直面任务，享受生活 Savor Your Just Rewards

佚名/Anonymous

Remember the agitated, bleary late-night looks on your friends' faces in college as they attempted to cram a semester of learning into the night before a final? Perhaps you were one of those crammers. Then you probably resented righteous—looking people like me who appeared to spend a pleasant bit of time each day on reading and class note taking before sailing through tests.

You'll be happy to know that people like me all get our comeuppance in other situations. How? Because everybody gets mind blocks to doing some kinds of tasks. Mind blocks have nothing to do with mental acuity. They're very much a part of the human experience, albeit an irritating part for which most of us emotionally flagellate ourselves about, as we continue to avoid the task, thus incurring double damage. We all have them.

We just have different kinds of places where we get stuck on different kinds of tasks. My blocks, for example, are with big or boring talks. I can easily slide into writing a brief article or going on a half hour morning run along the hills above my seaside village. Give me a larger task, however, such as writing a book or going into the gym for an hour work-out or a boring "time-waste" task like getting to the dry cleaners or gas station and I can become diabolically clever at deceiving myself into all the reasons why I can't start, right now anyway, but will sometime soon. Sound familiar?

Here are some tricks to getting yourself into a kind of task you often find yourself avoiding and even finding ways to feel righteous as you savor completion.

Vividly Specific Contrasting Scenarios

Picture the worst and the best case situations—in all their emotional details—for not starting an important task now. How bad could the consequences be if you don't get it done or done right? How exciting could it be if you did it on time and superbly? What if you intend to start it later today? How many things "beyond your control" can prevent you from getting started? If you did, in fact, start it right now, when is the soonest you might be done if you get clear and focused, and allow no other interruptions until you get to a crucial state of completion or actually finish it?

What small indulgence could you give yourself when you're done? Take a break to savor time with a colleague who makes you laugh? Get a surprise gift for a friend who's been especially thoughtful recently? Dive into another, slightly less pressing task and actually get ahead of the curve for once?

See Your Success Again and Again

Since most nurses have time-pressed lives, allowing yourself to savor each success is akin to imprinting on your psyche the experience of satisfaction with a task completed. Just as athletes learn new habits to improve performance by watching videos of master athletes, then store up memories of those images of successful work-outs for their constant internal play-back, your stored-up memories of ease in task completion can motivate you to have those satisfying experiences more often. You are literally seeing yourself repeat your performance. That's new habit-forming. You will become more naturally inclined to dive in early and get more tasks completed in a state of inward and outward grace.

Take on a Big Task, a Bite at a Time

Large or unfamiliar tasks where you don't feel especially confident about your future performance are the ones you're most likely to avoid. Write down the steps to completion.

Call This Approach "Going Slow to Go Faster Later."

Writing will make the steps more real and doable to you and your commitment to the timetables you attach to each task become more vital. They are right in front of you. Post your "tasks and timetable" where you can't avoid seeing it. Tell others of your commitment to that sheet. These actions will place the task higher in your consciousness.

Reward Yourself and Savor Your Rewards

Plan your rewards ahead of time. Diligent nurse that you are, don't deny yourself the reward when you are done by rushing onto the next task. Life goes by too fast anyway. For example, when I complete boring tasks—and not before—I allow myself time to do something that gives me pleasure, such as a stop at a bookstore or time with a friend. When I finish a big important task I give myself a bigger reward such as a trip or new outfit.

Sidelong Glancing at It

Sometimes facing a task straight on just makes you freeze. Try to picture how to do it by "sidelong glancing", that is getting small glimpses out of the corner of your mental eye about how you can most easily do the task. One of the best ways is to literally get moving and looking around. In times of mind—blocks, anger or tension, men tend to act out more while women tend to shut down, moving less, You will be more aware of your emotions and motivations when you get into motion. Consider walking, showering, eating or otherwise being "on your way" to doing the task. You will let your mind go naturally free.

When you are in motion and not focusing directly on what you have to do, especially if you can get outside into the fresh air and sunlight, you can literally see farther, gain a larger perspective and see how the parts of the task can fit together. You will pull up ideas from lower in your consciousness, think of apparently unrelated ideas that will do, in fact, have a bearing on ways to get the task done. Your unconscious mind becomes your friend in helping you recognize your best path to accomplishing the task. And the task will seem less onerous because you lift your mood when you put yourself in motion.

是否还记得深夜的大学里，朋友们那一张张因焦虑而睡眼惺忪的面孔？那是因为期末考试即将到来，他们在考试前一夜临时抱佛脚努力弥补，也许你也是他们当中的一员。当时，对于像我这样一本正经，考前每天花点儿时间惬意地读读课堂笔记就能轻松过关的人，你也许憎恨不已。

你们会乐于知道像我这样的人在其他情况下也会有应得的报应。怎么会这样？因为每个人都会在做某些事情时出现思维障碍。思维障碍并不等同于智力问题，它会使我们懊恼，陷入自责，这是很常见的经历，试着避免它只会招致更多的损失。这样的经历我们都曾有过。

