WhenpeoplefindoutIwriteabouttimemanagement,theyassumetwothings.OneisthatI'malwaysontime,andI'mnot.Ihavefoursmallchildren,andIwouldliketoblamethemformyoccasionaltardiness,butsometimesit'sjustnottheirfault.Iwasoncelatetomyownspeechontimemanagement.Weallhadtojusttakeamomenttogetherandsavorthatirony.当人们发现我写关于时间管理的文章时,会冒出两个想法:第一,我永远都很守时,但并不是。我有四个小孩,我倒是偶尔将迟到归咎于他们,不过有时候真的不是他们的责任。有一次,我连自己的时间管理的演讲都迟到了。当时大家只能一起体会一下其中的讽刺意味。ThesecondthingtheyassumeisthatIhavelotsoftipsandtricksforsavingbitsoftimehereandthere.SometimesI'llhearfrommagazinesthataredoingastoryalongtheselines,generallyonhowtohelptheirreadersfindanextrahourintheday.Andtheideaisthatwe'llshavebitsoftimeoffeverydayactivities,additup,andwe'llhavetimeforthegoodstuff.第二,人们总是想当然的我有很多关于如何节省时间的小技巧。有时候我听说杂志社在根据这样的思路写文章,通常都是关于教读者如何在一天中抽出一小时的时间。基本思路就是从日常生活中挤出一点时间,加起来,然后我们就有时间去做更有意思的事情了。Iquestiontheentirepremiseofthispiece,butI'malwaysinterestedinhearingwhatthey'vecomeupwithbeforetheycallme.Someofmyfavorites:doingerrandswhereyouonlyhavetomakeright-handturns.我对这个说法持保留意见,不过我还是愿意听听他们在找我之前有什么想法。我最喜欢的几个是:只完成那些只需要右转的事;Beingextremelyjudiciousinmicrowaveusage:itsaysthreetothree-and-a-halfminutesonthepackage,we'retotallygettinginonthebottomsideofthat.Andmypersonalfavorite,whichmakessenseonsomelevel,istoDVRyourfavoriteshowssoyoucanfast-forwardthroughthecommercials.在用微波炉时,要极度审慎:当食物包装上面写了3到3.5分钟时,我们要挑时间最短的那个。我个人最喜欢的是,录下你最喜欢看的电视剧,然后你就可以跳过广告了。其实在某个程度上,还是挺有道理的。Thatway,yousaveeightminuteseveryhalfhour,sointhecourseoftwohoursofwatchingTV,youfind32minutestoexercise.Whichistrue.Youknowanotherwaytofind32minutestoexercise?Don'twatchtwohoursofTVaday,right?这样,你每半个小时就可以挤出八分钟。那么你葱用来看电视的两个小时中,可以挤出32分钟锻炼的时间。倒的确是这么回事儿。你还知道其他可以找到32分钟锻炼时间的方法吗?不要每天都看两个小时电视就行了,对吧?(笑声)Anyway,theideaiswe'llsavebitsoftimehereandthere,additup,wewillfinallygettoeverythingwewanttodo.Butafterstudyinghowsuccessfulpeoplespendtheirtimeandlookingattheirscheduleshourbyhour,Ithinkthisideahasitcompletelybackward.Wedon'tbuildtheliveswewantbysavingtime.Webuildtheliveswewant,andthentimesavesitself.总之,就是要在各处都省点时间,加起来就有时间做我们想做的事了。但在我了解成功的人如何分配时间,并看过了他们的时间表后,我觉得这个想法是完全本末倒置的。我们不是通过节省时间来打造我们想过的生活。我们应该先建立我们想要的生活,时间就会自然而然节省出来。Here'swhatImean.Irecentlydidatimediaryprojectlookingat1,001daysinthelivesofextremelybusywomen.Theyhaddemandingjobs,sometimestheirownbusinesses,kidstocarefor,maybeparentstocarefor,communitycommitments--busy,busypeople.IhadthemkeeptrackoftheirtimeforaweeksoIcouldadduphowmuchtheyworkedandslept,andIinterviewedthemabouttheirstrategies,formybook.我来解释一下。我最近有个时间日记项目,观察最忙碌的女士生命中的1001天。