在快節奏、高压力的现代社会中，谁没有一点拖延症？想起来，小编在读书的时候就患上了拖延症：一个月前布置的论文摆在那，心里想着明天吧，明天就开工。然后明天又想着明天，结果当然就是等到火烧眉毛的时候才如梦初醒，熬夜赶工。

同学，拖延是病，得治。

In 2009， Fred Stutzman was a graduate student at the University of North Carolina and he was trying to complete some important work on his thesis.

But there was a problem.

His favorite coffee shop， which had previously been a quiet place where he could escape distraction and get work done， had just added a new and very dangerous feature.

Wireless internet.

Now Stutzman found himself constantly distracted by the endless supply of entertainment and social media on the web—even if he really wanted to get something done. He tried disconnecting from the Internet， but it wasnt that simple. He was always clicking it back on to “take a break.” He was constantly fighting the urge to check his messages and updates.

Thankfully， Stutzman happened to be a programmer studying Information Science. When he went home that night， he decided to create a software program that would solve his problem.

The program was simple. You turned the application on， told it how long you wanted to focus， and it prevented your computer from going online for that amount of time. If you wanted to get back on before your time was up， you had to turn your computer completely off and reboot.

The program was called Freedom and not long after Stutzman created it， the application was everywhere. It was mentioned by NPR， The Economist， The New York Times， Oprah Magazine， Time， and nearly every major news outlet you can imagine. More than 500，000 people downloaded it.

It seems that many people were struggling with online procrastination.

Why did Freedom work so well？ And what can it teach us about sticking to better habits and mastering our willpower？

The Power of Decision Elimination

Making decisions over and over again will drain your willpower. This is true even if its the same， tiny decision—like constantly resisting the urge to check your email. （Another example： continually trying to follow a new， strict diet.）

You might be able to resist for five minutes or an hour or maybe even a week， but eventually， your willpower will begin to fade and youll give in. This is known as decision fatigue.

The Freedom app that Stutzman designed is effective not only because it prevents you from reaching the web， but also because it reduces decision fatigue. It eliminates your options and， as a result， doing the right thing becomes much easier. In other words， the application places a constraint on your behavior.

This brings us to an important point： constraints can make it easier to stick to good habits by eliminating the number of decisions you need to make to move forward.

Constraints Are a Good Thing

People often say that they want options. When it comes to getting things done， however， options arent always a good thing. When everything is a possibility， it actually becomes harder to make the right choice （or any choice at all）. This is the paradox of choice.

Meanwhile， when we place a constraint on ourselves， it can become much easier to get something done. This is especially true if it is a constraint that forces us to start small.

You want to start exercising， set a rule for yourself where you are not allowed to exercise for more than five minutes. You have to stop exercising after five minutes. I talked with a reader named Mitch who used this strategy to make his first six weeks of exercise very easy and then gradually built up to doing more. He ended up losing over 100 pounds！

You want to become more creative， you can use constraints to drive your creativity. For example， you could write a book by only using 50 different words. This is the strategy Dr. Seuss used to write Green Eggs and Ham.

You want to eat more vegetables， you could limit yourself to only one type of vegetable this week. By limiting the number of choices you have to make， its more likely that youll actually eat something healthy rather than get overwhelmed trying to figure out all the details of the perfect diet.

We often think that we want an open road and the ability to choose any direction for ourselves. But sometimes， what we need is a tunnel that can reduce our choices and send us in a focused direction.

2009年的时候，弗雷德·斯图兹曼是（美国）北卡罗来纳大学的一名研究生，正在为完成自己的论文处理一些重要的工作。

但是问题来了。

他最喜欢的咖啡店以前一直是一个很安静的地方。那里可以让他逃离干扰，完成工作上的事。但这家咖啡店不久前增加了一个非常危险的新服务。

无线网络。

现在，斯图兹曼发现，即使他真的想做一些事，但网上源源不断的娱乐节目和社交媒体总是令他无法专心。他试过断网，但事情远没有这么简单。他总是点击回去“休息一下”;他要不断克制住想查看消息和更新的念头。

幸运的是，斯图兹曼恰好是一名研究信息科学的程序员。那天晚上回到家，他决定编写一个可以解决这个问题的软件程序。

程序很简单：打开应用程序，告诉它你需要集中精神的时间有多长，它就会在这段时间里阻止你的电脑上网。如果你想在到点之前上网，就必须完全关机，重启。

这个程序叫做“自由”。斯图兹曼编完没多久，该应用就广为流传。美国国家公共电台（NPR）、《经济学人》、《纽约时报》、《奥普拉杂志》、《时代周刊》等几乎所有你能想到的主流媒体均对此进行了报道，下载人数超过50万。

似乎很多人都在为网络造成的拖延症而烦恼不已。

为什么“自由”如此有效？在坚持好习惯和掌控意志力方面，它能带给我们什么启发？

少做决定更有益

不断做决定会榨干你的意志力。即使你只是做同一个小决定，比如说不停地抑制查看邮件的念头（另一个例子：频繁地实施严格的新节食方案），也不可幸免。

也许这种状态你可以坚持五分钟、一个小时，甚至一个星期，但到了最后，你的意志力将会慢慢减弱，最终只能放弃。这被称为“决策疲劳”。

斯图兹曼设计的“自由”应用程序之所以有效，不仅因为它可以防止你联网，还因为它可以减少决策疲劳。它消除了你的选择，于是，做正事变得容易多了。换句话说，这个应用对你的行为做出了约束。

这引出了很重要的一点：在前进的路上，通过减少决定的数量，“约束”能让你更容易坚持好习惯。

约束不是坏事

人们常说他们想要各种选择。然而，到了做事的时候，选择多不一定是好事。当一切皆有可能，我们实际上就越难做出正确的选择（或者连做选择也不会）。这就是选择的矛盾之处。

与此同时，当我们对自己做出约束和限制，要完成一件事情可能就简单多了。如果这种约束迫使我们从小事开始，效果则更为明显。

如果你希望鍛炼身体，就给自己定一个原则，规定自己锻炼时间不得超过5分钟，5分钟后必须停止。我和一个名叫米奇的读者聊过。利用这个策略，他前六周的锻炼变得十分轻松。随后，他逐步增加训练量，最终减掉了一百多磅（45.4公斤）！

如果你希望变得更有创意，你可以通过约束自己来提高创造力，比如只用50个单词写一本书。苏斯博士写《绿鸡蛋和火腿》的时候用的就是这个策略。

如果你想多吃一点蔬菜，你可以给自己定下限制，这个星期只吃一种蔬菜。通过限制你的选择，你更有可能真正吃上健康食物，而不是在试图选出完美餐单而纠结于各种细节的时候把自己搞晕。

我们经常有这种想法：我们希望一条四通八达的路，以及为自己选择各种方向的力量。然而有时候，我们需要的，只不过是一条能够减少选择、把我们集中到一个方向的隧道。