留学生要养成准时作业的五个好习惯

留学生要养成准时作业的五个好习惯

 

Good Habit # 1 – Get started

好习惯之一：开始做就对了

 

For all the talk about a deadline being a motivator and a planning tool, it mostly is an unforgiving date looming in the distance. As one draws nearer to it, it looms higher. In the shadow of it, a deadline can be quite terrifying. A disciplined academic writer knows this and accepts this. A smartdisciplined writer goes one step further and takes steps to remove the terror from a deadline so that it doesn’t loom at all. It becomes simply another date on a calendar. The first habit about deadlines that a smart writer develops is to start working on a paper as soon as it is assigned.

常有人说期限是督促你努力的动力来源，让你事先规划的工具，但多数人仍视它为远方若隐若现的无情猛兽，越靠近它，它就越是张牙舞爪。时时刻刻笼罩在它的阴影下，期限着实令人畏惧。自律的作者了解、也接受这点，而聪明的作者懂得抢先一步，采取行动，屏除期限如影随形的恐惧。期限不过是行事历上的一个日期，而聪明的作者培养的第一个好习惯，就是在知道有这篇论文要写之后，就马上着手进行。

 

Early starts aren’t all about use of time and making every day count, though that is important. Writers who take a small sabbatical at the beginning of every paper project are not just wasting time—though they are—they also are indulging themselves. We all know some indulgences are better than others, with timing often being the critical issue. A runner who lets himself be distracted at the start of a race pays a price and curses his luck. A writer who gives his mind a break when he should be brainstorming a subject will find other excuses as a project goes along. 

早点开始并不单只是为了充分利用每一天的时间，当然这点很重要。而是若在每篇论文写作开始前都先放自己一点假，想当然耳时间是一定浪费了，还放纵了自己。适时放纵、宠爱自己是好的，但时间点常常是关键。赛跑选手若在比赛一开始就让自己分心，一定会付出惨痛的代价，根本是自掘坟墓。同理，明明是该全神贯注思考的时候却让自己的心放大假，在写作期间一定还会不断找借口拖延。

 

This falls under the heading of Discipline. I repeat, starting a project on day one is not just about use of time. It is about becoming mentally engaged in a project at the outset, rather than at some later date. After all, an academic paper should not be a dreaded assignment. It is an opportunity to stir your intellect, learn something new, and advance your academic career through research and writing. What is to dread about that? Neither should a deadline be dreaded. It is just another appointment on your academic calendar, just another part of your scholarly routine. Get started!

这就是自律。我再强调一次，从知道有这篇论文的第一天就开始着手，不仅是为了充分利用时间，而是让自己在一开始就做好投入的心理准备，免得之后措手不及。毕竟学术论文不该是件可怕的工作，而是一个机会，让你透过研究和写作来锻炼脑力、学习新知、提升学术涵养，这有甚么可怕的呢？截稿期限也一样，没有甚么好怕的，不过是行事历上的另一件代办事项，学者生涯的例行工作之一而已。开始做就对了！

 

Good Habit # 2 – Do the worst first

好习惯之二：从最讨厌的部分开始 

 

This habit is a good one to develop for any sort of task. It plays to a writer’s psychology (or anyone else’s psychology) through deferred gratification. It holds in reserve something to do that a person happily anticipates doing rather than dreads doing. Dread is not a motivator. It doesn’t spur movement. Thus, when a dreaded part of a task is still ahead, people put it off till… “later.” They drag out the enjoyable tasks, milking them more than being enriched by them. The impact is very much like the spinning of wheels: Momentum is slowed just when a final push is needed.

