Last week we covered several techniques for improving your ability to focus on your work and resist distractions.

上禮拜我們談了很多增進工作專注力的技巧和避免分心的方法

This week we're digging into a related issue, which is in fact the most pernicious problem that perpetually plagues pupils… procrastination.

這週我們要探討一個相關因素，同時也是最致命的問題，不斷折磨著莘莘學子...也就是拖延

Nick, I still think that intro needs more alliteration. And cowbell.

Nick 我還是覺得那個前導要多些押韻。還有小鈴鐺

[Theme Music]

[主題音樂]

Before we dive into specific solutions, it's useful to know why we procrastinate.

在深入探究解決方案前，我們先來了解為什麼我們會拖延，這會對大家有些幫助

Now, we could go deep on the biological battle between your prefrontal cortex and your limbic system, or in a million other directions,

現在我們的確可以探究你的前額葉皮質和邊緣系統間的生理戰爭，或其它上百萬個研究方向

but since our focus is on solving the procrastination problem, one recent explanation that I find to be particularly useful is

但因為我們主要是想解決拖延的問題，最近我有找到一個很有用的解釋就是

Temporal Motivation Theory, which is laid out by Dr. Piers Steele in his book The Procrastination Equation.

時間動機論，由 Piers Steele 博士在他的著作拖延等式所提出

This theory suggests that a person's motivation to complete a task or assignment can be represented by – you guessed it – an equation.

這個理論指出人們想完成一份工作或指派任務的動機可以用－你猜得沒錯－一個等式來表達

And that equation is:

而這個等式如下：

Motivation = (Expectancy * Value) / (Impulsiveness * Delay)

動機 = (期望 x 價值) / (衝動 x 延遲)

Now, while I don't really think all the complexities of human behavior can be boiled down into a neat little equation,

現在，雖然我不覺得所有人類行為的複雜因子可以壓縮成一個簡潔的小等式

I do think that this Procrastination Equation is a useful mental model for pinpointing the specific causes of our procrastination.

我不認為這個拖延等式是能有效指出拖延的特定原因的心智模型

So let's go ahead and break it down.

所以我們進一步來把它拆解

Expectancy is a term that represents how strongly you believe that you're able to complete a task, and it has an inverse correlation with your procrastination.

期望代表你有多相信你可以完成一件工作，這和你拖延的可能性成負相關

If you feel competent at what you're doing, your expectancy will be high and that will increase your motivation to get to work.

如果你覺得自己很稱職，你的期望就會升高，也會增加更多完成工作的動力

If the task looks really difficult, though, expectancy will be low and you'll be more likely to procrastinate.

但如果你發現工作很困難，你的期望就會降低也更有可能會拖延

The other place where you'll find that inverse correlation is between procrastination and Value,

其他還有價值和拖延之間你也會發現成負相關

which includes the rewards you get for completing the task, as well as how pleasant – or unpleasant – the experience of actually doing it is.

這裡的價值包含完成工作後的獎勵、愉悅程度－或不愉悅程度－還有實際工作時的體驗

Impulsiveness is how susceptible you are to distractions and, well, impulses to do other things, and it's directly correlated with procrastination.

衝動是指你有多容易受到影響而分神，然後就一時衝動去做其他事情了，這和拖延有著直接的關聯性

The less able you are to resist that sudden desire to go check Twitter, the more you're going to put off working on that English paper.

你越不能抵抗去查看推特的瞬間欲望，你就越可能會推拖你英文論文的工作

And if you're thinking about going to check Twitter right now, remember:

要是你現在就想去看推特，請記得：

if you can resist that impulse, you'll actually be strengthening your brain's ability to focus.

如果你能抵抗這股衝動，你將會強化你頭腦的專注能力

So fight it, friend.

所以戰鬥吧，朋友

Finally, there's Delay, which is the amount of time between now and when you'll get the reward for completing the task.

最後一項是延遲，代表的是當下和完成工作後得到回饋之間的時間間隔

Let's go to the Thought Bubble.

我們來看看 Thought Bubble

The longer the delay is, the more you'll tend to procrastinate.

延遲越久，你就越可能會拖延

This happens because human beings naturally place far more value on the short-term rather than long-term rewards –

這個原因是，人類天生把短期報酬看得比長期報酬重

even if those long-term rewards are objectively greater.

