Beating Procrastination打敗拖延症

Mia Larose and Mark Chen both work for a large pharmaceutical company, LRN, and are having a chat during a coffee break.

米雅．拉羅斯和陳馬克在一間很大的製藥公司LRN工作。某一次休息時間，兩個人正在喝咖啡聊天。

Dialogue 對話

Mia: So, how's that presentation coming along, finished it yet?

Mark: You're joking, aren't you? I haven't even started thinking about that yet.

Mia: Well, don't leave it too long; only a few days now until the convention.

Mark: Well, it's not as if I don't want to do it; it's just that I've got a lot on my plate right now.

Mia: Right. Well, feel free to give me a shout if there's anything I can do to help.

Mark: Cheers Mia, that's nice of you. It's just that every time I get ready to start it, I get an influx of emails, or the phone keeps ringing, or Mr. Lin calls me into his office for something urgent.

Mia: I hope you don't mind me saying, but, are you sure you're prioritising properly?

Mark: Well, there's not much I can do, is there? I can't really control when people send me emails or call me.

Mia: No, but you can't keep putting things off either. If there is something that has a deadline, then that's got to come first.

Mark: I see what you're saying. I'll give it a go.

Mia: And while we're on the subject, I saw you spend an hour tidying your desk earlier. Hardly top priority now, is it? Don't you think you might be procrastinating because you don't want to do the presentation?

Mark: Ah, yeah, I see what you mean. Well, you're not pulling any punches today, are you?

Mia: Haha! I'm just keeping you on your toes.

米雅：報告收尾的如何？完工了嗎？

馬克：妳在開我玩笑吧？我根本連想都還沒開始想。

米雅：別再拖囉，距大會只剩下幾天了。

馬克：不是我不想做，而是我現在同時有太多事情要做了。

米雅：好啦，如果有我能幫得上忙的，你就盡量說吧。

馬克：謝啦米雅，妳人真好。其實，就是每次我要開始動工時，就會突然有一堆電子郵件湧入，或是電話一直響，要不然就是林先生有急事叫我進辦公室。

米雅：希望你不要介意我要說的話，但你覺得你有分清楚事情的輕重緩急嗎？

馬克：但我好像也沒什麼辦法不是嗎？我無法控制別人什麼時候寄信或打電話給我。

米雅：是沒錯，但你也不能一直拖延正事。有期限的事項就應該要優先處理。

馬克：我懂妳的意思了。我會試試看的。

米雅：既然聊到這個，我剛剛也看到你花了一小時在整理桌面，但這應該不是最優先的事項吧？你不覺得讓你拖延的原因其實就是你不想做報告嗎？

馬克：啊，也是，我知道妳的意思了。妳今天這麼直言不諱，是沒打算讓我好過，對吧？

米雅：哈哈！我只是想讓你回到正軌罷了。

Vocabulary 字彙

1. coming along 接近完成，即將收尾 = progressing / nearing completion The report's not quite finished yet, but it's coming along.

2. don't leave it too long 別拖延太久 = don't wait too long before doing it He hasn’t bought his ticket yet! I told him not to leave it too long.

3. it's not as if I don't want to 不是我不想要…… = I want to but I can't I still haven’t lost weight! It’s not as if I don’t want to, but whatever I do, my weight stays the same.

4. a lot on my plate 同時有很多事 = to have a lot of things to do With work, my MBA, and the baby, I've really got a lot on my plate at the moment.

5. give me a shout 讓我知道，直接說 = let me know / just ask me If you have any questions, just give me a shout.

6. in~ux ['0nflKks] 很多事項同時湧入或同時發生 = a lot of things coming in at the same time We were about to close when we had a sudden influx of customers.

7. keep putting things off 避開某件事情不做，拖延 = to avoid doing something You'll never finish your report if you keep putting it off.

8. procrastinate [pro'kr$stD`net] 拖延 =avoid doing something / put something off He needs to do his homework but he keeps checking Facebook, tidying his room, or having a nap – so I told him to stop procrastinating.

9. not pulling any punches 坦白，直言不諱 = saying things directly / being very honest She didn't pull her punches at all! She said my work was rubbish and that I'm lazy.

10. keeping you on your toes 讓你回到正軌 = nag or remind someone to help them stay at their best If I ever get too lazy, my friends are always there to keep me on my toes.