Name: 你也是那個遲到大王嗎？！為什麼有些人總是遲到？(Why some people are always late - BBC REEL)
Uploaded: 2022-06-22T21:01:20.000Z
Duration: 6 min 31 s

I'm someone with a slightly annoying tendency to be late.

Well, slightly annoying for me, very annoying for everybody else.

這對我造成一些困擾，但對其他人來說卻是很大的困擾。

In fact, this video was supposed to come out in January. Yeah.

其實這部片原本是要在一月上架的。

But I'm not alone in being punctually challenged.

但是我不是唯一一個被截止日逼著跑的。

A 2014 YouGov survey found that one in five Americans are late to work at least once a week.

2014 年有個研究發現，有五分之一的美國人至少一個禮拜會遲到一次。

Well, actually, us Millennials are worst at it.

其實我們千禧世代的人最會遲到。

Are some of us just more hardwired to be late than others?

難道有些人就是天生比其他人愛遲到嗎？

This is something author Grace Pacie decided to look into to try and understand her own struggle with punctuality.

作家 Grace Pacie 決定要來探討這問題，並理解她自己為何常常受準時這件事所苦。

In terms of personalities, it's a bell curve.

人的個性可以用一個鐘型曲線圖表示。

At one end of the scale, that are people I call "timekeepers" who are anxious to be early, and at the other end of the scale, I call us "timebenders".

其中一端的人我稱之為「守時人」，他們會積極的想要早到，另一端的人我稱為「時間扭曲人」。

時間扭曲人不喜歡一成不變的事物。

We don't like tasks that are familiar, we get bored pretty easily.

不喜歡熟悉的事物，而且很快就會感到厭倦。

We can focus really well when we're interested in something, and if time is tight, we can work really effectively.

我們對感興趣的東西全神貫注，如果時間緊迫，我們可以很有效率的完成。

If you wanted to walk into an office and pick the timebenders, they are the ones with the messy desks because they don't finish one thing before starting another.

如果你走進一間辦公室然後看一下時間扭曲人，他們的桌上通常都很亂，因為他們一件事情還沒處理好，就急著做下一件事。

Okay, [I'm] not gonna lie, that does sound a lot like me.

And quite a lot of this seems to be baked into our personality.

這好像是我們的個性天生使然。

So, are there particular personality traits that might be leading us to be more regularly late?

所以，有一些人格特質導致我們常常遲到嗎？

When it comes to lateness, one of their major personality traits is conscientiousness.

一談到遲到，其中一個主要的人格特質就是盡責。

Now, conscientiousness is one of the big five personality traits, along with things like agreeableness and extroversion, so it's really important.

盡責是五大人格特質的其中一種，還有其他像是迎合或是外向的個性，所以盡責很重要。

You can measure it by asking people questions about, kind of, how... how tidy they are, how organized they are.

你可以靠一些問題評斷一個人是否盡責，例如他們多愛乾淨、多整潔。

One of the questions does concern whether they're punctual, you know, all of these things about whether you are a, kind of, very ordered person.

其中一個困擾他們的問題就是準時，問題通常都是關於他們是不是非常有條理的人。

All right, so, perhaps I'm just not a very conscientious person, but I can't help but feel maybe there's more going on in my head with the way that I'm able to keep track of time.

或許我不是一個很盡責的人，但我還是會不禁覺得，或許是我腦袋讓我無法追蹤時間。

Grace Pacie thinks that those of us who are timebenders experience time in a different way to others.

Grace Pacie 認為時間扭曲人對時間的概念和其他人不同。

We have a different perception of time to most people.

我們對時間的感知和大眾不同。

Every minute isn't the same length for us; time can speed up and slow down.

每一分鐘對我們來說都不一樣長，時間可以快也可以慢。

We can get deeply engrossed in something and not be aware of time at all.

我們可以專注在一件事情上面，然後完全忘記時間。

On the other hand, if we have a deadline, we can work really effectively.

另一方面，如果我們有截止日逼迫的話，通常工作效率會很好。

Interestingly, a 2016 study by Washington University psychologists found something similar.

有趣的是，2016 年華盛頓大學心理系的一項研究找到類似的成果。

They looked into our ability to mentally measure time, which they described as our "time-based prospective memory".

研究探討我們心裡如何測量時間，他們將之稱為「以時間為基礎的潛在記憶」。

In an experiment, the subjects had a set time to complete a task and even had a clock they were allowed to check.

一項實驗裡面，受試者在一段時間內完成任務，而且可以看時間。

However, the tasks were designed to be engrossing, to distract people from clock watching.

但是這任務原本就是設計要讓這些人專心，忘記去看時間。

Some people were naturally better at estimating the passing of time and using those memories to effectively plan in the future.

有些人天生就比較會計算時間的流逝，然後用這些記憶來幫助他們做未來規劃。

What frustrates me, though, is that I'm not late for everything.