养成这项习惯，做任何工作都将无往不利，就是把喜欢做、想做的留到最后再做，而不要将畏惧做的留到最后。这项习惯操弄了作者或任何人的心理，给人倒吃甘蔗的错觉，毕竟畏惧是激不起斗志的，无法鞭策行动。当还有令人害怕的工作等在前头，最常见的反应就是「等一下」再做，但一旦拖延，连喜欢做的也一起延后了，不但没有因为做喜欢做的事感到满足，反而只会感到被榨干般精疲力竭，好比转动中的轮子，正需最后冲刺之际，转速反而慢了下来，动力渐失。

 

To use thisstrategy of worst-first, it is important that a writer-researcher know himself.He should acknowledge to himself his least favorite tasks. Example: If perusingbound, published material is more enjoyable than compiling data from loose-leafand online sources, do the tedious collection before the reading. Also, researchrequires meticulous note-taking and ordering of notes, or else it is wastedeffort; if you don’t like taking and ordering notes—do them now, carefully, without deferring them till… “later.”You know what you don’t like. Go ahead and get it out of the way.

要从讨厌的部分开始做，作者或研究者首先要了解自己，承认自己最讨厌做哪些事情。比如说，如果觉得细读装订好的文献刊物比整理网络或散装数据来得愉快，就在开始阅读前先把枯燥的资料搜集部分做完。又例如做研究需巨细靡遗地作笔记并整理笔记，否则一切努力都是徒劳。如果你不喜欢作笔记、整理笔记，现在就做，谨慎小心地做，不要「等一下」。你很清楚自己不喜欢甚么，就先把它们做完，别让这些绊脚石拖累你的进度。

 

Once again, this habit of ordering necessary tasksaccording to personal likes and dislikes can only be developed if awriter-researcher has discipline. When someone has proceeded to a point whereacademic writing is a regular part of his life, the assumption is that theperson can regulate his activity. He can do what he knows he needs to do, rather than wants to do.Another example: If second drafts are a problem for a writer, he should do itwithin a day or two of the first draft, rather than waiting till… “later.” Whenthe worst is behind, such procrastination is not a problem.

我再次强调，这项根据喜好排列工作优先级的习惯，唯有当研究者能自律才培养得起来。如果学术写作早已成为你生活中的一部分，你就必须懂得约束自己的行为，知道自己必须做甚么，而不是想要做甚么。再举个例子。如果写第二份草稿是你最讨厌的部分，就应该在完成第一份草稿的一、两天内写完第二份草稿，千万不要「等一下」。 只要先解决最讨厌的部分，拖延的症头就会不药而愈了。

 

Good Habit # 3 – Expect Obstacles 

好习惯之三：未雨绸缪，为突发状况提早作准备

 

Good academic writers are good project managers. They must be to balance their other work with the urgent work of planning, researching, writing, and finishing an academic paper. Like all good managers, they are able to multi-task, to do the daily tasks of researching and writing at the same time they methodically complete the overview tasks, such as organizing material and keeping track of where they are in a project. Keeping these juggled balls in the air is a developed skill: the habit of looking ahead to anticipate and avoid potential obstacles to completing a paper on time.

优秀的学者一定是杰出的项目经理，他们能妥善安排时间，让自己在被期限追赶的研究、实验、假设、论证、发表论文和私人生活间游刃有余，如同项目经理般日理万机，一边进行着论文写作，另一边还能继续分析、统整数据，确保进度不落后。其实这样得心应手掌握全局的能力是可以培养的：只要养成凡事先规划的习惯，预想可能发生的突发状况，就能不急不徐地避开障碍，持续工作，准时交稿。

 

Anyone who has ridden a bicycle or motorcycle knows the importance of a rider keeping his eyes down the road to more easily maintain balance and smoothly adjust the path of the two-wheeler to the obstacles ahead. The same is true of writers in lengthy research-and-writing projects. You must keep “pedaling” (or in the case of motorcycles, keep a hand on the throttle) while you scan ahead for obstacles. What sort of obstacles? A suspect source that proves unfruitful. A holiday schedule that blocks access to research materials. A personal agenda item that disrupts the work.

