One is that I'm always on time, and I'm not.

第一就是我永遠都會準時其實並沒有

I have four small children, and I would like to blame them for my occasional tardiness, but sometimes it's just not their fault.

我有四個小孩，我偶爾遲到都是他們的錯，但有時候也不能全怪他們

I was once late to my own speech on time management.

有次我在自己的時間管理演講來遲了

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

We all had to just take a moment together and savor that irony.

於是大家就一同感受一下那種諷刺

The second thing they assume is that I have lots of tips and tricks

他們的第二個假設是，我有很多省時妙招

for saving bits of time here and there.

東省一點，西省一點

Sometimes I'll hear from magazines that are doing a story along these lines,

有時我在雜誌會看到類似的文章

generally on how to help their readers find an extra hour in a day.

大致上是幫助讀者在一天當中找到額外的時間

And the idea is that we'll shave bits of time off everyday activities,

從每日例行公事中挪出一點時間

add it up,

加總起來

and we'll have time for the good stuff.

就有時間做其他的事

I question the entire premise of this piece, but I'm always interested

即使我心裡對這樣的假設有所質疑，但在他們打來問我之前

in hearing what they've come up with before they call me.

我還是很想知道他們搬出什麼省時妙招

Some of my favorites:

以下是最經典的：

Doing errands in a way where you only have to make right-hand turns --

做雜事的時候選擇只需要右轉的

Being extremely judicious in microwave usage:

使用微波爐要分秒不差

it says three to three-and-a-half minutes on the package,

包裝上寫三分半

we're totally getting in on the bottom side of that.

就是微波三分半

And my personal favorite, which makes sense on some level,

個人最喜歡的是以下這個，其實也頗有道理

is to DVR your favorite shows so you can fast-forward through the commercials.

把你喜歡的節目錄下來，廣告的時候就可以快轉

That way, you save eight minutes every half hour,

這樣一來半小時就省下八分鐘

so in the course of two hours of watching TV, you find 32 minutes to exercise.

兩小時的電視時間，就有三十二分鐘可以運動

Which is true.

是這樣沒錯

You know another way to find 32 minutes to exercise?

還有另外一個方法能找到三十二分鐘運動

Don't watch two hours of TV a day, right?

別每天看兩小時的電視就好了，對吧？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Anyway, the idea is we'll save bits of time here and there, add it up,

概念就是時間這裡省一點、那裡省一點，加總之後

we will finally get to everything we want to do.

就能拿來做我們想做卻沒時間做的事

But after studying how successful people spend their time

然而研究成功人士的時間運用

and looking at their schedules hour by hour,

並看他們的時程表

I think this idea has it completely backward.

顛覆整個上述省時運用的概念

We don't build the lives we want by saving time.

我們不用省時間來打造自己想要的生活

We build the lives we want,

過我們理想中的生活

and then time saves itself.

時間自然會省下來

Here's what I mean.

讓我解釋一下

I recently did a time diary project

最近我做了一個時間日記的研究

looking at 1,001 days in the lives of extremely busy women.

研究忙碌女性一千零一天的生活

They had demanding jobs, sometimes their own businesses,

工作具挑戰性，有些開公司

kids to care for, maybe parents to care for,

有小孩要養，或許還要照顧父母

community commitments --

做社區服務

busy, busy people.

各個都忙得不可開交

I had them keep track of their time for a week

我請她們記錄自己一週的時程

so I could add up how much they worked and slept,

我就能得知她們工作跟睡覺的時間長度

and I interviewed them about their strategies, for my book.

我也為我的書訪問她們的時間管理策略

One of the women whose time log I studied

在我記錄中的其中一位女性

goes out on a Wednesday night for something.

星期三晚上外出

She comes home to find that her water heater has broken,

回家發現熱水器壞了

and there is now water all over her basement.

地下室到處都是水

If you've ever had anything like this happen to you,

你若經歷過類似的事情

you know it is a hugely damaging, frightening, sopping mess.

