They put off tasks and chores nearly every chance they get.

他們用盡所有方法所有方法來拖延事務和各種雜事。

They are called "chronic procrastinators," and it turns out this behavior does a lot more damage than you might think.

這些人稱為「慢性拖延者」，而證據顯示出這樣子的行為模式可能比你想像中的更為有害。

[What happens when you procrastinate too much.]

[你拖延得太嚴重時會發生什麼事]

We get it, doing work is hard.

我們都知道，工作很難。

But when you choose to watch TV over doing laundry or washing dishes, you've just launched an all-out battle in your brain.

但當你選擇看電視而不是洗衣服或清洗盤碗，你即為大腦吹響了全面戰爭的號角。

On one side, you have your prefrontal cortex, that's the part of your brain that sets long-term goals and regulates self-control.

一方面，你擁有額葉前皮層，這是大腦中設定長期目標並調節自我控制的部分。

It's telling you that those dishes aren't going to clean themselves.

它告訴你那些碗盤並不會自己清洗乾淨。

And on the other side is the limbic system.

而另一方面，你有邊緣系統。

It deals with pleasure, arousal, and reward, and it's telling you that washing dishes is lame, dude.

它負責處理愉悅、刺激和回饋，並告訴你洗碗很遜耶老兄。

You'd have a better time doing something else, so procrastination essentially puts your brain in its happy place.

你做其他事情會比較開心，所以拖延症基本上就是將你的大腦擺在一個會開心的環境。

It feels good, that's why you do it.

這樣感覺很好，這也是為什麼你要拖延。

But of course, just because it feels good, doesn't mean it's necessarily good for you.

但當然因為這感覺很好，不代表這對你而言絕對是有益的。

For example, several studies have found that undergraduate college students who procrastinated had a lower GPA in the latter half of the semester compared to nonprocrastinators.

舉例來說，很多學術研究發現，喜歡拖拖拉拉的大學生比起不拖拉的人，通常都是該學期在校成績比較低的同學們。

They were also more likely to get sick based on their health care visits.

他們也更容易生病，依據他們前往醫院的次數來說。

Moreover, other studies have found that procrastinators report higher levels of guilt and anxiety when they choose to procrastinate in the first place.

此外，其他研究顯示，拖延症患者當他們在事情一開始就選擇拖延時，會有較高程度的內疚感和焦慮感。

And if you keep it up, researchers have found that chronic procrastination is linked to low self-confidence, low energy, and depression.

而且如果這個狀態持續下去，研究人員發現慢性拖延症患者與低自信度、低能量和憂鬱有所關聯。

Overall, your quality of life would probably be worse than if you had just listened to good old prefrontal cortex.

總體來說，你整體的生活品質可能會比單聽額葉前皮層還差。

And you may think that you just have a different workflow or you perform better under pressure, but sorry to say, there are no studies to support any benefits of chronic procrastination.

你可能認為你只是有擁有不同的生活步調或這樣會有較佳的抗壓性，但抱歉地說，現在還沒有任何研究表示慢性拖延症會帶來任何好處。

Bottom line, it's unhealthy, but not all hope is lost.

結論大概是，這樣很不健康，但並不是完全就沒有希望了。

In fact, researchers have conducted dozens of scientific studies in search for ways to help procrastinators.

事實上，學者們已經做了數十個科學研究來尋找能夠幫助拖延症患者的方法。

What they've found time and time again is how you think about tasks can make a huge difference in how likely you are to procrastinate on them.

他們不斷發現的方法就是，思考拖延某件事會對你的生活帶來多大的改變。

Tasks like saving for retirement for example can be so abstract, there's no immediate deadline, so you can always start tomorrow, and this is the mentality that lead you to procrastinate.

事情例如為了退休存錢太過抽象了，沒有立即的時限，你永遠可以明天再開始，因此心理上導致了你拖延。

Instead, make your tasks more concrete in your mind.

與其這樣，不如讓將你的任務在心中更具體化。

For example, a study in 2011 discovered that people given an illustration of how they might look at retirement age were more likely to say they would save money for retirement than people without an illustration.

好比說，一個 2011 年的研究表示，能夠描繪出自己退休時會過得如何的人，比起描繪不出來的人而言，更有可能為了退休存錢。

The image was something tangible, and therefore painted a more concrete picture of their inevitable future.

這樣子描繪出來是有形的，因此為他們無法避免的未來給出了更具體的想像。

So whatever the task, do your health a favor and do the work—right now!

所以不論這些事情為何，為了你的健康著想，現在就開始工作吧！

You might even enjoy that TV show even more once you get to it.

當你完成了這件事之後，你可能會更享受你的電視節目。