就像骑单车或摩托车，眼睛直视前方能让你清楚地看到路面上的石头或坑洞，适时地调整方向、避开障碍，保持车身平稳及行车顺畅。进行冗长的论文写作如同踩着单车踏板〈若是骑摩托车则是不断转动把手催油门〉往目的地前进，若你能防患于未然，就能让自己安全抵达终点。发生了什么事会让你在写作时分心？预想的假设无法成立？假日图书馆没开不能查资料借书？还是有无法拒绝的重要聚会？

 

Then there are the inexplicable obstacles that can’t be anticipated—a funeral in the family or an apartment fire that engulfs research notes. Those major disruptions generally result in deadline extensions. It is the foreseeable obstacles that professors hear about most often… and discount. They tend not to sympathize with writers who simply have not built flexibility into their thinking and their schedules. Here is the truth: There will be problems in the course of an academic writing project, there will be obstacles, and the writer who plans ahead for them can still arrive on time. 

世事难料，有些状况确实会让你措手不及，像是亲戚家人过世、突如其来的大火将完成的稿子付之一炬。遇到这样的事通常能得到教授的通融，允许你延后交稿。然而教授最常听到请求延迟交稿的理由往往不是这些无法避免的状况，对于没有事先作好计划而导致迟交的借口教授是半信半疑，不了解轻重缓急来安排优先级的学生，教授往往不会给予任何同情和宽容。再一次强调，在写作学术论文时难免会遇到难题和阻碍，但未雨绸缪、事先做好规划的人在面对困难时总能迎刃而解，顺利在期限内交稿，绝不拖延。

 

学术界的人都很忙，永远有比写学术论文更要紧的事，论文截稿或发表期限往往一不小心就被忽略了，最后只能在紧要关头手忙脚乱地完成。这种被死线追着跑的过程可谓苦不堪言。其实，轻轻松松按时交稿跟任何习惯一样，是学得来的。此系列将逐一介绍有哪些习惯可减少面对截稿期限的恐惧，还能增进论文的质量，最后会在TPS粉丝专页为各位做个总整理。

Authors of academic papers have other things to do. In the general busyness of academia, the deadline for a paper to be handed in or published can get overlooked. The subsequent scramble to complete the paper on time can be painful. Painless deadline-meeting can be learned like any other habit. This series will describe some habits that not only make deadlines less threatening but can improve the quality of the papers themselves. Each of the habits will be presented on the TPS Fan page before being compiled.

 

Good Habit # 4 – Take a Break 

好习惯之四：适时地休息，释放压力 

 

At some point in the development of your academic paper, you need to take a break. I know this flies in the face of the whole idea of meeting a deadline. However, as important as systematically working ahead on a project is walking away from it at the right time. The old maxim is, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” That could read, “All work and no play makes for a dull paper.” Unrelieved immersion in research or writing of an academic piece is likely to produce unrelieved yawning—or worse—among readers. Taking a break helps avoid this consequence.

写作论文让你的精神持续紧绷，这时你需要暂时放下手中的工作、释放压力。这听起来似乎和准时交稿的目标背道而驰，然而，适时地休息和努力不懈、有条不紊地完成工作一样重要。俗话说的好：「整天埋头苦读而不愿意停下来喘口气，天才都会闷成呆头鹅。」换句话说：「光顾着埋首写作而不懂得释放压力的人，只会写出艰涩难读的蹩脚文章。」一味埋头钻研字句、沉浸在论文写作不作他想，对读者而言只是在创造难以理解的学术篇章，更甚的像是将研究成果放在学术的高塔，让人高攀不了。适度的休息能够避免这种状况发生。

 

However, make it a structured break. I know, that also flies in the face of usual counsel about the value of spontaneity in vacations. Yet the purpose of the break is to replenish mental strength, not become flaccid in your thinking. So some mental calisthenics are a good idea during the break. Write a long, chatty letter to your mother, or sister, or fiancé. Why? You tap into the emotional side of your vocabulary and flush the impersonal, academic stuff. It is an exercise in grounding. Also, read a good book or articles written by an admired writer. It might inform your own writing.