即使那些長期報酬實際上更重要

For most of human history, this was a helpful bit of brain programming.

就大部分的人類歷史來說，這種腦部編程很有幫助

If you were a hunter-gatherer living in 10,000 BCE, you had no reason to care about the antelopes you were gonna hunt in 3 years –

如果你是一位活在西元前一萬年的狩獵採集者，你沒理由去在意三年後才要狩獵的羚羊

all that mattered was the one in front of you right now.

最重要的是你眼前這隻

But today, when your success in life depends more on studying for tests and remembering to put money in an IRA than on your antelope-hunting skills,

但今天，當你所謂的成功人生是建立在學習考試和儲蓄個人退休賬戶，而不是獵羚羊技巧時

your brain's hard-wired preference for short-term rewards becomes a hinderance.

你大腦這種重視短期報酬的機制反而成了阻力

It's the main reason why you consistently find yourself cramming for tests the night before;

這就是為什麼你總是發現你在考前一晚才死命啃書的原因

rationally, you know you should start studying a few weeks in advance, but most of your brain is like, “Eh, is that really necessary?”

這很合理，雖然你知道你早該在幾週前就開始念書，但你的腦卻常常說：「呃...有必要嗎？」

And to make matters worse, Delay is the hardest factor in the equation to control, since the time at which we'll get a task's reward is often set in stone.

而更糟的是，延遲是這個等式中最難控制改變的因子，因為我們什麼時候才會收到工作的報酬常常早已決定

This is especially true when you're in school, since almost everything has a due date.

若你還在學校就更明顯了，因為幾乎所有事都有設定好的期限

Thanks, Thought Bubble.

謝啦！ Thought Bubble

It's useful to simply be able to recognize that the delay between now and when you'll reap a task's reward matters a lot when it comes to your procrastination.

你的工作報酬延遲會影響到你拖延發生，光是有這點認知就很有用了

And, really, that's the value of the equation as a whole; it's a mental model that makes it easy to pinpoint why you're procrastinating.

而這也正是這整個等式的價值所在；這個心智模型可輕易地指出為什麼你在拖延

If it's because you feel like you're not skilled enough to actually complete the task, then you need to find a way to increase Expectancy.

如果是因為你覺得你能力不足以完成工作，那麼你需要找方法增加期望

Or, if you notice that your attention is constantly being pulled in other directions, then it's time to figure out how to decrease your Impulsiveness.

或者，如果你發覺你注意力一直被其他東西拉走，那麼就是時候減少你的衝動

So now let's go over some specific ideas for manipulating those three most malleable factors.

所以現在我們就來看些特別的點子來操控其它三個較易影響的因子

To raise Expectancy you can do several things.

要提升期望你可以試試以下方法

One of the most helpful is to break the task down into smaller sub-tasks.

其中一個最有用的方法就是把工作拆解成較小的幾個子任務

Doing this allows you to narrow your focus to something that's not nearly as daunting,

這麼做可以縮小你的專注範圍而不會那麼讓人挫折

and it also lets you more clearly define the specific actions you have to take.

也可以讓你更清楚明白現在該怎麼做

So if you're writing a paper, realize that “write a paper” is a project that can – and should – be broken down.

所以如果你在寫一篇論文，請記得「寫論文」是個專案，而且可以－也應該要－分成幾個細項

You've got the research phase, the rough draft phase – which you can break further down into sections, like the intro, arguments, and conclusion –

你可分成研究階段、草稿階段－也可再細分成幾個小節像是簡介、論點和結論－

and then you've got the editing phase.

之後是編輯階段

Once you've defined these actions and know what order to tackle them in, you'll have a much clearer vision of what should be done right now.

一旦你清楚定義這些步驟也知道處理的先後次序，你將能更清楚了解當下該做什麼

Plus, writing the rough draft of an intro paragraph is much easier than trying to write the entire paper all at once.

再加上，只草擬簡介的章節總比一次寫出整篇論文簡單多了

Another great way to raise Expectancy is to simply ask for help.

另一個提升期望的好方法就是直接尋求幫助

While being able to figure things out on your own is definitely a useful skill,

雖然能夠只靠自己就把事情搞明白絕對是很有用的能力

there comes a point when refusing to reach out to someone else only slows you down.

但有些時候拒絕和別人交流只會拖慢速度

So go to your teacher's office hours, or find a friend to form a study group with.

