开交
regain 重新获得
mindset 心态
perfectionist 完美主义者
rigid 僵化的
threat 威胁
discomfort 不适
cognitive flexibility 认知灵活性
threatening 有威胁的
break down 拆分，细分
component 组成部分
daunting 令人生畏的
trigger 引发

答案

一、将标题和段落配对。

Paragraph 1 c) When it feels too hard to start working
Paragraph 2 a) Why we avoid doing things
Paragraph 3 e) The need to be perfect
Paragraph 4 d) Think differently

二 、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. a. False. Is your house at its tidiest when you've got a deadline coming up? Do you have a list of jobs that you really need to do, but you really don't want to start doing? Procrastination can mean that we spend more time putting off a job than we'd ever actually spend completing it.

2. b. If people are unhappy about being asked to do something, they might put it off to feel like they are regaining some control.

3. c. Not given. The article doesn't mention time management.

4. c. 'It' in the sentence refers to the tasks that people are likely to avoid.

5. a. True. Breaking down tasks into small components also makes them less daunting as well as providing a feeling of achievement when each of these steps are completed.

三、用下列单词完成对本文的总结。

You might find yourself often putting off the tasks that you need to do. Sometimes people procrastinate because they feel like they are swamped with important tasks. Sometimes, tasks can seem threatening. This can often be the case if you are a bit of a perfectionist. It can help to develop a more flexible mindset in order to see your tasks in a different way.