BBC随身英语:Stop procrastinating! 别拖了！行动起来吧！

We like to tell ourselves that we work better under pressure, when a deadline is looming. But the truth is that working at the last minute is counterproductive: we make more mistakes, our behaviour annoys other people and we end up feeling guilty and ashamed. Worse still, we risk wasting a significant portion of our life putting off tasks that will only come back to haunt us later. As the poet Edward Young wrote: "Procrastination is the thief of time".

Piers Steel gives us some advice to help us confront important tasks. He suggests breaking it into smaller chunks and taking baby steps until the task at hand has been completed. Or you could give a friend ￡50 and tell them that if you don't go through with it, they can give it away to a cause or a political party you dislike.

Those who are highly-organised and efficient won't need to take heed of this advice. For everyone else: will you start following these tips and confront those urgent tasks that await you today? Or will you stop procrastinating tomorrow... or perhaps the day after?

Quiz 测验 1. What is a procrastinator?

A procrastinator is someone who postpones important tasks and duties until a later date, rather than confronting them.

2. Find four verbs in the article that mean 'to wait until later to do something important'?

To postpone, to procrastinate, to delay, to put off.

3. Why can working at the last minute be a problem?

When we work at the last minute we make more mistakes, our behaviour can be irritating for others and we feel a sense of guilt and shame.

4. Find an expression in the article that means 'to take one small step at a time to accomplish something'?

To take baby steps.

5. Is the following statement true, false or not given? Professor Piers Steel will give you money if you stop procrastinating.

False. Professor Piers Steel suggests you give money to one of your friends and tell them they can give it away to a cause you dislike if you don't complete the task.

Glossary 词汇表 to bring yourself让自己（做什么） to postpone推迟，延迟 procrastination拖延，耽搁 procrastinators拖延者，拖拉者 to delay推迟，拖延 a duty一项责任 a task-avoider一个任务逃避者 to tackle着手处理（或对付） under pressure在压力下 counterproductive产生反效应 to put off推迟， 延期 to confront面对 to take baby steps小步小步向前走， 慢慢来 to go through with it必须面对，必须撑下去 highly-organised非常有条理的 to take heed of留意，注意