忙不等于工作：工作有时是最危险的拖延

　　I keep track of all my Secrets of Adulthood—the lessons I’ve learned, with difficulty, as I’ve grown up。我把我在成长过程中遇到的困难，所受到的教训都记录在我的成长秘诀里。

　　A very helpful Secret of Adulthood is: Working is one of the most dangerous forms of procrastination。其中一项有益的秘诀是：工作是一种最危险的拖延。

　　When I have to do something I don’t want to do, any other task seems irresistibly enticing。当我必须要做一件我不想做的事时，任何其他的任务在我看来都会有无法拒绝的诱惑力。

　　Sometimes, this tendency can be productive. I may not have gotten that piece written, but my office is clean, my errands are done, and I’ve cleared out a lot of email。有时候这种心理倾向会带来效率。我或许没把那份文案写好，但我打扫了办公室、干了些杂事、清理了大量的邮件。

　　The problem is that—yes, I’ve been productive, but not in the right way. That piece still isn’t finished!问题是——诚然，我挺有效率的，但并不是以一种正确的方式。我的那份文案还是没有完成！

　　These days, I’m careful to be honest with myself about what “work” I need to do, and I recognize the work-as-procrastination excuse. I’m also wary of the related tendency: busy-work-as-procrastination excuse. Re-formatting a document isn’t writing! Unfocused reading on the internet isn’t research!这些天，我小心翼翼地，力图坦诚地告诉自己我该做的“工作”到底是什么，于是我发现了这种以工作为借口的拖延。同时我也发现了与此相关的另一种倾向：以忙碌工作为借口的拖延。修改文件格式并不是写作！漫无目的地上网浏览并不是研究！

　　When a task is truly horrible, I sometimes tackle it with the resolution to Suffer for 15 minutes。当一个任务真的相当艰巨时，我通常采用忍受15分钟的方式来应对。

　　How about you? Do you procrastinate by working—by cleaning, organizing, answering emails, cruising the internet, making plans, or the like?你呢？你会利用其他工作来拖延么？——通过打扫、组织、回复邮件、上网、做计划，诸如此类？