Deluged by Work, Many Just Put It Off
工作難負荷拖字訣上陣
By Phyllis Korkki

Since time began, it seems, people have been putting off till tomorrow what they could have done today – berating themselves and inconveniencing others in the process.
今日事明日畢似乎是人類的天性。這會讓當事人自責，同時也造成他人的不便。

It wouldn’t be a problem except that time eventually runs out. “You may delay, but time will not,” said Benjamin Franklin.
如果時間永遠用不完，這倒也不是問題。美國開國元勳富蘭克林曾經說：「你可以拖延，時間卻不會等你。」

At work, procrastination has “expensive and visible costs,” said Rory Vaden, a corporate trainer, who points to research showing that the average employee admits to wasting two hours a day on nonwork tasks.
企業講師華登說，拖延足以對工作帶來「明顯可見而且昂貴的成本」。他又說，研究顯示，許多企業員工承認，平均每天把兩個小時用於與工作無關的其他事務上。

People know that procrastination hurts themselves, others and their work, so why do they do it? One answer is that they are overwhelmed, said Julie Morgenstern, a productivity consultant in New York and author of “Time Management From the Inside Out.”
大家都知道，拖延對自己、別人與工作都不好。既然如此，為什麼還是要拖延？著有《由內而外的時間管理》一書的紐約生產力顧問茱莉‧摩根史登說，答案之一是，工作負荷把他們壓得喘不過氣。

Since the recession, companies are asking their workers to be more innovative and creative – and more efficient. It’s a recipe for paralysis.
經濟衰退出現後，企業要求員工更有創意及效率。這正是造成癱瘓的藥方。

Technology like e-mail, Facebook and Twitter, meanwhile, offers more distraction. Answering a trivial e-mail can provide a momentary sense of accomplishment, Ms. Morgenstern said.
另外，電郵、臉書、推特等科技產品也讓人更容易分心。摩根史登說，回覆一封無關痛癢的電郵可以使人產生短暫的成就感。

Often, procrastinators are “extremely concerned about what other people think of them,” said Joseph R. Ferrari, a psychology professor at DePaul University and author of “Still Procrastinating? The No Regrets Guide to Getting It Done.”  
著有《還在拖延？完成工作的無悔指引》的芝加哥德堡大學心理學教授費拉里指出，拖延者往往非常在乎別人對他們的觀感。

The idea is: “If I never finish, I can never be judged,” he said.
他說，其中的心理是：「如果我不完成工作，別人就不會評斷我。」

An accomplice of procrastination is perfectionism. Waiting until the last minute provides the perfect excuse: they just didn’t have enough time, Ms. Morgenstern said.
完美主義是拖延的幫凶。摩根史登說，延挨到最後一刻可提供完美的藉口：時間就是不夠。

“The most productive people tend to focus on progress over perfection,” said Mr. Vaden, author of “Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success.” Remember, he said: “Success is messy.”
著有《拾級：締造真正成功的七步驟》的華登指出：「最有生產力的人往往專注於進展甚於完美。記住，成功本來就是雜亂無章的。」

People who procrastinate are often plagued by guilt, Ms. Morgenstern said, but feeling bad about it is not a solution. Identify the specific areas where you are procrastinating – say, writing, business development, networking or management duties – and map out the steps required to achieve your goal, she advises. The new world of work, with its inevitable interruptions, “requires the skill of breaking large projects into small, completable steps that are anywhere from half an hour to two hours – three hours tops,” she said.
摩根史登表示，處事拖延的人經常會深為罪惡感所苦，然而這不是辦法。她的建議是，認清你拖延的明確區域，例如書寫、商務發展、社交或管理職責，接著列出達成目標的必要步驟。她又說，工作的新世界干擾難免，「需要有技巧去把大型計畫切割成幾個可在半小時到兩小時，最多三小時之內完成的小步驟」。

Time management techniques may work for some people, but they will probably be ineffective for the 20 percent of people who are chronic procrastinators, Professor Ferrari said. These people tend to put things off at home, at work, in relationships – in all areas of their lives, he said.
費拉里指出，時間管理技巧對某些人有用，對占20%拖延成習的人卻恐怕無效。他又說，這些人往往會在居家、工作崗位、人際關係，也就是個人生活的全部領域拖延。

For these chronic “procs,” as he calls them, sessions with a psychologist who focuses on cognitive behavior therapy may be the only path to bringing their time – and their lives – under control.
對這些習慣拖延的人來說，向擅長認知行為治療的心理專家尋求諮詢，可能是把他們的時間與個人生活納入控制的唯一可行之途。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/jobs/procrastinating-at-work-maybe-youre-overwhelmed.html

2012-03-13聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 陳世欽譯原文參見紐時週報七版右