Before you listen
Talk about it first.
- What kinds of tasks do you usually put off?
- Why do you think people delay things they know are important?
Listen for these words
You will hear
- put off
- Delay doing something until later.
- in good company
- Not alone; many other people are in the same situation.
- tend to
- Usually do something; are likely to do it.
- relief
- The good feeling when something stressful or unpleasant stops.
- threatening
- Seeming difficult or dangerous; causing worry.
B2 Upper intermediate · Talk · About 1 minute
Listen
Listen once for the main idea. Then answer, and listen again for the details. Don’t read the transcript yet.
Step 1 · Main idea
What is it about?
Listen once, all the way through. Then choose the best answer.
01What is the speaker’s main point?
Step 2 · Details
Listen again for the details
Read the questions first, then play the recording again. Pause when you need to.
01How was procrastination seen for a long time?
02What makes us likely to avoid a task again?
03What example does she give for starting a report?
04According to the speaker, what often happens once you’ve started?
Show the transcript
Good evening, everyone. I’d like to start with a quick question. How many of you have put off something important this week? Most of you, it seems. Don’t worry, you’re in good company.
For a long time, procrastination was seen as a problem of time management or simple laziness. But a growing number of researchers would argue that it’s really about emotions. When a task makes us feel anxious, bored, or unsure of ourselves, we tend to avoid it, and the relief we feel when we switch to something easier makes us likely to do it again.
So what can be done? One approach that seems to help is making the first step almost ridiculously small. Instead of telling yourself to write the report, you might just open the file and write one sentence. If you’d planned to clean the whole garage, start with a single shelf. Once you’ve started, the task often feels far less threatening than it did.
Now play the recording and read along. Then try saying it with the speaker, at the same speed.
Speak
Your turn
Tell a partner about a task you’ve been putting off. Explain why you think you avoid it, and suggest one very small first step.