她们工作繁忙,有时候是自己的生意,有时候要照顾自己的孩子,或者是照顾父母,还有服务社区等等——都是一些很忙的人。我让她们记录了一星期的行程,计算她们工作和睡觉的时间,为了我的书,我还采访了解了她们的常用策略。OneofthewomenwhosetimelogIstudiedgoesoutonaWednesdaynightforsomething.Shecomeshometofindthatherwaterheaterhasbroken,andthereisnowwateralloverherbasement.Ifyou'veeverhadanythinglikethishappentoyou,youknowitisahugelydamaging,frightening,soppingmess.其中一个被我研究过时间表的女士,在一个周三晚上出去了一趟,回家发现她的热水器坏了,地下室都被水淹了。如果你也遇到过这种事儿的话,你会知道眼前的景象多么令人崩溃和沮丧。Soshe'sdealingwiththeimmediateaftermaththatnight,nextdayshe'sgotplumberscomingin,dayafterthat,professionalcleaningcrewdealingwiththeruinedcarpet.Allthisisbeingrecordedonhertimelog.Windsuptakingsevenhoursofherweek.Sevenhours.That'slikefindinganextrahourintheday.于是那个晚上她立刻着手处理,第二天她找了一个水管工,第三天找了专业的清理人员来处理损坏的地毯。所有这些都算在了她的时间表内。总共花了她一周中的七个小时。七个小时。这就等于一周七天每天都要挤出一个小时。ButI'msureifyouhadaskedheratthestartoftheweek,Couldyoufindsevenhourstotrainforatriathlon?Couldyoufindsevenhourstomentorsevenworthypeople?I'msureshewould'vesaidwhatmostofuswould'vesaid,whichis,No--can'tyouseehowbusyIam?Yetwhenshehadtofindsevenhoursbecausethereiswateralloverherbasement,shefoundsevenhours.但是假如你在这一周刚开始时就问她,“你能在这周抽出七个小时来参加铁人三项吗?”,“你能在这周抽出七个小时指导七个有潜力的人吗?“我确定她会像大多数人一样,说,”怎么可能,你看不出我有多忙吗?“但是她最后不得不抽出七个小时,因为她的地下室都被水淹了,她挤出了这七个小时。Andwhatthisshowsusisthattimeishighlyelastic.Wecannotmakemoretime,buttimewillstretchtoaccommodatewhatwechoosetoputintoit.Andsothekeytotimemanagementistreatingourprioritiesastheequivalentofthatbrokenwaterheater.Togetatthis,IliketouselanguagefromoneofthebusiestpeopleIeverinterviewed.Bybusy,Imeanshewasrunningasmallbusinesswith12peopleonthepayroll,shehadsixchildreninhersparetime.这件事告诉我们:时间是有弹性的。我们不能创造更多时间,但是时间会自己调整去适应我们选择去做的事情。所以时间管理的关键,就是对待最重要的事情应该像对待那个坏了的热水器一样。要做到这一点,我要借用我采访过最忙的人的话。她经营着一个小企业,请了十二名员工,空余时间她还要照顾六个孩子。Iwasgettingintouchwithhertosetupaninterviewonhowshehaditall--thatphrase.IrememberitwasaThursdaymorning,andshewasnotavailabletospeakwithme.Ofcourse,right?Butthereasonshewasunavailabletospeakwithmeisthatshewasoutforahike,becauseitwasabeautifulspringmorning,andshewantedtogoforahike.Soofcoursethismakesmeevenmoreintrigued,andwhenIfinallydocatchupwithher,sheexplainsitlikethis.Shesays,ListenLaura,everythingIdo,everyminuteIspend,ismychoice.我联系上了她,想要采访她关于她是怎么做到“无所不能”的。我记得那是一个星期四的早晨,她没时间和我说话。当然了,她很忙。但是她没时间和我说话的原因是,她去远足了。因为那是春季一个美丽的清晨,所以她去远足了。这样的她让我变得更感兴趣了,当我最终联系上她时,她说:“听我说,劳拉,我做的所有的事情,我花的每分每秒,都是我的选择。Andratherthansay,Idon'thavetimetodox,yorz,she'dsay,Idon'tdox,yorzbecauseit'snotapriority.Idon'thavetime,oftenmeansIt'snotapriority.Ifyouthinkabouti