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Bartleby: Your inner dawdler
巴托比：內心的懶人
How to get things done—eventually
怎樣最終把事情做好
“If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed,” Admiral William McRaven told the graduating class of 2014 at the University of Texas, Austin.
海軍上將威廉·麥克雷文曾在得克薩斯大學奧斯汀分校對2014屆畢業生說：“如果你想改變世界，就從鋪床開始吧?！?/p>
What the US Navy counts as “making your bed”—square corners, centred pillow, blanket neatly folded at the foot of the rack—is idiosyncratic.
美國海軍所說的“鋪床”——四角方正、枕頭居中、毯子整齊地疊在床架底部——是有些非比尋常。
Yet the admiral’s broader point is universal: whether you are a sailor, a salesperson or a CEO, “if you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day.”
但這位海軍上將更為廣義的觀點很通用：無論你是水手、銷售人員還是首席執行官，“如果你每天早上整理床鋪，你就完成了一天的第一項任務?！?/p>
His commencement speech went viral.
他的這次畢業典禮演講風靡一時。
Everyone must battle the temptation to temporise every now and again; millions of beds go unmade each morning even on a looser definition than the navy’s.
每個人都必定會時不時地與拖延的誘惑做斗爭；即使按照比海軍更寬松的標準來看，每天早上也有數百萬張床沒有整理好。
That is also true of people who, like your columnist, a guest Bartleby, more often suffer from the inverse affliction—having trouble putting things off even if they probably ought to be.
撰寫本文的巴托比專欄作家這樣的人也是如此，這類人遭受的折磨多半與普通人相反——即使有些事情很可能就應該晚點再做，他們也很難拖延。
Still, as someone with a perennial itch for completion, she has some tips for self-professed dawdlers who wish to make their lives more naval.
盡管如此，作為一個常年渴望完成任務的人，本文作者有一些建議，想獻給那些自稱懶散又希望自己活得像海軍一樣更有條理的人。
Start off by not calling yourself a procrastinator.
首先，不要稱自己為拖延癥患者。
Indeed, if you do, you are probably already the opposite.
事實上，如果你這樣叫自己，你很可能已經患上與拖延癥截然相反的病了。
In “Out of Sheer Rage” (1998), Geoff Dyer elevates dilly-dallying to an art form.
在1998年出版的《一怒之下》中，杰夫·戴爾將拖拖拉拉拔高成一種藝術形式。
The book chronicles how the author was wasting his time instead of writing a study on D.H. Lawrence.
這本書記錄了作者是如何沒有寫成一篇關于D.H.勞倫斯的研究，而是浪費了時間的故事。
“All over the world people are taking notes as a way of postponing, putting off and standing in for,” Mr Dyer writes, including supposedly about himself.
戴爾寫道：“全世界的人都把記筆記作為拖延、推遲和替代正經任務的一種方式?！睋茰y他也是其中之一。
If only he could make a start, he laments.
他哀嘆道，要是他能寫出開頭就好了。
Given that he managed not just to start but also complete, publish and market a brilliant book—even if the subject matter was less lofty than intended—the lamentations were in fact cogs of productivity.
而他不僅寫出了開頭，還寫完、出版并賣出了一本杰出的書--盡管主題沒有預期的那么崇高--由此可見，這些哀嘆實際上是生產力的齒輪。
The easiest way to get things finished is to get going in the first place.
要想把事情做完，最簡單的方法就是從一開始就開干。
The reason busy people never stop moving is because their constant movement generates further momentum.
忙碌的人之所以從不停止行動，是因為他們持續不斷的行動會產生更大的動力。
This is, obviously, easier said than done—especially if you find a task unpleasant.
顯然，這說起來容易做起來難——當你發現一項任務令人不快的時候尤其如此。
The more objectionable something seems, the more time you spend thinking about just how awful it is.
一件事情看起來越令人反感，你在思考它有多討厭上花的時間就越多。
That in turn makes you even less likely to broach it—and so on.
這反過來又會讓你更不可能開始處理這件事——就這樣形成一個循環。
Being aware of this vicious circle does not guarantee you will break out of it.
意識到這一惡性循環并不能保證你能夠打破它。
But it is, well, a start.
但這至少是一個開始。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
