拖延似乎成了现代人的通病。当然，拖延不是什么大罪过，有些事拖一拖反而效果更好，有些好点子可能最后一刻才冒出来。但多数情况下，办事拖拖拉拉会让你在心理上疲惫不堪，同时有可能让你的名誉受损。谁会喜欢和一个不守时的人合作呢？谁能忍受一件事一拖再拖总也做不完呢？所以，行动起来，克服拖延，跑在时间的前头，让自己掌握主动权。
我刚参加工作的时候，父亲就告诫我说，如果我能把自己的工作——无论是科研、教书还是服务工作——按时、规范地完成，那我就比很多同辈拥有了更大的竞争优势。
我一直觉得这条训诫很正确，并将其与我的研究生和同事们分享。我认识的很多学者，有的提出了很棒的项目资助申请，却没能赶上提交申请的最后期限，有的本可以在一家学报上发表一篇高质量的论文，却把修订论文和重新提交的工作一拖再拖，直到时机错过。这样的人太多了，多得让我吃惊。
拖延并非总是坏事：有时，推迟做一件工作总比不做好；有时，好点子会在最后关头才冒出来。但如果一而再、再而三地把一切事务都拖到最后一刻才完成，那你的职业生涯可能就毁了。
幸运的是，无论你有什么独特的工作或思维习惯，拖延却不是天生就有的习惯。我认识很多人，他们都能按时并高标准地完成工作，但私底下都坦承自己其实是个习惯拖延的人，只不过学会了克服这个习惯——至少是在某些时候做到了这一点。我相信，在合理范围内，任何人都能成为按时完成工作的人，而不是事事拖延的人。
我知道一个对抗拖延的方法，它广为“守时”的学者们采用，那就是列出多个短期的截止时间，从而把完成大工程的一个任务分解成若干个小项目。这就好像在通往火车终点站的路上要经过很多车站一样。比如说，我要和别人在一个会议的截止日期前合力完成一篇论文，那我就会请我的合作者在某个日期前完成引言部分，在之后的某个日期前完成研究方法部分，以此类推。对付拖延，科技也能帮上忙。我喜欢用日历软件或者电子邮件设置自动提示，提醒我截止日期的到来。
很多习惯拖延的人声称，他们习惯把什么事都拖到最后一刻，这其实体现了一种更高贵的品质：追求完美。对于事事追求完美这种做事理念，我既理解也认同。但这些年来，虽然我和同事们就何为“完美”讨论过很多次，大家却一直无法达成一致意见。有谁写过一本完美无缺的书或者做过一次尽善尽美的实验么？你曾对自己教的某一门课百分百地满意么？完美，这是一个应该归入神圣领域的概念。每天，我们都有很多的工作要做，世界等不及我们把工作做到毫厘不差。所以，别对自己太苛刻。按你的时间，依你的资源，尽力把工作做好就行。
你可以制订一个总体规划或者计划表，在上面列明所有的工作项目，并附上预计完成的时间表。科技手段已经使这项工作变得比以往任何时候都简单。
你的计划表首先要全面，这很关键。你或许听说过，在食品研究中，研究人员会要求实验对象记录下每天吃过的东西，但这样做会遇到问题：实验对象多数情况下都会诚实记录自己每天的饮食，但可能也会“忘记”记录下在餐馆随意吃的一顿便饭。与此类似，我曾遇到过很多这样的学者，他们向我描述了自己制定的看似巨细无遗的五年研究计划，结果却几乎是有意地忘记了还要把自己在另外一些项目中承担的任务考虑进去。拖延自然也就发生了。
其次，一个计划表应该在完成项目所需的时间和资源方面切合实际。我曾听说一些教师——尤其是年纪较轻者——会宣称自己要同时完成很多项工作，这简直是不可能的壮举，比如他们会说：“在参加研讨会期间，我会设计这门新课，同时完成那篇论文。哦，对，我刚才有没有说我家人要来？”
对于任何值得做的事，我们都低估了需要花在上面的时间和精力。所以，在你完成工作所需时间的基础上最好再多预留几天，早点完成比拖延要好。
准备应对意外状况。有时，面对意外状况，除了修改计划之外别无他法。不过，我们也有别的应对措施。首先，想一想，你面临的障碍实际上是否是一个警示。一位年轻的科学家曾告诉过我他的遭遇，他的实验由于出现反常结果而多次延迟。他绞尽脑汁，终于找到了答案：原来他们在校准某个特殊的测量仪器时出现了错误，因此得到了错误的读数。
要应对意外状况，经验可以作为向导。我第一次坐下来决意写书时，先是联系了自己十分敬重的几位同行前辈，询问他们的意见。他们大多提出了相似的告诫，我发现非常受用。无论你正在做什么项目，都应该向那些已经在这条路上走过的勇敢的开拓者们请教。
退出也可以是胜利。有时，你的指导原则应该是“不做要比迟做好”。虽然经济学、心理学以及相关领域的研究不在我的研究范围之内，但数十年来我一直痴迷其中。而这些研究似乎都表明，“放弃者绝不会成功，成功者绝不会放弃”这一格言并不正确。相反，事实证明，世界上一些最成功的人士——不管是发明家、军事战略家、政治家还是企业家——都深知放弃常常是明智之举。
当你发现自己总是处境艰难，或者被重重困难拖累，或者对手中的事业似乎已经失去了热情，那你也许应该考虑放弃了。
凡事要敢于尽早。我出生在一个中欧国家，那是一个以山脉、奶酪和准时闻名的国度。我要是参加什么活动迟到了就会感到异常紧张，大家都知道我习惯于早到——有时候到得实在是太早了。然而，我仍认为，凡事尽早是一种良好的品质，对于那些遵循古老的英语谚语“早起的鸟儿有虫吃”的人来说如此，对于一名21世纪的学者来说亦然。
提早完成工作有如下好处。首先，你会给他人带来惊喜。系主任、项目资助主管、学报编辑都会对我的请求或提交的稿件青睐有加，因为我是第一个这么做的人。我也常从别人那里得到有价值的反馈，因为别人有更多的时间来评估我的工作。提早完成工作对自身也很有益。提早完成工作，你可以把它先放一段时间，等到截止日期快到时可以再拿出来用全新的眼光重新审视一番。最后，及时完成工作还能为别的重要事务腾出更多的时间，包括在工作和家庭之间找到平衡点。
