TED演讲-拖延症人群的内心世界

Preface

这篇演讲带我们走进内心世界，了解拖延的本质，并提供方法来克服它。

Content

the procrastinator’s brain also has an Instant Gratification Monkey. He lives entirely in the present moment.

拖延症者大脑里有一只即时满足的猴子。他完全活在当下。

He has no memory of the past, no knowledge of the future, and he only cares about two things: easy and fun.

他没有过去的记忆，没有对未来的了解，他只关心两件事：简单和快乐。

---

Original

A couple of years ago, I decided to write about procrastination.
几年前，我决定写一篇关于拖延症的文章。

My behavior has always perplexed the non-procrastinators around me,
我的拖延行为总是让我身边那些不拖延的人感到困惑，
and I wanted to explain to the non-procrastinators of the world what goes on in the heads of procrastinators, and why we are the way we are.
所以我想向不拖延的人解释一下拖延者脑袋里到底是怎么想的，还有为什么我们这些拖延者会这样。

Now, I had a hypothesis that the brains of procrastinators were actually different than the brains of other people.
我的假设是拖延者的大脑和不拖延者的大脑是不同的。

And to test this, I found an MRI lab that actually let me scan both my brain and the brain of a proven non-procrastinator, so I could compare them.
为了证明这一点，我找到一个核磁共振实验室让我可以扫描自己的大脑和一个经证实不是拖延者的大脑，然后我就可以对比这两种大脑。

I actually brought them here to show you today.
今天我把它们都带来了。

I want you to take a look carefully to see if you can notice a difference.
我希望大家能认真比较这二者之间是否有什么差别。

I know that if you're not a trained brain expert, it's not that obvious, but just take a look, OK?
我知道大家不是受过训练的脑科专家，看起来可能不明显，但是让我们来看一下，好吗？
So here's the brain of a non-procrastinator.
这是一个不拖延者的大脑。

Now ...
现在...
here's my brain.
这是我的大脑。

There is a difference.
这二者之间有一个区别。

Both brains have a Rational Decision-Maker in them, but the procrastinator's brain also has an Instant Gratification Monkey.
两种大脑里头都有一个理性的决策制定者，但是拖延者的大脑里，还有一只叫即时满足的猴子。

Now, what does this mean for the procrastinator?
那么，这对拖延症患者意味着什么呢？
Well, it means everything's fine until this happens.
它意味着在这件事发生之前一切都挺好的。

So the Rational Decision-Maker will make the rational decision to do something productive, but the Monkey doesn't like that plan,
于是当理性的决策制定者做出理性的决策，想做一些富有成效的事时，猴子不想这么做，
so he actually takes the wheel, and he says, "Actually, let's read the entire Wikipedia page of the Nancy Kerrigan/ Tonya Harding scandal,
而且他说：“实际上，让我们来读一下维基百科上关于南茜·克里根或者汤妮·雅哈丁的丑闻案吧，
because I just remembered that that happened."
因为我刚想起来那件事。
”
Then --
然后--
Then we're going to go over to the fridge, to see if there's anything new in there since 10 minutes ago.
然后让我们走到冰箱，翻翻看这10分钟以来有没什么新东西。

After that, we're going to go on a YouTube spiral that starts with videos of Richard Feynman talking about magnets and ends much,
之后，让我们继续在视频网站上浏览，从理查德·费曼谈磁性的视频开始看，
much later with us watching interviews with Justin Bieber's mom.
一直看到对贾斯汀·比伯老妈的采访看到地老天荒。

"All of that's going to take a while, so we're not going to really have room on the schedule for any work today.
“这一切都花时间，所以我们今天的日程安排没办法抽空干活。

Sorry!"
对不起！”
Now, what is going on here?
这是怎么回事？

The Instant Gratification Monkey does not seem like a guy you want behind the wheel.
即时满足猴子似乎不是那个你想让他操控方向盘的人。


He lives entirely in the present moment.
他完全活在当下。


He has no memory of the past, no knowledge of the future, and he only cares about two things: easy and fun.
他没有过去的记忆，没有对未来的了解，他只关心两件事：简单和快乐。


Now, in the animal world, that works fine.
在动物世界里，这样没问题。


If you're a dog and you spend your whole life doing nothing other than easy and fun things, you're a huge success!
如果你是一条狗，你简单、快乐地度过这一生，就已经是巨大的成功！

