“2分钟规则”帮你戒掉拖延症

今天推明天，明天推后天……生活中有很多重度拖延症患者。“拖延症”的典型心态似乎可以用电影《乱世佳人》结尾的经典台词“After all，tomorrow is another day!”（毕竟明天又是新的一天）来概括。最近，我一直在遵循一个简单的规则来帮助我改掉拖延的习惯，同时，也促使我毫不费力的坚持良好的习惯。今天，我想和你分享一下，你也可以尝试一下，看看如何将它应用于你的生活中。最绝妙的地方？就是这个方法超级简单。

“2分钟规则”帮你改掉拖延恶习

I call this little strategy the “2–Minute Rule” and the goal is to make it easier for you to get started on the things you should be doing. 我把这个小小的方法称为“2分钟规则”，目的是让你更加轻松地开始做你应该做的事情。

Here’s the deal… 情况是这样的……

Most of the tasks that you procrastinate on aren’t actually difficult to do — you have the talent and skills to accomplish them — you just avoid starting them for one reason or another.你拖延的大部分任务都不难做，你有才能和方法来完成他们，你只是找各种各样的理由来拖延。

The 2–Minute Rule overcomes procrastination and laziness by making it so easy to start taking action that you can’t say no. 2分钟规则帮你克服拖延和懒惰的习惯，并且很容易就能开始行动起来，让你无法说“不”。

2分钟规则有两个部分：

第一部分 —如果做这件事用不了两分钟，那么现在就做。

Part I comes from David Allen's bestselling book, Getting Things Done. 第一部分来自戴维•艾伦畅销书《尽管去做——无压工作的艺术》。

It’s surprising how many things we put off that we could get done in two minutes or less. For example, washing your dishes immediately after your meal, tossing the laundry in the washing machine, taking out the garbage, cleaning up clutter, sending that email, and so on. 令人惊讶的是，我们所推迟的许多事都可以在两分钟之内完成。例如，餐后立即洗碗、将衣服扔进洗衣机、丢垃圾、清理杂乱、发送电子邮件等。

If a task takes less than two minutes to complete, then follow the rule and do it right now. 如果一项任务需要不到两分钟就能完成，那么请按照规则立即执行。

第二部分—花费不到两分钟就可以养成一个新习惯。

Can all of your goals be accomplished in less than two minutes? Obviously not. 你的所有目标能否在不到两分钟的时间里完成？ 很明显不可能。

But, every goal can be started in 2 minutes or less. And that’s the purpose behind this little rule. 但是，每个目标都可以在2分钟以内开始。 这就是这个小规矩背后的目的。

It might sound like this strategy is too basic for your grand life goals, but I beg to differ. It works for any goal because of one simple reason: the physics of real life. 听起来这个方法对于你宏大的人生目标来说太低级了，但我不敢苟同。它适用于任何目标，因为这就是生活中的物理学。

现实生活的物理学

As Sir Isaac Newton taught us a long time ago, objects at rest tend to stay at rest and objects in motion tend to stay in motion. This is just as true for humans as it is for falling apples. 很久以前，艾萨克•牛顿爵士告诉我们，物体在静止时倾向于静止，物体在运动时趋向运动。对于人类来说，这与苹果落地一样真实。

The 2–Minute Rule works for big goals as well as small goals because of the inertia of life. Once you start doing something, it’s easier to continue doing it. I love the 2–Minute Rule because it embraces the idea that all sorts of good things happen once you get started. 由于生活的惯性，2分钟规则适用于大目标，同样也适用于小目标。一旦你开始做某事，继续下去就更容易。我喜欢2分钟规则，因为它蕴涵了这样一个理念，那就是你一旦开始，好的事情就随之而来了。

Want to become a better writer? Just write one sentence (2–Minute Rule), and you’ll often find yourself writing for an hour. 想成为一个更好的作家？ 只要写一句话（2分钟规则），你会经常发现自己写了一个小时。

Want to eat healthier? Just eat one piece of fruit (2–Minute Rule), and you’ll often find yourself inspired to make a healthy salad as well. 想吃的健康吗？ 只要吃一块水果（2分钟规则），你会经常发现自己灵感迸发制作了一道沙拉。

Want to make reading a habit? Just read the first page of a new book (2–Minute Rule), and before you know it, the first three chapters have flown by. 想形成阅读习惯吗？ 读一本新书的第一页（2分钟规则），然后不知不觉，你已经读完前三章了。

Want to run three times a week? Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, just get your running shoes on and get out the door (2–Minute Rule), and you’ll end up putting mileage on your legs instead of popcorn in your stomach. 想每周跑三次步？ 每个星期一，星期三和星期五，穿上跑步鞋就出门（2分钟规则），你将发现你已经跑了好几英里，而不是闲着没事吃爆米花。

The most important part of any new habit is getting started — not just the first time, but each time. It’s not about performance, it’s about consistently taking action. In many ways, getting started is more important than succeeding. This is especially true in the beginning because there will be plenty of time to improve your performance later on. 养成一个新习惯的最重要的部分就是开始去做，不仅是第一次，而且是每一次。这跟表现无关，而与持续行动有关。在许多方面，开始比成功更重要。最开始的时候尤其如此，因为以后会有很多时间来改善你的表现。

The 2–Minute Rule isn’t about the results you achieve, but rather about the process of actually doing the work. It works really well for people who believe that the system is more important than the goal. The focus is on taking action and letting things flow from there. 2分钟规则不是关于你达到的结果，而是关于实际工作的过程。对于相信秩序比目标更重要的人来说，会达到较高的工作效率。重点是采取行动，让事情自然而然的进行。

现在就试试

I can’t guarantee whether or not the 2–Minute Rule will work for you. But, I can guarantee that it will never work if you never try it. 我不能保证2分钟规则是否适合你。 但是，如果你永远不去尝试，我保证它永远不会奏效。

The problem with most articles you read, podcasts you listen to, or videos you watch is that you consume the information but never put it into practice. 你也看了不少文章，听过播客也看过不少视频，然而问题是，你只是获取了信息，但从不将其付诸实践。

I want this article to be different. I want you to actually use this information, right now. 我希望这篇文章有所不同。我想让你立即使用这些信息。

What’s something you can do that will take you less than two minutes? Do it right now. 做什么事情会花费你不到两分钟的时间？那就现在做吧。

Anyone can spare the next 120 seconds. Use this time to get one thing done. Go. 每个人都可以节省下一个120秒。用这个时间来完成一件事情。行动吧。

英文来源：lifehacker.org翻译：孔维芹（中国日报网爱新闻iNews译者）编审：yaning