拖延不是什么大罪过。好事的确可能姗姗来迟。但是把什么事都拖到最后一刻才完成，你就会总是落于人后，会使他人失望，也会让你的信誉受损。所以你得明白，什么时候拖一拖没问题，什么时候拖延会对你不利。 Early in my career my father advised me that if I managed to finish my work—whether it was research， teaching， or service—on time and in the correct format， I would have a huge competitive advantage over many of my peers.
I’ve always found that principle to be correct and have passed it on to graduate students and colleagues. I am shocked at how many academics I’ve met who had a terrific grant proposal but missed the deadline， or who could have published a great paper in a journal but put off writing the “revise and resubmit” version until too much time had passed.
Procrastination is not always bad： Sometimes the work you put off doing is better than left undone. And sometimes the best ideas just come late. But perennially1） postponing everything until the last minute can be a career killer.
Luckily， no matter your particular habits of work or mind， procrastination is not preordained2）. I know many people who manage to get their work done on time， and at a high standard， yet privately admit they are procrastinators who learned to overcome the tendency， at least some of the time. I believe that， within reason3）， anyone can learn to be a completer， not a delayer.
One anti-procrastination measure I’ve seen employed by “on time” academics is to create mini-deadlines that break down the completion of a larger project into smaller segments. Think multiple train stops on the way to the final destination. When I co-write a paper under a conference deadline， for example， I ask my partners to finish the introduction by a certain date， the methodology section by a subsequent date， and so on. Technology can help， too. I like to create auto-alerts through my calendar or e-mail program that remind me about a deadline.
Many procrastinators claim that their last-minute habit is just a symptom of a more noble character trait： perfectionism. I sympathize and identify with that belief. But over the years， after many discussions with colleagues， we have never agreed on a particular definition of perfection. Has anyone truly written a perfect book or conducted a perfect experiment？ Have you ever been completely satisfied with a course you taught？ Perfection is something that should be relegated to the realm of the divine. We have lots of work to get done， every day， and the world cannot wait for us to get it just right. So don’t be too hard on yourself. Do the best job you can with the time and resources you have.