And to the Monkey, humans are just another animal species.
而对于猴子来说，人类是另外一种动物。


You have to keep well-slept, well-fed and propagating into the next generation, which in tribal times might have worked OK.
你睡好、吃饱、繁殖下一代，这么做在部落时代或许没问题。


But, if you haven't noticed, now we're not in tribal times.
但是，假如你还没注意到，我们现在不是生活在部落时代。


We're in an advanced civilization, and the Monkey does not know what that is.
我们处于一个先进的文明，而猴子根本不懂那是什么。


Which is why we have another guy in our brain, the Rational Decision-Maker, who gives us the ability to do things no other animal can do.
这就是为什么我们脑袋里还有另外一个家伙，理性的决策制定者，他让我们有能力去做其他动物无法做到的事情。


We can visualize the future.
我们可以预见未来。


We can see the big picture.
我们可以顾全大局。


We can make long-term plans.
我们可以做长期打算。


And he wants to take all of that into account.
而且他想把这些都考虑进去。


And he wants to just have us do whatever makes sense to be doing right now.
他想让我们做任何值得现在去做的事儿。


Now, sometimes it makes sense to be doing things that are easy and fun,
有时做简单快乐的事是有意义的，

like when you're having dinner or going to bed or enjoying well-earned leisure time.
比如吃饭、睡觉或者享受应得的休闲时光。


That's why there's an overlap.
这就是为什么即时满足猴子和理性的决策制定者之间有重合。


Sometimes they agree.
有时他们意见一致。


But other times, it makes much more sense to be doing things that are harder and less pleasant, for the sake of the big picture.
但是有时，更有意义的是去做那些比较难而且不那么让人享受的事情，这是出于全局的考虑。


And that's when we have a conflict.
此时二者之间会产生冲突。


And for the procrastinator, that conflict tends to end a certain way every time, leaving him spending a lot of time in this orange zone,
对于拖延者来说，每次冲突都以这种方式结束，就是他在橙色区域花费了大量时间，

an easy and fun place that's entirely out of the Makes Sense circle.
这是那个简单又快乐，但是又没有意义的那个区域。


I call it the Dark Playground.
我把这片区域称为黑暗的操场。


Now, the Dark Playground is a place that all of you procrastinators out there know very well.
黑暗的操场是一个所有拖延者都很了解的地方。


It's where leisure activities happen at times when leisure activities are not supposed to be happening.
这里是在本来不应该休闲的时候的休闲娱乐的活动场所。


The fun you have in the Dark Playground isn't actually fun, because it's completely unearned,
在黑暗的操场得到的快乐其实并不是快乐，因为它完全是不劳而获的，

and the air is filled with guilt, dread, anxiety, self-hatred -- all of those good procrastinator feelings.
这会带来内疚、恐惧、焦虑、自我憎恨这是所有拖延者的感受。


And the question is, in this situation, with the Monkey behind the wheel,
而且问题是，在这种情况下，由猴子掌控着方向盘，

how does the procrastinator ever get himself over here to this blue zone, a less pleasant place, but where really important things happen?
怎么能让拖延者把自己带去蓝色区域那边呢，那边虽然没那么舒适，但是有很多重要的事情要做。


Well, turns out the procrastinator has a guardian angel,
其实拖延者有个守护天使，

someone who's always looking down on him and watching over him in his darkest moments -- someone called the Panic Monster.
总是看不起他并且看守着他，在那些最黑暗的时刻它被称为恐慌怪兽。


Now, the Panic Monster is dormant most of the time,
恐慌怪兽大部分时间都在冬眠，

but he suddenly wakes up anytime a deadline gets too close or there's danger of public embarrassment,
但是截止期很靠近的时候或者处于在公众面前出丑的危险中时，

a career disaster or some other scary consequence.
或面临事业灾难时，或有其他可怕的后果时，它就会突然醒来。


And importantly, he's the only thing the Monkey is terrified of.
而且重要的是，他是猴子唯一害怕的东西。


Now, he became very relevant in my life pretty recently,
最近在我的生活里，恐慌怪兽变得相当重要，

because the people of TED reached out to me about six months ago and invited me to do a TED Talk.
因为TED的工作人员6个月之前联络过我，邀请我做一次演讲。


