佚名/Anonymous
Remember the agitated,bleary late-night looks on your friends'face s in college as they attempted to cram a semester of learning into the n ight before a final?Perhaps you were one of those crammers.Then you pr obably 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 so me kinds of tasks.Mind blocks have nothing to do with mental acuity.Th ey're very much a part of the human experience,albeit an irritating par t for which most of us emotionally flagellate ourselves about,as we con tinue to avoid the task,thus incurring double damage.We all have them.
We just have different kinds of places where we get stuck on differe nt 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 t ask,however,such as writing a book or going into the gym for an hour w ork-out or a boring "time-waste" task like getting to the dry cleaners o r gas station and I can become diabolically clever at deceiving myself i nto all the reasons why I can't start,right now anyway,but will someti me soon.Sound familiar?
Here are some tricks to getting yourself into a kind of task you oft en find yourself avoiding and even finding ways to feel righteous as you savor completion.
Vividly Specific Contrasting Scenarios
Picture the worst and best case situations-in all their emotional d etails-for not starting an important task now.How bad could the conseq uences 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 la ter today?How many things "beyond your control" can prevent you from ge tting started?If you did,in fact,start it right now,when is the soon est you might be done if you get clear and focused,and allow no other i nterruptions 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 surpri se gift for a friend who's been especially thoughtful recently?Dive int o another,slightly less pressing task and actually get ahead of the cur ve for once?
See Your Success Again and Again
Since most nurses have time-pressed lives,allowing yourself to savo r each success is akin to imprinting on your psyche the experience of sa tisfaction with a task completed.Just as athletes learn new habits to i mprove performance by watching videos of master athletes,then store up memories of those images of successful work-outs for their constant inte rnal play-back,your stored-up memories of ease in task completion can m otivate you to have those satisfying experiences more often.You are lit erally 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 com mitment to the timetables you attach to each task become more vital.The y are right in front of you.Post your "tasks and timetable" where you c an't avoid seeing it.Tell others of your commitment to that sheet.Thes e 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 task s-and not before-I allow myself time to do something that gives me ple asure,such as a stop at a bookstore or time with a friend.When I finis h a big important task I give myself a bigger reward such as a trip or n ew outfit.
Sidelong Glancing at It
Sometimes facing a task straight on just makes you freeze.Try to pi cture how to do it by "sidelong glancing",that is getting small glimpse s 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 ar ound.In times of mind-blocks,anger or tension,men tend to act out mo re 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.Y ou 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,y ou 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 do,in fact,have a bearing on ways to get the task done.Your unconscious mind bec omes your friend in helping you recognize your best path to accomplishin g the task.And the task will seem less onerous because you lift your mo od when you put yourself in motion.
是否還記得深夜的大學裏，朋友那一張張因焦慮而睡眼惺忪的麵孔？那是因為期末考試即將到來，他們在考試前一夜臨時抱佛腳努力彌補，也許你也是他們當中的一員。當時，對於像我這樣一本正經，考前每天花點兒時間愜意地讀讀課堂筆記就能輕鬆過關的人，你也許憎恨不已。
你們會樂於知道像我這樣的人在其他情況下也會有應得的報應。怎麽會這樣？因為每個人都會在做某些事情時出現思維障礙。思維障礙並不等同於智力問題，它會使我們懊惱，陷入自責，這是很常見的經曆，試著避免它隻會招致更多的損失。這樣的經曆我們都曾有過。
隻不過，我們會在不同的地方遇到不同的阻礙。比如說，我的絆腳石，就是聽那些冗長而無聊的報告。我會溜出去寫一篇短文，或在早晨沿著我居住的海邊鄉村的小山跑上半小時。然而，若是給我一個較大的任務，比如寫一本書，在健身房進行一小時鍛煉，或類似去幹洗店、加油站等既無聊又浪費時間的任務時，我就會變得絕頂聰明，想出一切無法立刻行動的借口，往後推辭。這些聽起來是否很耳熟呢？
下麵這些小技巧可以讓你不再逃避任務，並且，讓你在完成任務後，甚至可以感受到本該擁有的成功與喜悅。
真實詳細地比較各種方案
想象一下最好和最壞的情景——把能影響你情緒的所有情況都考慮到——如果你不完成或不立即完成它，後果會有多麽嚴重；如果你按時且精彩地做完，又會是多麽令人興奮；如果今天遲些開始做又會如何；讓你不能開始的“不可控因素”有多少。事實上，假如你目標明確、集中精力、排除幹擾，直到你完成了任務的重要階段或者實際上已經完成，最快需要多久。
你會在完成時，讓自己怎樣放鬆？休息一會兒，享受一下同事讓你開懷大笑的時光？送一份意外驚喜給近來特別關心你的朋友？還是投入到另一個壓力較小的任務，以便提前完成呢？
不斷重溫你的成功
多數護士的生活節奏都特別緊張，因此在腦海中回憶每完成一個任務時的滿足心情，就相當於讓自己享受了一次成功。正如運動員通過觀看運動健將的錄像，將其存儲在記憶中，並不斷在腦海中回放那些成功的精彩動作，從而學會新的習慣以提高自己的技能一樣，你存儲在大腦中的完成任務時的輕鬆感，也會激勵你為了更強烈的滿足感而努力。不斷重複自己的行為，這也是養成新習慣的過程。你將會更自然地提前準備，去完美地完成更多的任務。
承擔大任務，逐步完成
那些艱巨而生疏的任務是你最沒有信心去完成的，也是你最可能逃避的任務，可以將需要完成的每一步寫下來。
這叫做“先慢後快”法。
寫下每一步會使這些步驟看起來更有可行性，而且對你承諾堅持完成每項任務也變得尤為重要，它們就在你的前方。將你的時間表與任務欄貼在醒目的位置，將你對它們的承諾告知他人，這些都能提高你對任務的關注程度。
獎勵自己，盡情享受應得的回報
提前安排好對自己的獎勵。倘若你是一個勤奮的護士，當你匆忙投入到下一項任務前，不要拒絕對自己的獎賞。不管怎麽說，生活總是向前的。打個比方，當我完成一項令人厭煩的任務時——以前可不這樣——我會獎勵自己花時間去做喜歡的事，比如在書店逗留一會兒，或與朋友共享時光。當我完成一項艱巨而重要的任務時，會給自己較大的獎賞，比如去旅行或買一套新的裝備。
不要緊盯著任務
直麵任務，有時會讓你感到緊張。試著想象如何通過側麵關注來完成它，即從心理上不時地淡化它，看看如何能最輕鬆地完成任務。行動起來，邊做邊看，這是最明智的辦法。當思維受阻、憤Å或緊張的時候，男人趨向於做得更多，而女人多會停止不前或做得更少。開始行動，你將會對自己的情緒與動機更為了解。想象著你在散步、洗澡、吃飯而不是“要去”執行這個任務，你的思想就會自然而然地放鬆。
當你在執行任務，且不用直接麵對必須做的事，特別是當外出的你融入清新的空氣與燦爛的陽光中時，你定會看得更遠、更廣，並能更透徹地理解到任務內部各個環節之間的聯係。你將會從意識深處，發掘出那些表麵與任務無關、實際上卻至關重要的思想。你的潛意識會成為你的朋友，在你尋找完成任務的最佳途徑時，助你一臂之力。這樣，任務看起來就沒有那麽繁重了，因為你已經全身心地投入到其中了。