令我沮喪的是，我不是做任何事都會拖拖拉拉。

I never miss planes, I'm pretty good with trains.

But getting my daughter to nursery on time each day or turning up on time for social gatherings is always a struggle.

但是準時送女兒去幼兒園，或準時參加社交聚會，對我來說就很困難。

One of the most revealing things that came out of my research was that we're not late for everything.

研究顯示一項最驚人的結果，就是我們不是做任何事都會拖延。

一件事情越重要，我們就越會準時完成。

And what that means to us is that there are consequences for our being late.

也就是說，如果遲到，我們就要承擔後果。

The times when we slip into our worst timebending are when there are no firm deadlines and no consequences, and that tends to be for social events.

我們通常在沒有截止日或沒有嚴重後果的情況下會遲到，尤其是社交場合。

So, when we say, "I can be on time when it matters", we can be very hurtful to the people in our lives who matter because they are the ones that see us as always being late.

所以，當我們說「如果事情很重要我就會準時出席」，這對那些生命重要的人來說是很傷心的，因為他們是總是看到我們遲到的人。

I think it's really helpful to recognize the power of deadlines and how important it is that they are real, external, and have consequences.

我覺得開始認真看待截止日，然後知道他們是會造成嚴重後果的外在因素，這件事是很重要的。

Just asking for a deadline or even suggesting a deadline puts it out there in the real world, and, therefore, we take it seriously.

做事情都詢問一下截止日，或是要求給一個截止日，這樣我們才會認真看待這件事情。

We cannot pluck a deadline from the air and work to it; it has to have consequences.

我們不能做事情都照著自己憑空訂出的截止日，這些截止日會造成嚴重後果。

As it's our friends who often feel the full force of our lateness, most friendship groups usually have that person who is known as being "the late one".

就像我們的遲到總是會對朋友造成影響，每個人的朋友圈中一定都會有一個「遲到大王」。

If yours doesn't, then it's probably you.

如果你沒有發現，那可能你自己就是那個遲到大王。

However, these social expectations can make the problem worse.

但是，這些社會的期許可能會讓問題變得更糟。

If you know people are expecting you to be late, it's more likely that you will be.

如果大家都認為你會遲到，那就你真的可能會遲到。

One problem with people who might be known for being late is that they just assume that's something that's so much a part of their genes and their makeup that they don't even try to, kind of, correct the behavior.

遲到大王的問題就出自於，他們覺得遲到是組成他們基因的一部分，所以不會去修正自己的行為。

So, it's really, in this way, that our, kind of, beliefs about ourselves can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

這麼一來，我們的自我認知某種程度上就會自我實現。

And that can actually be quite self-sabotaging when, with a bit of effort, we might be able to change.

這可以導致自我毀滅，但其實只要稍微付出一點努力，我們是有辦法改變現況的。

And it's that idea that we can choose to change our personality, that our personality traits aren't set in stone, destined from birth, but, rather, can be malleable.

重點就是要抱持著一種我們個性是可以改變的想法，個性不是固定或是出生就決定了，其實是可以有可塑性的。

That's one of the most exciting recent developments in psychology.

這也是近期心理學界一個令人興奮的發展之一。

For example, some studies have shown that I could train myself to be more conscientious.

比方說，有些研究顯示我可以訓練自己變成一個責任心的人。

These studies have tended to last, you know, a few weeks to a few months.

而且通常可以維持好幾週或甚至好幾個月

They try to get the participants to just do things like form a detailed schedule for each day to, kind of, you know, set aside a time to, kind of, organize their desk if that's messy, their room, if that's messy.

研究人員讓受試者每天訂出截止日，空出一段時間處理事情，或是開始整理他們亂七八糟的房間。

You know, all of these things that we know that people with natural, high-trait conscientiousness do, and they might lack.

這些都是有高責任心的人會做的事情，但是在某些受試著身上可能一開始看不到。

And what happens is that just by practicing those things and, kind of, being a bit more conscious about when you do them, it just forms these kinds of mental habits, it just helps to, kind of, retrain the brain a little bit.

結果顯示，當他們開始練習這些事情，並意識到自己做的事情，就會形成一種習慣，然後重新訓練他們的大腦。

So, being a "timebender" is, to some degree, part of our personality, and some of us might be better at mentally keeping track of time than others.

時間扭曲的人某種程度上是因為我們個性使然，我們有些人可能比別人更擅長追蹤紀錄時間。

However, that doesn't mean that we have to accept that we will forever be "the late one".

但是，這也不代表我們就得永遠當那個遲到大王。

By setting ourselves meaningful deadlines with consequences and by retraining certain behaviors, we can alter our personality and, hopefully, improve our punctuality.

建立有效且有意義的截止日，然後重新改變自己的一些行為，我們可以改變個性，而且有機會的話，我們會變得更準時。