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Bartleby -- The dangers of decision fatigue
巴托比專欄——決策疲勞的風險
Why breaks are actually good for productivity
為什么休息實際有助于提高工作效率
“Have a break” is a slogan associated with the popular chocolate snack, KitKat.
“休息一下”是和熱銷巧克力零食奇巧相關的一句廣告語。
But it may be pretty good advice for any manager or worker, minus the calories.
但對于所有管理者或員工來說，這句話都可能是一個很好的建議，拋開卡路里這部分。
The longer the shift, the less effective the employee may become.
一個輪班的時間越長，員工的工作效率可能就越低。
In a new paper for Royal Society Open Finance, “Quantifying the cost of decision fatigue: suboptimal risk decisions in finance”, Tobias Baer and Simone Schnall examine the credit decisions of loan officers at a leading bank over the course of their working day.
托拜厄斯·貝爾和西蒙妮·施納爾在為皇家學會開放金融撰寫的一篇題為“量化決策疲勞的成本：金融中的次優風險決策”的新論文中，研究了一家主要銀行的信貸員在工作期間的信貸決策。
The academics write that decision fatigue “typically involves a tendency to revert to the ‘default’ option, namely whatever choice involves relatively little mental effort”.
這兩位學者寫道，決策疲勞“通常涉及一種回歸‘默認’選項的傾向，即任何需要相對較少腦力勞動的選擇”。
In other words, as you become tired, you get mentally lazy.
換句話說，當你累了，你就會在精神上變得懶惰。
The study looked at proposals to restructure loans, with each credit officer analysing 46 requests per day.
這項研究考察了重組貸款的申請，每位信貸官員每天分析46份申請。
The approval rate was around 40%, so the default decision was rejection.
通過率在40%左右，默認的決策是駁回。
Officers tended to start work between 8am and 10am, took lunch between 1pm and 3pm, and tended to leave at 6pm.
信貸官員們通常在早上8點到10點上班，下午1點到3點吃午飯，在下午6點下班。
The researchers found that the approval rate declined significantly between 11am and 2pm, as lunch approached, then picked up again after 3pm before declining in the last two hours of work.
研究人員發現，隨著午餐時間臨近，即上午11點至下午2點之間，通過率顯著下降，然后在下午3點之后開始回升，在工作的最后兩個小時再次下降。
The applications were distributed to credit officers by the bank’s automated system, so they were in effect allocated randomly.
這些申請是由銀行的自動化系統分配給信貸員的，因此它們實際上是隨機的。
There is no sign that the loans assessed at lunchtime were of a different quality from those in the rest of the day.
沒有跡象能夠表明，午餐時間評估的貸款與當天其他時間評估的貸款質量不同。
What makes this study ingenious is that the authors were able to see whether or not the loans were subsequently paid back.
這項研究的獨創性之處在于，作者能夠看到這些貸款后來是否被償還。
They found that rejecting a restructuring request made it less likely that the loan would be repaid.
他們發現，駁回重組貸款請求會降低貸款得到償還的可能性。
So they calculated that decision fatigue, by causing more rejections, actually cost the bank money; around $500,000 over the course of a single month.
因此，他們推算出，決策疲勞，作為駁回增加的原因，實際上給銀行造成了損失；大約每月50萬美元。
Similar patterns have been seen in other situations.
在其他職位中也有類似的狀況。
A much-cited study of Israeli judges found they were less likely to grant parole as lunch approached, but became more lenient once their stomachs were full again.
一項被廣泛引用的關于以色列法官的研究發現，在臨近午餐時間時，他們不太可能批準假釋，但一旦他們的胃被再次填飽，他們就會變得更加寬容。
Other research found that doctors grew steadily more likely to prescribe antibiotics, even when these might not be necessary, over the course of their shift.
還有研究發現，在輪班期間，醫生開抗生素的可能性逐漸增加，即使這些藥可能是不必要的。
In some areas of work, breaks are seen as a vital matter of safety.
在某些行業，休息被視為至關重要的安全問題。
In the EU, lorry drivers are expected to take a 45-minute break after 4 hours 30 minutes behind the wheel.
在歐盟，卡車司機在駕駛4小時30分鐘后，應該休息45分鐘。
Mental activity can result in physical exhaustion, as anyone who has spent a day in successive meetings can attest.
腦力活動是會導致身體疲憊的，任何一個連續開了一天會的人都能證明這一點。
In the middle of a business trip, nothing can seem more enticing than the solitary silence of a hotel room, with no clients to amuse or placate in sight.
在出差過程中，沒有什么比在獨自一人待在安靜的酒店房間里更吸引人了，那里沒有你需要討好或安撫的客戶。
Breaks can also boost creativity.
休息還能夠激發創造力。
It is easy for the brain to develop tunnel vision when it is working hard.
大腦在努力運轉時容易形成“隧道視野”。
There are times when the mind needs to roam free.
有些時候，大腦需要自由地漫游。
Kevin Cashman of Korn Ferry, a consultancy, and author of a book, “The Pause Principle”, reports that executives say their best ideas often come when exercising, taking a shower or commuting.
咨詢公司光輝國際的凱文·卡什曼寫過一本書，叫作《暫停原則》，書中寫道，高管們表示，他們最好的想法往往出現在運動、洗澡或通勤的時候。
Taking a break by leaving the workplace, if only to go to the coffee shop, may be the sole practical way for workers to recharge mental batteries.
離開工作場所休息一下——即使只是去趟咖啡店——可能是職場人給精神充電的唯一切實可行的方式。
Many people have hobbies—puzzles, crosswords, knitting—that are enjoyable because they engage only part of their conscious minds but still stave off boredom.
許多人都有自己的愛好——拼圖、填字、編織——這些愛好都很令人享受，因為它們只占用了意識思維的一部分，同時還能打發無聊。
However, such pastimes are regarded as impermissible at the office.
然而，這種消遣在辦公室是不被允許的。
This is ironic since they are unlikely to disturb anyone else, whereas chatting with a colleague, which is all too likely to do so, is seen as a perfectly acceptable diversion.
這很諷刺，因為這不太可能打擾到其他人，而與同事聊天（很可能會打擾其他人）卻被視為完全可以接受的消遣。
One of the nicest elements of working from home during the pandemic has been the ability to take breaks at the time, and in the style, of the employee’s choosing (subject to the tyranny of the Zoom conferencing calendar).
疫情期間在家辦公的最大的優點之一就是，員工可以在自己選擇的時間、用自己喜歡的方式休息（當然還是會受到視頻會議日程的限制）。
The lesson for managers is that what seems like “slacking” is actually a useful device for maintaining productivity.
管理者可以從中學到的是，看似“偷懶”的行為，實際上是保持工作效率的有效手段。
And the study of credit officers indicates that companies should look for ways to protect workers against decision fatigue.
對信貸官員的研究表明，公司應該想辦法保護員工免受決策疲勞的影響。
One approach would be to give employees more breaks, of course.
當然，給予員工們更多的休息時間是一種方法。
But another might be to monitor decisions at certain times of the day.
但也可以用另一種方法，即在一天中的特定時間段監控決策。
The bank that was the subject of the study could have ensured that loan decisions made just before lunch, or at the end of the day, were subject to review.
作為研究對象的銀行本應該確保，在午餐前或一天結束時所做出的貸款決定受到審查。
Software could be used to “nudge” employees with a message like: “Your decision-making seems to have changed, maybe you want to take a break and reconsider.”
軟件可以用這樣的信息來“提醒”員工：“你的決策似乎已經改變，也許你需要休息一下再重新考慮。”
A pause should win applause.
暫停，應該受到鼓勵。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