你就會知道這很嚇人，又濕又混亂

So she's dealing with the immediate aftermath that night,

她當晚就在處理這件事

next day she's got plumbers coming in,

隔天請了水電工來

day after that, professional cleaning crew dealing with the ruined carpet.

再隔一天請了地毯清潔人員來處理壞掉的地毯

All this is being recorded on her time log.

這些都記錄在她的時程表上

Winds up taking seven hours of her week.

一週下來，這件事花了她七個小時

Seven hours.

七個小時

That's like finding an extra hour in the day.

這些時間省下來的話每天又多一小時可以用

But I'm sure if you had asked her at the start of the week,

但我確定如果你在禮拜天問她

"Could you find seven hours to train for a triathlon?"

「妳會花七個小時訓練三項鐵人嗎？」

"Could you find seven hours to mentor seven worthy people?"

「妳會花七個鐘頭教導七個你覺得值得的人嗎？」

I'm sure she would've said what most of us would've said,

我相信她的答案會和大多數人一樣

which is, "No -- can't you see how busy I am?"

那就是，「沒時間，看不出來我有多忙嗎？」

Yet when she had to find seven hours

但她因為地下室積水

because there is water all over her basement,

她得騰出七個小時

she found seven hours.

她也真的騰出七個小時

And what this shows us is that time is highly elastic.

這告訴我們時間是有彈性的

We cannot make more time,

我們不會有更多時間

but time will stretch to accommodate what we choose to put into it.

但時間因為我們的選擇而伸縮

And so the key to time management

時間管理的關鍵在於

is treating our priorities

把重要的事情看作

as the equivalent of that broken water heater.

像是熱水器壞掉般的大事

To get at this,

要談這個概念

I like to use language from one of the busiest people I ever interviewed.

我想引述我面談過最忙碌的人所說的話

By busy, I mean she was running a small business

我說她最忙是因為她有自己的小事業

with 12 people on the payroll,

底下有十二個員工

she had six children in her spare time.

其餘時間照顧六個小孩

I was getting in touch with her to set up an interview

我聯絡她想約時間訪談

on how she "had it all" -- that phrase.

問她如何能有三頭六臂去做這些

I remember it was a Thursday morning,

我記得那是星期四早上

and she was not available to speak with me. Of course, right?

她沒時間和我面談，這我可以理解

But the reason she was unavailable to speak with me

但她不能前來是因為

is that she was out for a hike,

她去爬山

because it was a beautiful spring morning,

那是個美麗的春天早上

and she wanted to go for a hike.

她想要去爬山

So of course this makes me even more intrigued,

這當然讓我更有興趣了

and when I finally do catch up with her, she explains it like this.

當我終於有機會和她談話時，她是這麼跟我解釋的

She says, "Listen Laura, everything I do,

她說：「聽著，我做的每一件事

every minute I spend, is my choice."

我花的每一分鐘都是我的選擇」

And rather than say,

她不會說

"I don't have time to do x, y or z,"

「我沒時間做這個和那個」

she'd say, "I don't do x, y or z because it's not a priority."

而是「我不做是因為它們不是最要緊的」

"I don't have time," often means "It's not a priority."

「我沒時間」通常等於「那不重要」

If you think about it, that's really more accurate language.

仔細想想，這才是更貼切的描述

I could tell you I don't have time to dust my blinds,

我可以說我沒時間擦百葉窗

but that's not true.

其實不然

If you offered to pay me $100,000 to dust my blinds,

如果你付我十萬美金去做這件事

I would get to it pretty quickly.

我一定火速完成

Since that is not going to happen,

既然沒有人會付我錢做這件事

I can acknowledge this is not a matter of lacking time, it's that I don't want to do it.

我承認這不是有沒有時間的問題，而是我不想做

Using this language reminds us that time is a choice.

這麼說的話提醒我們時間是個選擇

And granted,

即使

there may be horrible consequences for making different choices,

做不同選擇可能會得到糟糕的後果

I will give you that.

這點我認同

But we are smart people,

但我們都是聰明人

and certainly over the long run,

長期下來

we have the power to fill our lives

我們一定有能力

with the things that deserve to be there.

