二十几岁应该学会的时间管理技巧

　　When you're just starting your career, you need all the help you can get managing your time. Even when you're working hard, you could be wasting a tremendous amount of time either by trying to multitask or by focusing too much on minute details。如果你刚入职场，就应该尽一切可能学习时间管理。因为即使你愿意刻苦工作，你也可能花费过多的时间在多线任务和细节处理上。

　　Below, we've explained some of best time-management tips everyone should learn in their 20s。下面就为大家推荐一些二十几岁年轻人应该学会的时间管理技巧。

　　1. There's always time. Time is priorities.1. 时间是用不尽的，把时间摆在首位。

　　You never run out of time. If you didn't finish something by the time it was due, it's because you didn't consider it urgent or enjoyable enough to prioritize ahead of whatever else you were doing。时间是用不尽的。如果你没有按时完成某项任务，那是因为你没有把这个任务看得非常紧急，或者你认为做这个任务的过程并不能让你享受，所以你没能把它放在其他要做的事情前。

　　2. Days always fill up faster than you'd expect.2. 时间总是过得比你想象的要快。

　　Build in some buffer time. As the founder of Ruby on Rails, David Heinemeier Hansson, said, "Only plan on four to five hours of real work per day."设置一段缓冲时间。就像Ruby on Rails公司的创始人大[微博]卫·汉森所说的：“每天只需计划4到5个小时的工作就够了。”

　　3. Work more when you're in the zone. Relax when you're not.3. 在单位多做工作，回家就放松。

　　Some days, you'll be off your game, and other times, you'll be able to maintain your focus for 12 hours straight. Take advantage of those days。有时候你可能工作状态不佳，有时候你甚至可以12小时连续高效工作。充分利用好效率高的时间。

　　4. Stop multitasking. It kills your focus.4. 不要同时做多项工作，这会分散你的注意力。

　　There have been academic studies that found the brain expends energy as it readjusts its focus from one item to the next. If you're spending your day multitasking, you're exhausting your brain。有研究表明大脑在调整注意力从某件事转移到另一件事的时候，能量消耗加大。如果你一整天都在处理不同的事情，容易让大脑疲劳。

　　5. We're always more focused and productive with limited time.5. 有时间限制的时候我们会更专心，效率更高。

　　Work always seems to find a way of filling the space allotted for it, so set shorter time limits for each task。工作似乎总能在规定的时间内做完，所以给每一项任务少留一点时间。

　　6. Work is the best way to get working. Start with small tasks to get the ball rolling.6. 进入工作状态最好的方式就是开始工作。从小任务开始逐步进入状态。

　　The business plan you need to finish may be intimidating at 8 in the morning. Get your mind on the right path with easy tasks, such as answering important work emails。早上8点的时候看工作计划可能会让你望而却步。先做一些简单的任务，做好心理准备，比如回复一些重要的工作邮件。

　　7. Expectations to do things perfectly are stifling.7. 预想完美地完成任务会让你倍感压力。

　　General George S. Patton once said, "A good plan executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week." 乔治巴顿二世曾说：“正在执行的好计划比下周执行的完美计划好的多。”

　　8. More work hours doesn't mean more productivity. Use constraints as opportunities.8. 工作时间长不代表产量高。把约束当做机遇。

　　Don't kid yourself into thinking that sitting at your desk will somehow extract

　　work from you. Do whatever you can to finish your current task by the end of regular work hours instead of working into the night。不要想着坐在桌子前就是在工作。在工作时间把当前的任务完成，不要熬夜工作。

　　9. Separate brainless and strategic tasks to become more productive.9. 将非脑力劳动和脑力劳动分开，这样效率更高。

　　Ideally, you can brainstorm your ideas and then execute them. If you're constantly stopping your flow of work to rethink something, you're slowing yourself down。理想状态下，你可以有很多好点子并一一执行。如果你停下手头上的工作去回想的话，你自然就慢下来了。

　　10. Organize important meetings early in the day. Time leading up to an event is often wasted.10. 尽早安排重要会议。等待是最浪费时间的。

　　If you have an important meeting scheduled for 4 p.m., it's easy for anxiety to set in and keep that meeting at the front of your mind. Try to get big meetings over with early so you can work without worrying about them。如果你把重要的会议放在下午4点，你会很容易焦虑，因为这之前你会一直想着它。试着将重要会议安排地早一点，这样你就可以安心地做其他工作了。

　　11. Schedule meetings and communication by email or phone back-to-back to create blocks of uninterrupted work.11. 安排一段时间只开会、发邮件或电话沟通。

　　You'll disrupt your flow if you're reaching out to people throughout the day。如果你一整天都在联系别人，会打断你的工作进程。

　　12. Work around procrastination.12. 克服拖延症。

　　Try Francesco Cirillo's Pomodoro Technique. Pomodoro is Italian for tomato, and the technique's name refers to the tomato-shaped cooking timer Cirillo used to break his work into 25-minute increments

　　with five-minute breaks in between. You can use the same idea with your own increments, as long as they inspire bursts of hard work。试试弗朗西斯科·齐立罗的番茄工作法。齐立罗用番茄形状的厨房定时器将自己的工作时间设置为每工作25分钟休息5分钟，这也是这套工作法名字的来源。

　　13. Break down a massive task into manageable blocks.13. 将任务量大的任务分成几个小任务。

　　Alabama football coach Nick Saban follows a similar philosophy he calls the Process. Instead of having his players focus on winning the championship, he trains them to focus on only what is directly in front of them. 亚拉巴马州橄榄球教练尼克·塞班采用的就是类似方法。他不会让运动员只想着赢得锦标赛，而是让他们专注眼前。

　　14. No two tasks ever hold the same importance. Always prioritize.14. 没有两项工作是同等重要的。权衡轻重缓急。

　　Daily to-do lists are effective ways of scheduling your day. Just do what you can to keep bullet points from making "clean desk" on par with "file taxes."列出当天要做的事情是有效的管理时间的方式，但是不要把“擦桌子”和“报税”放在一起。

　　15. Always know the one thing you really need to get done during the day.15. 清楚你当天必做的一件事情。

　　Determine which task in front of you is most important, and focus your energy on getting that done as soon as possible。确定一件最重要的事情，集中精力尽快完成它。

　　16. Learn to make use of other people.16. 学会让别人帮你做事。

　　To be truly efficient, get over the fear of handing off work to someone else. 想要真正提高效率就不要怕让别人帮你工作。

　　17. Turn the page on yesterday. Only ever think about today and tomorrow.17. 翻过昨天，只想今天和明天。

　　Don't distract yourself with either the successes or failures of the past. Focus instead on what's in front of you。不要因为过去的成功或失败而分心。专注眼前。

　　18. Set deadlines for everything. 18. 为每件事都设一个最后期限。

　　Spending too much time on a project or keeping it on the backburner for too long will lead to stagnation. Get things done and move on。花太多时间在一件事上或是不断推迟这件事都会导致停滞不前。做好一件事就马上开始下一件。

　　19. Always take notes.19.记笔记。

　　Don't assume you'll remember every good idea that comes into your head during the day. It doesn't matter if it's a notebook, whiteboard, or an app like Evernote--just write stuff down。不要以为你能记住每一个好想法。无论是用笔记本、记事板、还是手机应用，记下你的想法。

　　20. Write down any unrelated thoughts that pop up when you're in the zone, so that they don't linger as distractions.20. 工作的时候记下任何突然出现在脑子里的想法，这样它们就不会停在脑子里让你分心了。

　　You'll get them out of the way without losing them。你可以不去想它同时又不会忘记。

（沪江英语）