所以趁老師在辦公室的時去找他，或是找個朋友組成讀書會吧

Now when it comes to improving a task's Value, there are a few things you can do:

現在來談增加工作的價值，你可以這麼做：

1. Improve the actual reward for completing the task

1. 增加完成工作後的實際報酬

2. Improve the experience of doing the work itself

2. 改善做工作本身的體驗

3. Add additional rewards, or mini-rewards for completing sub-tasks

3. 替完成子任務增加額外的獎賞或是一點小獎勵

The best way to improve the first item on the list is to choose work that's more fulfilling to you.

其中要達成上面第一項所提最的好方法，是選擇讓你覺得愉快滿足的工作

Now, you have some amount of control over this when you're selecting your classes,

現在這部分你可有某種程度上的掌控，像是選擇要修的課

and as you move into your career and build up more experience, that amount of control will definitely increase.

而進社會工作和累積更多實務經驗後，你的安排掌控度會更高

However, when you're a student, there are still a ton of required classes and things that you just have to do.

然而，當你還是學生時，還是有一大堆必修課程和被迫要做的事得完成

And once you've started, it's pretty difficult to improve the actual reward – it's usually set in stone.

而一旦開始後，要增加實際報酬就困難了－通常早就定好了

If you finish a math assignment, you'll get the credit for it and you'll improve your math skills. Pretty simple.

如果你完成數學作業，你可取得它的學分也會增進你的數學能力

But you do have a lot of control over the other two items.

但你可以操控另外兩項

To make the experience of doing the work itself more pleasant, you could choose a study location that you enjoy being in –

為了讓完成任務本身的體驗更愉快，你可以選擇喜歡的學習地點

like a coffee shop or your favorite spot in the library.

像是咖啡廳或是你圖書館中最喜歡的點

You can also find a good study music playlist, work with a friend, or go for a quick walk beforehand to raise your energy levels before you start.

你也可以找個不錯的學習歌單、和朋友一起學習或是在開始前迅速散個步以提升你的活力

And additional rewards can further boost your motivation.

再增加一些額外回饋可以進一步增加你的動力

There are several ways to create these, including gamification, which is the idea of taking elements from games and applying them to your work.

這有蠻多方法辦到的，包括遊戲化，也就是在工作中應用遊戲的元素

One of my favorite ways to do this is with Habitica, an app that essentially turns productivity into a role-playing game.

我最喜歡的方法之一是應用 Habitica，這個應用程式把生產力本質上變成了角色扮演遊戲

Habitica takes all the elements that make RPGs like Pokemon and Final Fantasy so addicting

Habitica 取材了各種讓角色扮演遊戲中令人上癮的元素，像是寶可夢和最終幻想

– leveling up, experience points, gear – and it applies them to real life.

－升級、經驗值、裝備－再應用這些到現實生活中

I use Habitica as a tool for sticking to my morning routine and making sure I work out enough,

我使用 Habitica 來維持我的早上例行常規還有確保我有充足的重量訓練

but there's also a to-do list function, which you can use for individual assignments and tasks.

也還有待辦事項清單的作用，可以應用在獨立的作業或工作

Now, if you don't want to do that, you can keep things simpler by just setting up small rewards for finishing sub-tasks –

現在如果你不想用這個，你也可以簡單設些完成子任務後的獎勵

like letting yourself watch a movie or go out with friends after you finish taking notes on a couple of sources for that research paper you're working on.

像是讓你自己看場電影，或是在完成一些研究相關資料的筆記後和朋友出去玩

And it's here that I want to talk about the concept of low-density fun vs. high-density fun.

而在這邊我想談一下低密度娛樂和高密度娛樂

See, a lot of students feel like they have too much work to ever let themselves do anything fun that takes a significant amount of time.

你知道，很多學生覺得他們有太多事情要做了，所以沒辦法從事較花時間的娛樂活動

Maybe you've had these kinds of thoughts yourself, as well.

也許你有時候也會這麼想

You think, “Man, I'd really love to play Horizon Zero Dawn right now, but I should really use that time to study.”

你會想：「夥計，我現在真的很想玩地平線期待黎明，但我確實該好好利用這些時間念書」

The irony is that these same students who are constantly denying themselves that high-density fun

諷刺的是這同一群不斷抗拒高密度娛樂的學生

are also spending a lot of time checking Facebook, or picking new outfits for their Bitmoji avatars, or browsing dank memes.