讓重要的事在人生中有一定的位置

So how do we do that?

怎麼做到呢？

How do we treat our priorities

要如何像看待像熱水器壞掉這樣的大事

as the equivalent of that broken water heater?

一樣看待其他的重要事項呢？

Well, first we need to figure out what they are.

首先我們得先知道是哪些大事

I want to give you two strategies for thinking about this.

我想給大家兩個方向

The first, on the professional side:

首先職業方面

I'm sure many people coming up to the end of the year are giving or getting annual performance reviews.

我很確定到年終時，大家會收到或需要提出年度表現評比

You look back over your successes over the year,

你回顧過去一年的成功

your "opportunities for growth."

所謂「成長的機會」

And this serves its purpose,

這樣做有它的道理

but I find it's more effective to do this looking forward.

但我認為往前看更重要

So I want you to pretend it's the end of next year.

我要你假裝現在是明年年終

You're giving yourself a performance review,

你要評論自己的表現

and it has been an absolutely amazing year for you professionally.

你在工作上表現可圈可點

What three to five things did you do that made it so amazing?

寫下三到五件事讓你這麼認為的原因

So you can write next year's performance review now.

你現在可以寫明年的表現評比

And you can do this for your personal life, too.

你也能寫對生活的評論

I'm sure many of you, like me, come December,

我很確定有許多人像我一樣，到了十二月

get cards that contain these folded up sheets of colored paper,

會收到裡面有彩色紙張的信

on which is written what is known as the family-holiday letter.

你收到了家庭節日信

Bit of a wretched genre of literature, really,

這其實是個煩人的文類

going on about how amazing everyone in the household is,

說著家裡的每個人有多麼棒

or even more scintillating,

說盡各種好話

how busy everyone in the household is.

每個人有多麽忙碌

But these letters serve a purpose,

這些信是有目的的

which is that they tell your friends and family

它告訴你的家人朋友

what you did in your personal life that mattered to you over the past year.

你這一年做了哪些重要的事

So this year's kind of done, but I want you to pretend it's the end of next year,

但這年要結束了，我們沒辦法改變什麼，所以我要你想像在明年年底

and it has been an absolutely amazing year for you and the people you care about.

那是個很棒的一年，對你和你在乎的人來說都是

What three to five things did you do that made it so amazing?

哪三到五件事是讓你的一年如此美好的原因

So you can write next year's family holiday letter now.

你現在就可以寫明年的家庭節日信

Don't send it.

別寄

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Please, don't send it.

千萬別寄出

But you can write it.

但可以寫下

And now, between the performance review and the family holiday letter,

表現評比和家庭節日信兩者當中

we have a list of six to ten goals we can work on in the next year.

有六到十個明年可以達到的目標

And now we need to break these down into doable steps.

現在要把這些目標分解成可行的步驟

So maybe you want to write a family history.

你可能想寫家庭史

First, you can read some other family histories,

首先你可以讀其他家庭成員的故事

get a sense for the style.

決定文章風格

Then maybe think about the questions you want to ask your relatives,

接下來想想要問他們什麼問題

set up appointments to interview them.

安排面談時間

Or maybe you want to run a 5K.

或者你想參加五公里慢跑

So you need to find a race and sign up, figure out a training plan, and dig those shoes out of the back of the closet.

就得找賽事報名，擬出訓練計畫，把慢跑鞋從衣櫃深處挖出來

And then -- this is key --

接著，重點來了

we treat our priorities as the equivalent of that broken water heater,

看待要事的方式就得拿出看待熱水器壞掉這件事的態度

by putting them into our schedules first.

把它排在第一位

We do this by thinking through our weeks before we are in them.

我們會事先規劃未來幾週

I find a really good time to do this is Friday afternoons.

我發現星期五下午是做這件事的最佳時機

Friday afternoon is what an economist might call

那是經濟學家所謂的

a "low opportunity cost" time.

「低機會成本」的時段

Most of us are not sitting there on Friday afternoons saying,

大多數人在星期五下午才不會說：

"I am excited to make progress toward my personal and professional priorities right now."

