拖延症

Hi everyone, welcome to a new episode of Simply Natural Chinese! I'm Tian Tian!

Hi everyone, I'm A-Jie.

A-Jie, let me tell you, I stayed up late again last night.

What happened? Did you go out again?

No! I was rushing to finish my homework. The teacher actually assigned it two weeks ago.

Two weeks... so why didn't you start it until last night?

Because I kept putting it off until the very last day! Haha, I think I have a procrastination problem.

Haha, I know that feeling so well. Honestly, I'm the same.

Really? You don't look like someone who procrastinates.

You can't tell from the outside, but when it comes to putting things off, I'm worse than anyone.

Wow, then today let's have a good chat about procrastination!

Sure, this topic is perfect for the two of us.

Let me start with myself. My worst case is writing papers.

Papers are probably you students' biggest enemy.

Yes! Every time the teacher says it's due in two weeks, I think, there's plenty of time, I'll deal with it tomorrow.

And then one tomorrow turns into another tomorrow.

Exactly! By the time I snap out of it, it's already the night before the deadline.

Haha, that's a classic case of tomorrow after tomorrow.

Tomorrow after tomorrow, what does that mean?

It means you push today's tasks to tomorrow, then tomorrow's to the day after, always pushing them back.

Oh my, that's totally me! What about you? Do you procrastinate at work too?

Of course. The thing I dread most is writing work reports.

You can put off writing reports too?

Sure. My boss asks for it on Monday, and I can put it off until four o'clock Friday afternoon before I even start.

That's so nerve-racking! Don't you get stressed?

I do, but I just don't want to start.

So if you're not starting, what are you doing instead?

I'll tidy my desk first, then pour a glass of water, scroll on my phone for a bit...

Hahaha, I've done all of those!

You clearly know you have something important to do, but you just keep doing other things.

Yes yes yes, before I write a paper, I'll clean my room until it's spotless.

See, normally you hate cleaning, but the moment you have to write something, you suddenly get super diligent.

Haha, because cleaning is way easier than writing a paper!

Actually, people who procrastinate all have one thing in common: they cram at the last minute.

Cram at the last minute? That expression is so vivid.

It means you don't put in effort normally, then scramble like crazy at the very last moment.

Haha, that's exactly me the night before an exam!

The night before the exam, huh?

Yes! I never review beforehand, but the night before the exam, I can study from eight at night until four in the morning.

Is it actually efficient?

Believe it or not, it really is! Once you panic, your brain works super fast.

That's what people mean when they say the deadline is the number one source of productivity.

Hahaha, so true! Without a deadline, I can never get started.

So you see, people like us aren't incapable; we just refuse to do it until the very last moment.

Right! There's one more thing I want to call myself out for.

Go ahead.

I've saved tons of study materials on my phone, things like Learn to Write in Three Days and Master Vocabulary in a Month.

And then?

And then I've never opened a single one of them, haha.

Haha, that's what people online call saving equals learning.

Right! I thought saving it meant I'd learned it, but I never actually opened it at all.

Same here. I've saved hundreds of videos on my phone, thinking I'll watch them slowly later.

But that later never actually comes.

Right, later is the favorite word of us procrastinators.

Oh, and another thing, my motivation never lasts long.

How so?

For example, I make up my mind to run every day, buy running shoes, even buy workout clothes...

And then how many days did you run?

Three days! By the fourth day I start making excuses, saying I'm too tired today, I'll run tomorrow.

Haha, that's exactly what short-lived enthusiasm means: the passion comes fast and fades just as fast.

Right! I even got a gym membership, went twice, and never went again.

Haha, gym memberships really are a money trap for a lot of people.

Speaking of excuses, I've got plenty of them.

Like what?

Like, I'll do it once I'm in a better mood, or I'll start once I'm ready.

Haha, I say those two all the time too.

But my mood never suddenly gets better.

And you can never finish getting ready either.

