To start this story about 2)procrastination, we could begin with Marty Nemko, letting some time go by at the piano. “I’m always trying to 3)cram in as much as I can,” he laughed, “and sometimes, it makes me late.” He counsels people who have trouble getting things started…but we’ll get back to him in a minute, because we could start with a list of prominent procrastinators.
要讲述拖拉症的故事，我们可以从马蒂·南姆科开始，让时间在弹钢琴中度过吧。“我总想尽可能地往脑子里塞东西，”他笑道，“有时候，这会让我延迟。”他劝告那些很难开展事情的人……我们还是待会儿再谈他。因为我们可以先来谈谈一系列名人拖拉者。
President Bill Clinton was called “punctually challenged” by 4)Al Gore. 5)Robert Redford, 6)Mariah Carey and 7)Naomi Campbell are just a few of the famous known to have “time issues.”
美国前总统比尔·克林顿曾被前副总统阿尔·戈尔称为“难以准时的人”。在一众有“时间问题”的名人中，罗伯特·雷德福德、玛丽亚·凯莉和娜奥米·坎贝尔只是其中一些代表人物。
And the economist 8)George Akerlof once found himself faced with a simple task: mailing a box of clothes from India, where he was living, to the United States for his friend. Akerlof was eager to send the box off. But there was a problem. The combination of Indian 9)bureaucracy and what Akerlof called “my own 10)ineptitude in such matters” meant that doing so was going to be a 11)hassle—indeed, he estimated that it would take an entire workday. So he put off dealing with it, week after week.
经济学家乔治·阿克尔洛夫某次发现自己面对一个简单的任务：将一箱衣服从印度（当时他所居住的地方）寄给他在美国的朋友。阿克尔洛夫很想把箱子寄走。但是存在一个问题。印度的官僚作风以及阿克尔洛夫称之为“我自己在这类事情上的笨拙”两者结合在一起，意味着寄东西将是一桩麻烦事——确实，他预计要花上整整一个工作日。因此他推迟处理这件事情，拖了一个星期又一个星期。
This went on for more than eight months, and it was only shortly before Akerlof himself returned home that he managed to solve his problem: another friend happened to be sending some things back to the U.S., and Akerlof was able to add his friend’s clothes to the shipment.
这持续了八个多月，就在快要回家之前，阿克尔洛夫终于解决了问题：另一个朋友碰巧有一些东西要寄回美国，阿克洛夫于是把朋友的衣服一同寄走。
There’s some thing comforting about this story: even Nobelwinning economists procrastinate! Many of us go through life with 12)an array of undone tasks, large and small, 13)nibbling at our conscience.
这个故事让人欣慰的地方是：即便是获得诺贝尔奖的经济学家也会拖沓做事！我们许多人生活中都留着大量没有完成的工作，大大小小的，为此良心总隐隐不安。
And then there is 14)Barbara McKaySmith. Among her family and friends she is 15)infamous for being late, a busy mother of two who admits she is hardly ever on time. “Well, I guess it’s all a matter of, what is ‘on time’?” she said.
然后还有芭芭拉·麦凯 —史密斯。在她家人及朋友中，她是出了名的“迟到大王”。作为一个有两个孩子的忙碌母亲，她承认自己几乎从未准时过。“我想，这完全视乎你认为什么是‘准时’？”她说。
But before we get around to telling you more about Barbara…meet Diana DeLonzor. She has written a book for people who don’t want to be late anymore. She knows the problem well.
但是，在抽出时间跟你讲述更多有关芭芭拉的事情之前……我们先会一会戴安娜·狄隆佐。她为那些不想再迟到的人写了一本书。她很了解迟到这个问题。
“I was late for everything, and I had been all my life,” she said. “I was 16)suspended three times in junior high for 17)tardies. I was late for weddings, funerals, and everything else in-between.”
“我做任何事情都会迟到，一辈子皆如此，”她说，“初中时，我因为惯性拖拉怠慢而被停学三次。我参加婚礼、葬礼以及其他一切活动都会迟到。”
But, let’s put off getting advice from Diana for just a minute, to talk about standard time. Standard time was adopted back in the 1800s to help the trains run on time. But now it turns out even train time can 18)be subject to procrastination. It was recently revealed that New York 19)commuter trains pull out one minute after their scheduled departure time…hidden help for those who are always running just a little late. But now that the extra minute is public, true procrastinators know they have one more minute to push it.