“我很期待自己在個人與工作的首要事項上看見進步”

(Laughter)

But we are willing to think about what those should be.

但我們願意思考有哪些目標

So take a little bit of time Friday afternoon,

星期五下午花點時間

make yourself a three-category priority list: career, relationships, self.

列出三大類的重要清單：工作、關係和自己

Making a three-category list reminds us that there should be something in all three categories.

列出這個清單提醒我們在這三大類中自己有哪些目標

Career, we think about;

思考工作

relationships, self -- not so much.

思考關係和自己就沒那麼多

But anyway, just a short list,

不管如何，就一張清單

two to three items in each.

每個分類底下列出到三項目標

Then look out over the whole of the next week,

然後在接下來的一週

and see where you can plan them in.

看可以把哪些事情放進去

Where you plan them in is up to you.

如何安排在於自己

I know this is going to be more complicated for some people than others.

我知道這對於有些人來說比較複雜

I mean, some people's lives are just harder than others.

有些人的生活就是沒那麼容易

It is not going to be easy to find time to take that poetry class

他們並不容易騰出時間上詩作課

if you are caring for multiple children on your own.

因為他們有小孩要顧

I get that.

這我可以理解

And I don't want to minimize anyone's struggle.

我也不想看輕任何人的難處

But I do think that the numbers I am about to tell you are empowering.

但我接下來要告訴你們的數字是有說服力的

There are 168 hours in a week.

一週有168個小時

Twenty-four times seven is 168 hours.

24乘以7是168

That is a lot of time.

很多時間

If you are working a full-time job, so 40 hours a week,

你如果有個全職工作，一週工時40小時

sleeping eight hours a night, so 56 hours a week --

每天晚上睡8小時，睡眠時間是56個小時

that leaves 72 hours for other things.

還有72個小時可以用

That is a lot of time.

還有很多時間

You say you're working 50 hours a week,

你可能一週工時50小時

maybe a main job and a side hustle.

或許全職又兼職

Well, that leaves 62 hours for other things.

那麼還是有62個小時可以用

You say you're working 60 hours.

你的工時可能是60小時

Well, that leaves 52 hours for other things.

你還有52個小時可以用

You say you're working more than 60 hours.

你的工時可能超過60小時

Well, are you sure?

真的是這樣嗎？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

There was once a study comparing people's estimated work weeks with time diaries

有個研究比較研究對象對自己工時的預估

They found that people claiming 75-plus-hour work weeks were off by about 25 hours.

研究發現，那些聲稱自己一週工作超過75小時的人，他們的估計偏差了25個小時

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

You can guess in which direction, right?

應該不難猜他們是估計多了還是估計少了吧？

Anyway, in 168 hours a week,

不論如何，一週有168小時

I think we can find time for what matters to you.

你一定能找到時間做重要的事

If you want to spend more time with your kids,

騰出多一點時間陪小孩

you want to study more for a test you're taking,

花更多時間讀考試科目

you want to exercise for three hours and volunteer for two,

運動三小時或志工服務兩小時

you can.

這些你都辦得到

And that's even if you're working way more than full-time hours.

即使是在工時比本來還要長的時候還是能做到

So we have plenty of time, which is great,

因此我們有很多時間，這很棒

because guess what?

你們知道嗎

We don't even need that much time to do amazing things.

其實我們不需要那麼多時間來做那些事

But when most of us have bits of time, what do we do?

當我們有零碎的時間時都在做什麼？

Pull out the phone, right?

開始滑手機，沒錯吧？

Start deleting emails.

開始刪電子郵件

Otherwise, we're puttering around the house

不然就是在屋子閒晃

or watching TV.

或看電視

But small moments can have great power.

然而時間積少成多

You can use your bits of time

你可以利用零碎的時間

for bits of joy.

享受一下

Maybe it's choosing to read something wonderful on the bus on the way to work

或許去上班的途中在公車上讀有趣的東西

I know when I had a job that required two bus rides

之前有份工作我得搭兩趟公車

and a subway ride every morning,