Right! So the word wait is procrastination's best friend.

So true. With a lot of things, you don't wait until you're ready to start; you start, and then things get better.

Wow, that makes so much sense, I need to write it down.

But seriously, have you ever thought about why we procrastinate?

Why? I thought it was just because we're lazy.

Laziness is part of it, but it's actually not that simple.

So what other reasons are there?

I think a lot of the time, it's because of fear.

Fear? Afraid of what?

Afraid of not doing it well. Like when I write a report, I'm always afraid it won't be good enough, so I just don't start at all.

Oh, I think I get it. The more you care, the less you dare to start.

Right, people like that are actually a bit of a perfectionist.

Perfectionism? Procrastination is connected to perfectionism too?

It is. Because you want to do your best, the pressure actually builds up, and you end up putting it off.

Oh my, so people who procrastinate aren't necessarily lazy; they might just overthink.

Exactly: think too much, do too little.

Besides fear, are there other reasons?

There's also this: sometimes the task is just too big, so you don't know where to start.

Yes! Like when the teacher asks me to write a ten-thousand-word paper, just seeing ten thousand words gives me a headache.

And then you don't want to lift a finger.

Right, something that big feels impossible to ever finish.

So you just leave it for now, thinking you'll get to it when you have time.

And the longer you leave it, the more anxious you get.

And there's one more, the biggest enemy, you definitely know it.

The phone!

Haha, that one's a must.

I planned to study for an hour, but I picked up my phone and scrolled short videos for two hours.

When you're scrolling on your phone, time flies by.

Right! Once you start scrolling you can't stop, just five more minutes, just five more minutes...

And then you look up, and half the day is gone.

That's why now when I do homework, I put my phone in another room.

That's a good trick: out of sight, out of mind.

But A-Jie, I've realized the worst part of procrastinating isn't even leaving things unfinished.

Oh? Then what is it?

It's that feeling that's always weighing on your mind.

You mean, you're supposedly relaxing, but in the back of your mind you keep thinking about that thing you haven't done?

Exactly! On the surface you're resting, but you're not actually relaxed at all.

I know that feeling all too well. I'm watching a show while thinking about the report I haven't written, and I don't even enjoy the show.

Yes yes yes! These days people seem to call that feeling internal burnout.

Internal burnout, right. It means before you've even started the task, you've already worn yourself out in your head.

Haha, so well put! That's me all the time: exhausted from thinking, but I haven't actually done anything.

So sometimes, doing the task itself isn't tiring; it's the agonizing over it that wears you out the most.

And after putting it off till the end, I even get emo.

Emo, huh? You young people really love that word these days.

Yes! It means feeling really down, a little sad, and a little annoyed at yourself.

You procrastinate and then regret it, and after regretting it you go and procrastinate again next time.

Right! Every time I tell myself, next time I'll definitely start earlier.

And then next time it's the same all over again.

Haha, so are we just hopeless?

Don't say that, there are actually ways to deal with it.

Really? Teach me, quick! I need this so badly!

The first method, one I use a lot myself: just do five minutes first.

Just do five minutes first?

Right. Don't think about finishing it all at once; just tell yourself, I'll only do five minutes.

Five minutes is so short, what good does that do?

Try it and you'll see. A lot of the time, the hardest part is just starting.

The first step is always the hardest, right?

Right! Once you've started, you'll often be willing to keep going.

Oh, so you trick yourself into doing just five minutes, and then you get into it and can't stop.

Exactly, this trick works really well for me.

So what about my ten-thousand-word paper? It's too big, what do I do?

Break it into smaller pieces.

Break it down?

Right. Don't think I have to write ten thousand words; think I'll write five hundred words today first.

Oh, so you split one big task into lots of small tasks.

Right, that way every small step you finish gives you a sense of accomplishment.

A sense of accomplishment! I like that.

One big chunk looks scary, but cut into small pieces, it's not so frightening anymore.

So at work, do you have any other methods?