Now, of course, I said yes.
当然，我答应啦。


It's always been a dream of mine to have done a TED Talk in the past.
我以前一直梦想着可以做一次TED演讲。


But in the middle of all this excitement, the Rational Decision-Maker seemed to have something else on his mind.
但是在这种兴奋中，理性的决策制定者似乎在想别的事。


He was saying, "Are we clear on what we just accepted?
他会说：“我们清楚刚才答应了什么吗？

Do we get what's going to be now happening one day in the future?
我们现在具有完成将来那个任务所需的能力吗？

We need to sit down and work on this right now."
我们得坐下来开始干活。
”

And the Monkey said, "Totally agree, but let's just open Google Earth and zoom in to the bottom of India, like 200 feet above the ground,
猴子说：“完全同意，但是让我们打开谷歌地球，把镜头推进到印度地下200尺，

and scroll up for two and a half hours til we get to the top of the country, so we can get a better feel for India."
然后花两个半小时向上滚动到这个国家的地表，让我们更好地感受一下印度。
”

So that's what we did that day.
那天我就是这么做的。


As six months turned into four and then two and then one, the people of TED decided to release the speakers.
当6个月变成4个月，然后2个月，然后1个月时，TED工作人员开始发布演讲者。


And I opened up the website, and there was my face staring right back at me.
我打开网站看到自己的脸盯着自己看。


And guess who woke up?
你猜这个时候谁醒了？

So the Panic Monster starts losing his mind, and a few seconds later, the whole system's in mayhem.
于是恐慌怪兽开始发疯，几秒钟之后，整个系统一片混乱。


And the Monkey -- remember, he's terrified of the Panic Monster -- boom, he's up the tree!
而猴子，还记得吗？他害怕恐慌怪兽嘣的一声，他爬到树上去了！

And finally, finally, the Rational Decision-Maker can take the wheel and I can start working on the talk.
于是终于，理性的决策制定者终于可以操控方向盘，我可以开始准备这次演讲。


Now, the Panic Monster explains all kinds of pretty insane procrastinator behavior,
现在，恐慌怪兽解释了各种疯狂的拖延者行为，

like how someone like me could spend two weeks unable to start the opening sentence of a paper,
就比如我这样的人花了两个星期还没办法开始写论文的开头语，

and then miraculously find the unbelievable work ethic to stay up all night and write eight pages.
然后奇迹般地又拥有了令人难以置信的工作热情整晚熬夜写了8页。


And this entire situation, with the three characters -- this is the procrastinator's system.
整个情况中的三种角色构建了拖延者的系统。


It's not pretty, but in the end, it works.
不美好，但是至少还有用。


This is what I decided to write about on the blog a couple of years ago.
这是我几年前决定在博客写的东西。


When I did, I was amazed by the response.
发布之后，收到的回应让我大吃一惊。


Literally thousands of emails came in, from all different kinds of people from all over the world, doing all different kinds of things.
我收到几千封邮件，来自世界各地不同地方的人，他们做着各种不同的事儿。


These are people who were nurses, bankers, painters, engineers and lots and lots of PhD students.
有护士、银行家、画家、工程师还有很多很多博士生。


And they were all writing, saying the same thing: "I have this problem too."
内容基本上差不多：“我也有这个问题。
”

But what struck me was the contrast between the light tone of the post and the heaviness of these emails.
但是让我印象深刻的是那种反差，帖子的轻松口吻和那些邮件的沉重语气的反差。


These people were writing with intense frustration about what procrastination had done to their lives, about what this Monkey had done to them.
这些人有强烈的挫败感因为拖延影响到他们的生活，因为猴子控制了他们的想法。


And I thought about this, and I said, well, if the procrastinator's system works, then what's going on?
思考之后，我的问题是如果拖延者的系统是有效的，那么到底是怎么回事？

Why are all of these people in such a dark place?
为什么这些人身陷如此灰暗的境地？

Well, it turns out that there's two kinds of procrastination.
结果我发现原来有两种拖延。


Everything I've talked about today, the examples I've given, they all have deadlines.
我今天谈到的，上面举过的例子都有截止期。


And when there's deadlines, the effects of procrastination are contained to the short term because the Panic Monster gets involved.
有截止期的时候，拖延的影响被限制在一个较短的期限内，因为恐慌怪兽会介入。