Creating a master4） plan or chart that lays out5） all of your projects， along with timetables for completion. Technology makes that easier than ever before. The first key element of your chart should be comprehensiveness. You’ve probably heard about the problem of asking people engaged in a food study to keep a diary of what they eat： Subjects6） will mostly be honest but may “forget” to log the impromptu7） porterhouse8） dinner. Likewise， I have met scholars who describe to me a seemingly detailed five-year research plan， only to almost willfully neglect to factor in9） some additional projects to which they have committed. Delays then ensue10） on everything.
Second， a planning chart should be realistic about time and resources needed to complete a project. I have heard faculty members， especially young colleagues， forecast unlikely feats11） of multitasking， as in： “I’ll design that new class while I’m at a conference and get that paper done， too. Oh， and did I mention the family is coming along？”
We all underestimate how much time and effort it takes to do anything worth doing. It is better to chart out more days than you’ll need and finish early than the opposite.
Expecting the unexpected. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do when confronted with the unexpected but revise your plans. There are， however， other ways to respond. First， consider whether an obstacle is actually a red flag12）. A young scientist once described to me a situation in which the completion of an experiment was constantly delayed by anomalous13） findings. Much puzzling finally resulted in an answer： A particular measurement device had been adjusted incorrectly and was giving the wrong readings.
Experience can be a guide toward expecting the unexpected. The first time I sat down with the intention to write a book， I contacted authors in my field whom I greatly respected and asked for their advice. Many of them offered similar warnings， which I found extremely useful. Whatever project you are undertaking， seek the counsel of some hardy pathfinders who have gone up that trail before.
Quitters can be winners. Sometimes your guiding principle should be “better never than late14）.” It’s not my area of research， but I’ve been fascinated for decades by studies in economics， psychology， and related fields that seem to belie15） the aphorism16） “quitters never win and winners never quit.” As it turns out， however， some of the world’s most successful people—whether inventors， military strategists， politicians， or entrepreneurs—have learned that quitting can be the smart move.
When you find yourself continuously stymied17）， when problem after problem delays you， when you seem to have lost your enthusiasm for some venture， maybe you should just give up. Dare to be early. I was born in a certain central European country famous for its mountains， cheese， and punctuality. I endure tremendous stress if I am running late to any event and am known for always arriving early—sometimes far too early. Nevertheless， I think earliness is as much a positive trait for an academic in the 21st century as it was for those adhering to the old English proverb “the early bird catcheth the worm.”
Finishing work early has the following benefits. First， you pleasantly surprise others. Deans， grant-program officers， and journal editors have smiled with favor upon my petitions or submissions because I was first in line. I have also gotten good feedback from people sometimes because they had the extra time to review my work. That can help internally as well. Get a task done early， and you can let it sit for a while and return to it with fresh eyes before the deadline. Finally， finishing something promptly creates more time for other important tasks， including finding some balance of work and family.
Procrastination is not a sin. Good things can indeed come late. But put off everything until the last minute， and you will perennially fall behind， disappoint others， and hurt your reputation. So learn when it’s OK to be late， and when you’re only hurting yourself.
1. perennially [p??reni?li] adv. 永久地
2. preordained [?pri???r?de?nd] adj. 注定的，天命的
3. within reason：在合理范围内；合情合理地
4. master [?mɑ?st?（r）] adj. 总的
5. lay out：展示，陈列；清楚地表达
6. subject [?s?bd??kt] n. 实验或研究的对象
7. impromptu [?m?pr?mptju?] adj. 临时的；事先无准备的
8. porterhouse [?p??t?ha?s] n. 小酒店，餐馆
9. factor in：将……因素包括进来，把……计算在内
10. ensue [?n?sju?] vi. 随即发生，结果产生
11. feat [fi?t] n. 功绩；业绩；成就
12. red flag：危险信号
13. anomalous [??n?m?l?s] adj. 反常的，异常的
14. better never than late：这句话源自英文谚语“better late than never”（迟做总比不做好）。
15. belie [b??la?] vt. 显示（或证明）……为虚伪
16. aphorism [??f??r?z（?）m] n. 格言，警语，谚语
17. stymie [?sta?mi] vt. 使处于困境，使进退维谷