也同時花大把的時間在看臉書，或挑 Bitmoji 虛擬角色外觀，或是看梗圖

These things represent low-density fun; they're more attractive than doing work, and it's easy to convince yourself that you're only gonna do them for 5 minutes.

這些事情就是代表低密度娛樂；它們比起工作更有吸引力，也很容易說服自己只會花五分鐘在上面

But inevitably you do end up spending a ton of time on them –

但是無可避免地，到頭來還是花了一大堆時間在上面－

after all, these websites and apps are literally designed from the ground up to be as addictive as possible – and what's worse, they're not actually fun.

畢竟，這些網頁和應用程式打從根本就是設計來讓你上癮的－更糟的是，他們其實不怎麼有趣

They're just distractions.

它們只是用來讓你分心的

And if you waste all your time on them, you leave no time for actual, high-density fun that can act as a true motivator for finishing your work.

而如果你浪費了你所有的時間在上頭，你就沒有時間去做實在的、高密度娛樂，也就是真的讓你有動力去完成工作的娛樂

So the counterintuitive tip here is that you NEED to let yourself have this high-density fun.

所以這個反直覺的技巧就是，你「需要」讓你自己有高密度娛樂

Give yourself two hours tonight to play that new video game.

讓你自己今晚有兩小時打新電玩

Or join that offroad dirtboarding club you've had your eye on.

或是加入那個你已經觀望很久的越野滑板社

When you allow yourself to do these things, you create anticipation that can be used as focusing energy for your work.

當你讓你自己去從事這類活動，你對這些高密度娛樂的期待會成為能源，使你能專注在工作上

And that brings us to Impulsiveness.

接著就輪到了衝動

Now, to be honest, last week's video on Focus and Concentration provided most of the in-depth tips you're gonna need to reducing your tendency to give into distractions.

現在我得老實說，上禮拜的關於計畫和組織的影片已經提供了大部分你所需的詳細要訣，減少你分心的可能性

So today I'm just gonna reiterate that your environment really matters.

所以今天我要重申就是，你的環境真的很重要

If you're studying in a place where you have access to distractions, your attention is more likely to be pulled away by them.

如果你在一個容易分心的環境學習，你的注意力就更可能被拉走

So find a dedicated study spot away from friends and away from video games.

所以請找一個可遠離朋友和電玩的專門學習地點

Sometimes, you might even need to lock that environment down a bit.

有時候，你甚至需要把環境隔離封鎖

In fact, when I was writing the script for this very video, I used a program called Cold Turkey to literally block most of the websites I usually visit.

事實上，當我在寫這部影片的稿時，我使用了一個叫 Cold Turkey 的程式來確實阻隔大部分我平時會瀏覽的網頁

One thing that the Procrastination Equation doesn't cover is the role that willpower plays in procrastination.

有件事那個拖延等式裡沒有提到，就是意志力在拖延中扮演的角色

Now, for a long time, it was believed that willpower was a limited resource –

長久以來，我們都相信意志力是有限資源

and that it drained throughout the day as you made decisions that deviated from the path of least resistance.

而一天中當你做了違背最低阻力途徑的決定，意志力就會流失

This phenomenon was called ego depletion.

這個現象叫做自我耗損

During the past couple of years, though, the ego depletion theory been challenged by some conflicting research,

然而在過去幾年，自我耗損理論一直被一些與之衝突的研究所挑戰

so it's tough to say whether or not willpower itself really is this limited pool that you draw from throughout the day.

所以很難下定論意志力本身是否真的像個有限的水池，在一天中漸漸流逝

Ego depletion controversy aside, though, your body – and, by extension, your brain – runs on a cycle of work and rest.

自我耗損的爭議先放一邊，你的身體－及進一步延伸，你的腦－是靠工作與休息的循環運作的

There's only so much you can do in a day before you exhaust your mental resources.

你每天在意識感到筋疲力盡前就只能做這麼多事

Plus, when you put off a challenging assignment in favor of doing a bunch of easy work first,

加上，當你推託掉有挑戰性的作業，只想先做那堆簡單的工作

it becomes really easy to convince yourself that you've “done enough” for the day once that easy work is done.