But there's a second kind of procrastination that happens in situations when there is no deadline.
但是对于第二种拖延来说，它发生在没有截止期的情况下。


So if you wanted a career where you're a self-starter -- something in the arts,
比如你想自己创业或者从事艺术类的工作，

something entrepreneurial -- there's no deadlines on those things at first,
起初并没有截止期，

because nothing's happening, not until you've gone out and done the hard work to get momentum, get things going.
因为在你还没有开始努力干活之前。
不会有任何事情发生，产生不了推进力让事情继续进行。


There's also all kinds of important things outside of your career that don't involve any deadlines,
除了事业之外那些重要的事情也没有截止期，

like seeing your family or exercising and taking care of your health,
比如看望你的家庭，或者锻炼身体保持身体健康，

working on your relationship or getting out of a relationship that isn't working.
努力改善恋人关系或者离开一段不满意的关系。


Now if the procrastinator's only mechanism of doing these hard things is the Panic Monster, that's a problem,
如果拖延者做这些困难的事只有一种机制即恐慌怪兽，那么问题来了，

because in all of these non-deadline situations, the Panic Monster doesn't show up.
因为在这些没有截止期的情况下，恐慌怪兽根本不会出现。


He has nothing to wake up for, so the effects of procrastination, they're not contained; they just extend outward forever.
他没有需要醒来的时候，于是拖延的后果是不受限制的，他们只会无限延期。


And it's this long-term kind of procrastination that's much less visible and much less talked about than the funnier, short-term deadline-based kind.
而这种长期的拖延比起更有趣、更短期、基于截止期的那种拖延来说，不那么明显，也不经常被谈论。


It's usually suffered quietly and privately.
它通常是安静地、悄悄地影响我们。


And it can be the source of a huge amount of long-term unhappiness, and regrets.
它可能是大量长期不快乐、内疚的来源。


And I thought, that's why those people are emailing, and that's why they're in such a bad place.
我觉得，这才是那些人发来邮件的原因，这才是他们处于如此糟糕状况的原因。


It's not that they're cramming for some project.
不是因为他们为了某个项目狂赶，

It's that long-term procrastination has made them feel like a spectator, at times, in their own lives.
而是这种长期拖延使他们感觉在他们自己的生活中有时好像只是一个旁观者。


The frustration is not that they couldn't achieve their dreams; it's that they weren't even able to start chasing them.
他们的沮丧不是因为他们无法实现自己的梦想；而是他们甚至无法开始去追逐自己的梦想。


So I read these emails and I had a little bit of an epiphany -- that I don't think non-procrastinators exist.
所以读完这些邮件之后，我有一点领悟：我认为不存在不拖延的人。


That's right -- I think all of you are procrastinators.
没错，我认为大家都是拖延者。


Now, you might not all be a mess, like some of us,
现在，你们可能不会像我们中的一些人一样一团糟，

and some of you may have a healthy relationship with deadlines, but remember: the Monkey's sneakiest trick is when the deadlines aren't there.
也许有些人可以很好的面对截止日期，但是请记住：猴子最卑鄙的伎俩在于没有截止日期的部分。


Now, I want to show you one last thing.
现在我想给大家最后看一样东西。


I call this a Life Calendar.
我把它叫做生命日历。


That's one box for every week of a 90-year life.
假设一个人可以活到90岁，每个星期是一个格子。


That's not that many boxes, especially since we've already used a bunch of those.
其实没多少格子，尤其是我们已经活了这么多年。


So I think we need to all take a long, hard look at that calendar.
我认为我们都需要花些时间，认真看一下这个生命日历。


We need to think about what we're really procrastinating on, because everyone is procrastinating on something in life.
我们需要认真思考我们真正拖延的是什么，因为每个人都在拖延某件事。


We need to stay aware of the Instant Gratification Monkey.
我们得时刻意识到即时满足这个猴子的存在。


That's a job for all of us.
这是我们所有人都应该做的事儿。

And because there's not that many boxes on there, it's a job that should probably start today.
而且因为格子并不多，这项工作也许应该从今天就开始。


Well, maybe not today, but ... You know.
好吧，也许不是今天，但是……你知道的。

Sometime soon.
反正是不久的将来。

Thank you.
谢谢。