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In practical terms, getting going can mean something as simple as opening an email.
實際上，第一項任務可以是打開一封電子郵件這樣簡單的事情。
Two decades ago, in “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity”, an American time-management consultant, David Allen, warned readers that “the in-basket is a processing station, not a storage bin”.
二十年前，美國時間管理顧問戴維·艾倫在《搞定：無壓工作的藝術》中警告讀者，“收件箱是處理站，而不是儲物箱”。
The email inbox, whose contents do not pile up on the desk, is even easier to confuse for a garbage can than a tabletop in-tray.
由于電子郵件收件箱里的東西不會堆積在桌子上，它甚至更容易被誤認為是垃圾桶，而不是桌面收文盤。
Electronic correspondence is the starting point of most work projects, ever more so in the era of hybrid work.
電子通信是大多數工作項目的起點，在混合辦公時代更是如此。
So just click it.
所以就點開吧。
And if you still find yourself avoiding things on your to-do list that make you anxious, involving others can help.
如果你仍然發現自己在逃避待辦事項清單上讓你焦慮的事情，和別人一起做會有所幫助。
Discussing tasks with colleagues can suppress the tendency to dodge the parts of your job you like the least.
與同事討論任務可以抑制你逃避最不喜歡的那部分工作的傾向。
Once you have got moving, consider your waypoints.
一旦你開始行動，就要考慮一下任務量的規劃。
That may mean breaking a job down into smaller, more readily achievable chunks.
這可能意味著將一項工作分解成更小、更容易完成的多個部分。
A seminal paper from 2005 by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology examined how conceptual knowledge is processed.
麻省理工學院的研究人員在2005年發表了一篇開創性的論文，研究了人們是如何處理概念性知識的。
The authors found that the brain prefers concrete and discrete tasks to broad and abstract ones.
他們發現，與寬泛而抽象的任務相比，大腦更喜歡具體和離散的任務。
Set your sights on completing a document first, rather than starting out with the goal of crafting a complete strategy.
所以，要先著眼于完成一份文件，而不是一上來就制定一個完整的策略。
Whatever you do, resist the urge of the overly concrete, like sharpening pencils.
無論你做什么，都要抵抗住想要做削鉛筆這樣過于具體的事情的沖動。
Procrastination lies between logic and emotion, between ambition and achievement.
拖延橫亙于邏輯和情感之間，也橫亙于雄心和成就之間。
Bridging that gap can be difficult, even when you know full-well that if you do, the dreaded task will no longer lurk at the back of your mind like an unwanted squatter.
而消除這一隔閡可能很困難，即使你很清楚，如果不拖延，可怕的任務就不會再像不受歡迎的霸占者一樣潛伏在你的腦海中。
Quick progress is difficult but rewarding, offering a high that is undiscoverable to those who leave things till the very end.
快速取得進展很難，但回報很高，這樣做所提供的快感是那些把事情留到最后做的人無法發現的。
Putting something off doesn’t make it go away.
拖延并不能解決問題。
That trivial truth is worth repeating.
這個淺薄的真理值得反復強調。
Just ask the central bankers who kept delaying interest-rate rises even as economists warned of rising inflation.
問問央行官員就知道了，他們在經濟學家警告通脹會上升的情況下仍在推遲加息。
Now they must ratchet rates up further and faster, at the risk of provoking a recession.
導致他們現在必須冒著引發經濟衰退的風險，更大幅度且更快地上調利率。
Most workplace decisions are not nearly as consequential but firms can still suffer material losses if employees put off tasks and decisions.
盡管大多數工作場所的決策沒有那么重要，但如果員工在完成任務和做決定上拖延，公司仍然可能遭受重大損失。
So if that email arrives first thing in the morning, read it and reply—even if that means leaving your bed unmade.
所以，如果早上第一件事就是收到郵件，那就看一下，回復了吧——即使你會因此沒時間鋪床。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