只不过，我们会在不同的地方遇到不同的阻碍。比如说，我的绊脚石，就是听那些冗长而无聊的报告。我会溜出去写一篇短文，或在早晨沿着我居住的海边乡村的小山跑上半小时。然而，若是给我一个较大的任务，比如写一本书，在健身房进行一小时锻炼，或类似去干洗店、加油站等既无聊又浪费时间的任务时，我就会变得绝顶聪明，想出一切无法立刻行动的借口，往后推辞。这些听起来是否很耳熟呢？

下面这些小技巧可以让你不再逃避任务，并且，让你在完成任务后，甚至可以感受到本该拥有的成功与喜悦。

真实详细地比较各种方案

想象一下最好和最坏的情景——把能影响你情绪的所有情况都考虑到——如果你不完成或不立即完成它，后果会有多么严重；如果你按时且精彩地做完，又会是多么令人兴奋；如果今天迟些开始做又会如何；让你不能开始的“不可控因素”有多少。事实上，假如你目标明确、集中精力、排除干扰，直到你完成了任务的重要阶段或者实际上已经完成，最快需要多久？

你会在完成时，让自己怎样放松？休息一会儿，享受一下同事让你开怀大笑的时光？送一份意外惊喜给近来特别关心你的朋友？还是投入到另一个压力较小的任务，以便提前完成呢？

不断重温你的成功

多数护士的生活节奏都特别紧张，因此在脑海中回忆每完成一个任务时的满足心情，就相当于让自己享受了一次成功。正如运动员通过观看运动健将的录像，将其存储在记忆中，并不断在脑海中回放那些成功的精彩动作，从而学会新的习惯以提高自己的技能一样，你存储在大脑中的完成任务时的轻松感，也会激励你为了更强烈的满足感而努力。不断重复自己的行为，这也是养成新习惯的过程。你将会更自然地提前准备，去完美地完成更多的任务。

承担大任务，逐步完成

那些艰巨而生疏的任务是你最没有信心去完成的，也是你最可能逃避的任务。可以将需要完成的每一步写下来。

这叫做“先慢后快”法。

写下每一步会使这些步骤看起来更有可行性，而且对你承诺坚持完成每项任务也变得尤为重要。它们就在你的前方。将你的时间表与任务栏贴在醒目的位置，将你对它们的承诺告知他人，这些都能提高你对任务的关注程度。

奖励自己，尽情享受应得的回报

提前安排好对自己的奖励。倘若你是一个勤奋的护士，当你匆忙投入到下一项任务前，不要拒绝对自己的奖赏。不管怎么说，生活总是过得太快。打个比方，当我完成一项令人厌烦的任务时——以前可不这样——我会奖励自己花时间去做喜欢的事，比如在书店逗留一会儿，或与朋友共享时光。当我完成一项艰巨而重要的任务时，会给自己较大的奖赏，比如去旅行或买一套新的装备。

不要紧盯着任务

直面任务，有时会让你感到紧张。试着想象如何通过侧面关注来完成它，即从心理上不时地淡化它，看看如何能最轻松地完成任务。行动起来，边做边看，这是最明智的办法。当思维受阻、愤怒或紧张的时候，男人趋向于做得更多，而女人则会停止不前或做得更少。开始行动，你将会对自己的情绪与动机更为了解。想象着你在散步、洗澡、吃饭而不是“要去”执行这个任务，你的思想就会自然而然地放松。

当你在执行任务，且不用直接面对必须做的事，特别是当外出的你融入清新的空气与灿烂的阳光中时，你定会看得更远、更广，并能更透彻地理解到任务内部各个环节之间的联系。你将会从意识深处，发掘出那些表面与任务无关、实际上却至关重要的思想。你的潜意识会成为你的朋友，在你寻找完成任务的最佳途径时，助你一臂之力。这样，任务看起来就没有那么繁重了，因为你已经全身心地投入到其中了。

心灵小语

生活让我们不断面对难题，掌握快乐的面对方法，使忙碌和烦躁的副产品不再成为我们心情的障碍。

W 词汇笔记

agitated[ˈædʒiteitid]adj.不安的；焦虑的；激动的

例 Don't get all agitated!

不要那么激动！

cram[kræm]v.塞入；填塞

例 Children were crammed into the back of the car.

孩子们被塞进了车子的后座。

comeuppance[kʌmˈʌpəns]n.应得的惩罚；因果报应

例 He got his comeuppance when the bully thrashed him.

他被混混修理是罪有应得。

flagellate[ˈflædʒəˌleit]v.鞭打；鞭挞

例 Sometimes only a good flagellate will straighten out a naughty boy.

有时只有狠狠鞭挞才能使顽童学好。

S 小试身手

你存储在大脑中的完成任务时的轻松感，也会激励你为了更强烈的满足感而努力。

译___________________________________________

当我完成一项令人厌烦的任务时——以前可不这样——我会奖励自己花时间去做喜欢的事，比如在书店逗留一会儿，或与朋友共享时光。

译___________________________________________

你的潜意识会成为你的朋友，在你寻找完成任务的最佳途径时，助你一臂之力。

译___________________________________________

P 短语家族

……as they attempted to cram a semester of learning into the night before a final?

attempt to：试图；企图

造___________________________________________

We just have different kinds of places where we get stuck on different kinds of tasks.

get stuck on sth：停顿下来；做什么事情有困难

造___________________________________________