然而，即使是休息也必须是精心策划、有目的而为的。我了解这和休息的动机南辕北辙。在这说的休息，是为了达到有效释放心理压力，畅通停滞思路的目的。建议你作些转换心情、感性的活动，像是写封真情流露的信问候父母、兄弟姊妹，或是许久不见的朋友。将自己从严肃、一板一眼的气氛中抽离，能够帮助你缓和心情、沉淀思绪。你也可以在这时读些喜欢的书、短文，因为透过阅读能帮助你修正和增进自己的写作技巧。

 

How long a break is advisable? You might drop the work for a few days, perhaps a week. This will not be possible, even for a day, if you haven’t scheduled the break at the start of the project and stayed on schedule. In that sense, the break is a reward for good planning and good work. The real reward is a brain that has been rested a bit, and eyes that can see the project with fresh, new perspective. Portraitists work intensely, close to the canvas, and then step back to see what they have wrought. Writers must do the same, stepping back for a few days for a better view.

休息多久才恰当？如果事先周全计划，你就有暂时放下手边工作几天或一星期的余裕。休息是对自己努力工作达成目标的犒赏，同时能让思绪重整，为大脑注入新的刺激，让你从不同的角度检视工作成果。画家不眠不休地对着画布的一角作画，最后总会起身、退后几步，从完整的角度重新审视自己的作品，作最后修正。写作学术论文也应如此，试着放下已完成的章节，跳出原本的框架再次检视，能帮助你将文章修饰得更加完美。

It is said that the best laid plans of mice and men are for nought when the unexpected occurs. That being true as well for writers of academic papers, it is wise to include the prospect of failure in your planning. By doing so, you virtually eliminate the possibility of failure. The truth is, a conscientious scholar-author will not fail to deliver a paper by the due date. Such people cannot countenance the idea of failing. Yet unless they recognize that circumstances beyond their control can indeed make hash of their plans, they might have to scramble to submit a weak, thin paper.

我们常说：再怎么谨慎的计划也会有出错的可能，这样的意外对于专精论文的学者也都无法避免。聪明的做法唯有在计划研究时就考虑将来失败的可能性，并想好遭遇困难的应对方法，如此一来你可以完全避免最终失败的结果。其实有良心的学者们绝对会准时交稿，因为对他们而言实在无法接受失败的挫折，除非真的是因为一些超出他们所能控制的因素，他们才有可能草草地交出一篇欠佳的文章。

 

So, yes, failure is possible for any academic writer if only failure to uphold a standard of excellence. The way around this is to build into a writing schedule an awareness that a writing path first taken might prove to lead nowhere, requiring a retreat to a more fruitful one. Sometimes it means a subject must be approached from another angle using a whole different set of sources. Sometimes it means a premise proves faulty and must be adjusted to fit the facts. But occasionally it means a subject turns out to be thin grist and must be tossed for something more substantial.

因为有些学者对论文的要求非常高，所以只要没达到对自己的要求他们就认为研究失败了。想避免这个困扰的学者们必须明白，最初的假论可能无法证明你的学说，因此你得有另一个可能成功的假论。也许你必须从另一个角度和换个方法想想，也可能你必须从其他新的方向起步。有时你起初的假论出错了，你必须根据事实及证据重新确认你的学说。或是最后的研究发现没有办法强烈地支持学说，而需要重新找出更具说服力的因素。

 

The solution, I repeat, is awareness. One can only allot so much time to a paper, after all; it is not possible to always leave lots of time to start over. What is possible is to constantly monitor the viability of a project and the rate of progress in completing it. By so doing, a writer can recognize early on that he is caught up in a false start. Are the early sources not as productive as anticipated? Red flag. Is early material not substantiating the whole operating theory of a paper? Red flag. Are evidentiary contradictions piling up? Red flag. Evaluate as you research and retreat if necessary.

我再次强调，避免研究失败的方法就是在计划研究时就考虑将来失败的可能性。 每篇论文都有交稿的期限，学者们终究无法一直重头开始，但是你可以监督你的研究进度，并安排时间表让你可以按照进度进行。如此一来你才能尽早发现错误，尽早处理。以下情形为当您作研究时需要提高警觉之处：初步的研究发现是否为你所预期的？初步发现的证据不支持你的最终论点？或者相互矛盾的证据不断增加？当你遇到上述情形时，如果有必要就请重新衡量你的研究。及早发现便能及时调整与修改论文了。#p#分页标题#e#