但是，让我们等会儿再听戴安娜的建议，先来谈论一下标准时间。在19世纪，人们采用标准时间来帮助火车准时发车。但是，如今，即便是火车时间也可能会有晚点的情况。最近有关消息披露，纽约市郊往返列车会比原定标准发车时间晚一分钟……无疑暗中帮助了那些总要晚那么一点点的乘客。但是，现在公开了这额外一分钟的秘密，真正的拖拉者便知道他们还有一分钟可以推后。
Diana DeLonzor calls them “deadliners”:“Somebody who 20)is drawn to that 21)adrenaline rush of the last-minute 22)sprint to the finish line.”She was once one of them.
戴安娜·狄隆佐称这些人为“赶最后一刻的人”：“一些被那种在最后一分钟冲向终点线的兴奋所吸引的人。”她曾经是他们中的一员。
“My heart beat faster, my blood moved through my veins faster,” she said. “And I enjoyed that rush. And I realized that’s why I was late.”
“我的心脏跳得更快，血液流动得更快，”她说，“我喜欢那份刺激。那时，我意识到这就是我迟到的原因。”
And being late amounts to more than a few wasted minutes. “23)Chronic lateness costs the American public over $3 billion in lost productivity every year, and it causes a lot of stress in relationships,” DeLonzor said.
迟到的后果不单只是浪费了几分钟。“每年，惯性迟到让美国公众丧失超过30亿美元的生产力，也造成各种关系紧张，”狄隆佐说。
The key to curing lateness, experts say, is to understand its origins. “It could be fear of failure, it could be 24)hedonism,” said Nemko. “Some people are simply lazy. We’re not allowed to use the word‘lazy’ these days.” In his work as a career counselor, Marty Nemko says he often has to figure out why clients just can’t get started.
治疗迟到的关键，专家们称，在于了解其起因。“可能是惧怕失败，也可能是享乐主义，”南姆科说，“一些人仅仅是懒惰。今时今日，我们不允许用‘懒惰’这个词。”在他作为职业规划顾问的职业生涯中，马蒂·南姆科说，他经常不得不指出为什么一些客户不能开展事情。
One of his clients, Jeffrie Givens, works at a computer but wants to be an opera singer. “What would be going through your mind at that point that would keep you from practicing that 25)aria?”Nemko asked. “I might say I’ve practiced enough,”Givens replied. “I might say ‘I’ll do it later.’ I might say, ‘I’m not in the mood, I’ll try again tomorrow.’”
他的其中一个客户，杰弗里·基文斯，天天对着电脑工作，但却想成为一个歌剧演唱家。“在你无法继续练习独唱曲那个时刻，你的脑海里都在想什么呢？”南姆科问道。“我可能会说我练习得够多了，”基文斯回答道，“我可能会说，‘我晚点再练’或者‘我没心情，明天再试试。’”
Barbara McKay-Smith knows exactly why she’s late: There is always one more thing she wants to do.“When I think to myself, ‘Oh look, I still have ten minutes before I need to be out the door,’ I always think, ‘Well, that’s ten minutes that I can use to put in a load of laundry, to 26)straighten up the kids’rooms.’ I 27)invariably find 15 minutes’ worth of things to do.” Which means her kids, and her husband, Mike Yoder, spend a lot of time waiting for her.
芭芭拉·麦凯—史密斯很清楚地知道自己为什么会迟到：总会有多一件她想做的事情。“当我心想，‘瞧，离我出门还有10分钟时间，’我总是这么想，‘这10分钟，我可以用来洗一大堆衣服，整理一下孩子的房间。’我总是发现要用15分钟来做的事情。”这意味着她的孩子和丈夫迈克·约德要花很多时间去等她。
“I don’t want to be late, and I live with someone who’s late all the time,” Yoder said. Does it drive her family crazy? “Constantly,” she said. “It’s pretty chronic,” Yoder laughed.
“我不想迟到，但是我与一个老是迟到的人生活在一起，”约德说道。这会不会让她的家人抓狂呢？“经常，”她说。“这是长期性，”约德笑道。
“Fortunately, you’re laughing,” I said.
“幸亏你还在笑，”我说。
“I have to laugh at it,” he said.
“我不得不一笑置之，”他说。
