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It’s easy to spot when people are lying to themselves—like when a co-worker confidently starts a huge project at 4:30, but has a 5 PM deadline. “Who’s he kidding?” you might chuckle. But when you’re telling lies to yourself—well, that’s another story.
指出某人在自欺欺人是十分容易的。——比方說一位同事自信滿滿地在4點30分開始做一個浩大的項目，但是這個任務的期限是5點。“他在開誰的玩笑呢？”你也許會這樣嘲笑他。但當你自己在自欺欺人時——好吧，那就是另一種結果了。
When it comes to productivity, you may think you have it mastered. You check tasks off your to-do list, multitask like the best of them, and stay insanely busy from morning until night. But it turns out, your so-called “productivity” may actually be a jumble of popular myths that make you think you’re getting more done than you actually are.
當涉及到效率的問題時，你總是自以為把握得很好。你查看了一下你的任務清單，然后開始一心多用，從早到晚發了瘋似地忙碌工作。最后你卻發現，你所謂的“效率”可能事實上只是一句非常常見的，會令你錯認為你真的完成了什么事兒的謊言而已，事實上你做的遠沒有那么多。
Lie #1: My Day’s Full of Activity, So I Must Be Super Productive
謊言#1：我一整天全是事情要做，所以我一定是個超級高效的人。
These days, there’s no shortage of digital time-fillers that can make you feel productive. You can easily spend all day emailing, tweeting, searching, instant messaging, texting, and whatever else it takes to stay in the online loop. But while your fingers are busy typing and your eyes busy reading, all you’re really doing is getting hits of information—over and over again—instead of working toward a goal.
時下，各種電子產品能讓你覺得你相當有效率。你會輕易地花上一整天發郵件、轉微博、搜索、聊天、發短信，或是任何那些會讓你留在線上的事兒。但在你手指不停地打字，眼睛不停地看東西的同時，你唯一做的事情無非是一遍又一遍地點擊信息罷了。——而不是為了一個目標而努力工作。
Solution: The Done List
解決方案：完成事項清單
To make sure you’re actually accomplishing substantial tasks each day, keep a “done list”—that is, a list of tasks you’ve completed instead of things you have left to do. When you stop to recognize each day’s accomplishments, you’ll be able to reflect more constructively: Did you spend your time wisely? Did you make any significant progress today?
為了確保你每天確實能夠完成一些實際的任務，你必須創建一份“已完成事項列表”——你把那些你已經完成了的工作記下來，而不是記下你要去做的事情。當你停下來回想你已經完成的事情時，你就能進行以下這些更有建設性的思考了：你有沒有合理的安排你的時間呢？你今天有沒有什么顯著的進展呢？
Lie #2: Please, I’m a Multitasking Master
謊言#2：拜托，我可是個一心多用的專家
Multitasking can trick you into feeling like you’re a productivity superhero. After all, if you have the skills to simultaneously compile a budget, listen to a podcast, and catch up on your email, you must be running circles around your single-tasking co-workers, right?
一心多用很容易會令你錯以為你是個效率極高的超級英雄。畢竟，要是你可以同時編預算、聽播客、看郵件，你不就比那些一次只能做一件事的同事要厲害很多？
Actually, multitasking can make you perform worse in whatever you’re doing. Studies show that when you try to focus on too many things at the same time, you’re less likely to be able to filter out irrelevant facts, switch between tasks effectively, and remember important information.
事實上，一心多用會讓你不論做什么都做得更差。研究表明，當你試著同時關注太多事情的時候，你就更難以過濾那些不相關的事情，更難實現在不同的任務間高效轉換，也很難記住那些重要的信息。
Solution: Practice Single Focus
解決方案：練習一心一用
Try focusing on one task at a time. Hear me out: It might feel less productive—or even be less enjoyable—to work on one thing at a time, but extreme focus will bring out your best.
試著一次只做一件任務。聽我說一句：一心一用聽起來確實會減少效率——甚至會變得沒那么有意思，但極致的專注能夠激發你全部的潛能。
Lie #3: No Worries! I’ll Do it Tomorrow
謊言#3：別擔心！我明天會做的
The power of procrastination is, well, pretty powerful. Without much thought, the top task on your to-do list can get pushed to tomorrow, and then to the next day, and then to the next. And in your mind, you truly believe you’ll get to it eventually—but “eventually” keeps getting pushed further and further away.
拖延的力量是很強大的。可想而知，你任務清單上最上面的任務肯定是要被你推到明天去做了，然后又被推到下一天，然后又到下一天。在你心中，你真的以為你最后能把它完成——但“最終”的含義就是不停的拖下去、拖下去、拖下去……
Solution: Find an Accountability Ally
解決方案：找一個問責盟友
The root of procrastination is often a lack of accountability—if no one knows what’s on your to-do list, no one knows that you’re not actually making any progress on it. To stay on track, partner up with a co-worker or group of peers—people who are committed to helping each other do what they say they’re going to do—and plan to check in with each other at least once a week. Whenever you meet (whether virtually or in person), review your progress, share your upcoming goals, and provide feedback and encouragement. You’ll be a lot more likely to finish your blog post if you have a friend who checks up on you: “I haven’t seen an update on your blog today—when are you going to post it?”
拖延癥的根源在于缺乏監督與問責——假如沒人知道你任務清單上有些什么，就沒人知道你是否真的有所進展了。為了保持前進，找一個或一群同事來幫你——他們同意幫助別人完成那些他們自稱會做的事情——然后每周互相確認至少一次。每次你們相遇時（不管是在網上還是在私下），回顧一下你們的進展，分享一下近期的目標，然后提供一些反饋和鼓勵。要是你的朋友總是這么催你，你肯定會更勤地更新你的博客的：“我今天沒看到你更新播客啊——你準備什么時候發啊？”