把簡單的事情完成後，你會很容易說服你自己，今天已經「做夠了」

That's why one of the best ways to beat procrastination is to just knuckle down and do the most difficult, unpleasant thing on your to-do list first.

這就是為什麼對付拖延其中一個最好的辦法，就是從待辦事項中最困難、最討厭的工作開始咬緊牙關努力做

This is often called “eating the frog” – and as Mark Twain once said:

這個通常稱作「吃青蛙」－就像馬克吐溫說的：

"If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning.

「如果你的工作吃一隻青蛙，最好早上第一件事就這麼辦

And If it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first."

而要是你的工作是吃兩隻青蛙，最好從比較大的那隻開始吃」

Now, I'd prefer not to eat any frogs whatsoever.

但現在，不管怎麼說我都不想吃青蛙

I'd much rather eat a tomato, which in Italian would be called a “pomodoro” –

我情願吃番茄，在義大利文叫做 pomodoro

and that happens to be the name of the final technique we're going to discuss today.

而這碰巧是我們要講的最後一個技巧的名子

The Pomodoro Technique is a simple little hack you can use to stop procrastinating, and all it requires is a timer and a little piece of paper.

Pomodoro 技巧是個用來避免拖延的簡單小祕訣，而它所需的只是一個計時器和一張紙

To use it, first decide on one singular task you're going to work on.

要使用這個技巧，先決定一個要做的工作

Then, set your timer for 25 minutes, and work as hard as you can on that task during that time.

接著，把計時器設定二十五分鐘倒數，然後在時間內盡你所能的努力工作

If a distraction comes up, or if you get the impulse to do something else, write it down on the piece of paper and then get back to work.

如果發生了讓你分心的事情，或是你有想去做其它事的衝動，就先寫在紙上，繼續工作

Finally, once the timer goes off, take a 5 minute break and then repeat the process until you're ready for a longer break.

最終，只要計時器一響，休息五分鐘然後重複這個過程，直到你打算要休息久一點為止

This method works so well because the timer helps you to reframe your task as input-based rather than output-based.

這個方法運作得非常好，因為計時器會幫助你把工作從輸出型改造成接收型

Instead of feeling like you need to finish an entire math assignment or that rough draft of your paper, you know you just need to work for 25 minutes.

你知道你只需要工作二十五分鐘，而不會覺得像要完成整份數學作業或是論文草稿

This act of reframing cuts down on the initial resistance you feel towards the task, since 25 minutes of work doesn't feel like a huge investment of effort.

這個改變減少了你對工作的初始阻力，因為工作二十五分鐘並不像是投入一個大工程

Additionally, the timer creates an external motivator.

此外，計時器創造了一個外在動機

Instead of relying on your brain to keep track of how long you should work, you let the timer do it for you.

有了計時器幫忙，你不用再靠你的腦袋去煩惱應該工作多久

It's the next best thing to having a coach or drill instructor there to keep you on task

這和一個教練或教官再旁邊監督你差不多

– and for that reason, you need to make sure you actually use a timer –

－為了達到目的，你要確保有好好使用計時器－

or at least a timer app, like tomato timer.com, or Tide on iOS and Android.

或至少用一個計時應用程式，像是 tomato-timer.com 或是 iOS 和 Android 上的 Tide 應用程式

Now there are definitely more techniques for beating procrastination that we could talk about,

目前一定還有更多我們可以說的技巧讓你戰勝拖延

but there comes a point where talking about productivity becomes a form of procrastination itself.

但一直講生產力到現在都差不多快變成拖延的藉口了

So now it's time to take what you've learned from this video, apply it, and get to work. Good luck.

所以是時候帶著你從這段影片所學去應用，然後開始動工啦，祝好運

Crash Course Study Skills is filmed in the Dr. Cheryl C. Kinney Crash Course Studio in Missoula, MT, and it's made with the help of all of these nice people.

學習技巧速成班是由 Cheryl C 博士和蒙大拿州米蘇拉市的 Kinney 速成班工作室以及這幾位大好人的協助所拍攝而成

If you'd like to keep Crash Course free for everyone, forever, you can support the series at Patreon,

如果你願意幫助速成班系列影片永久免費提供大家學習，你可以到 Patreon 平台上贊助

a crowdfunding platform that allows you to support the content that you love.

它是是一個募資平台，讓你可以支持你喜愛的內容

Thank you so much for your support.

非常感謝你的支持