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George Washington and his Revolutionary War victories. Robert Frost and the composition of 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.' Bill Gates and the founding of Microsoft. Steve Wozniak and the invention of color computer monitors. Tom Stemberg and the launch of the Staples company. Each is a great American success story. But do such stories share a common ingredient, one that you can incorporate into your career strategy in order to maximize your professional success?
喬治•華盛頓(George Washington)和他在美國獨立戰爭中取得的勝利，羅伯特•弗羅斯特(Robert Frost)與《雪夜林中小駐》(Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening)的創作，比爾•蓋茨(Bill Gates)與微軟(Microsoft)的創辦，史蒂夫•沃茲尼亞克(Steve Wozniak)與彩色電腦顯示器的發明，湯姆•斯坦伯格(Tom Stemberg)與史泰博(Staples)公司的創立──每一個都是了不起的美國式成功。但這些成功是否擁有某種共同的元素，你可以拿來融入到自己的職場策略當中，從而在職業上取得最大化的成功？
They do - but it's likely not what you would expect. In each case, an all-nighter a work session of 24 hours or more made all the difference.
共同元素是有的，但可能不是你所預料的那種。在每一個案例當中，都是通宵熬夜──連續工作達24小時甚至更久──帶來了所有的改變。
Take Washington, for example. Before he became President, war was his profession, and all-nighters were the way he outwitted his enemy. The British, despite their technological and organizational superiority, took an orthodox approach to battle, one that assumed that major engagements would take place in open fields at fixed times. Washington, on the other hand, used the nighttime hours to plot, plan, and maneuver.
以華盛頓為例。在當上總統以前，打仗是他的職業，他正是用通宵熬夜的辦法戰勝了敵人。英國人盡管在技術上和組織上占優，但在打仗的時候采用的是一種正統方針，即重大交戰要在固定時間、開闊場地上進行。而華盛頓則是利用夜晚的時間來策劃和部署。
Thus, in 1776, Washington and his troops were pinned down by the British army and navy in northern Brooklyn, New York City. The destruction of the colonial army seemed inevitable. Yet, in one night, under cover of darkness, Washington evacuated his men across the river to Manhattan, undetected and without a single casualty.
在1776年，華盛頓及其部下被英國陸軍和海軍圍困在紐約城布魯克林北部，殖民地軍隊的瓦解似乎已不可避免。然而在一天晚上，華盛頓利用夜色作為掩護，神不知鬼不覺地，不費一兵一卒就將其人馬撤離到河對岸的曼哈頓。
Washington used a similar gambit that winter in his successful ambush of the Hessian encampment near Trenton, New Jersey, immortalized by the famous painting 'Washington Crossing the Delaware.' Here, too, the general and his troops abstained from sleep for a full night to surprise the enemy and turn the tide of the war.
那年冬天，華盛頓采用同樣的戰術，在新澤西州特倫頓(Trenton)附近成功地伏擊了黑森雇傭兵的營地。這次伏擊因為《華盛頓橫渡特拉華河》(Washington Crossing the Delaware)這幅名畫而名垂千古。在這里，華盛頓及其將士同樣徹夜未眠，從而出奇制勝、扭轉戰局。
When it comes to your career, all-nighters are not just about working when others are sleeping. They also can improve the quality of your creative work product. Consider Frost's 'Stopping by Woods.' One morning, after working all night, Frost was struck by a flash of inspiration, and wrote the poem in a matter of minutes. Or consider Wozniak's vision of monitors that could display color. As Wozniak has explained, in order to meet a deadline on another project, he had to stay up for days on end. His delirious exhaustion became a catalyst for uninhibited creativity, where ideas could flow without rigid conscious control, leading to an innovation that changed the computer industry.
在涉及職場的時候，通宵熬夜不只是在別人睡覺的時候工作，它還可以提高創造性工作成果的質量。想想弗羅斯特的《雪夜林中小駐》。一天清晨，在熬夜工作一整個晚上之后，弗羅斯特靈感突發，幾分鐘就寫成了這首詩。或者是想想沃茲尼亞克對彩色顯示器的構想。據他自己介紹，為了趕另外一個項目，他不得不連續幾天熬夜，弄得筋疲力盡、精神恍惚。結果這種狀態激發了他勢不可當的創造性，不需有意控制便思如泉涌，結果便是一項改變整個計算機產業的創新。
From a scientific perspective, why do all-nighters work? Why are they an effective tool for purposes of career advancement? After all, conventional wisdom says that sleep is good, and that lack of sleep can lead to sloppy mistakes.
那么從科學角度講，通宵熬夜為什么有此奇效？為什么它是職業發展過程中的有效工具？畢竟，一般想法都是睡覺是好事、缺覺可能會犯糊涂。
In fact, while sleep is a vital element in a professional life, all-nighters, when employed wisely, also can play a unique role. For instance, in a 2011 study, 'Time of Day Effects on Problem Solving: When the Non-Optimal Is Optimal,' by researchers at Michigan State University and Albion College (Michigan), two groups of adults were presented with riddles that required the use of creative insight. The first group attempted to tackle these problems at the 'high point' in their circadian rhythm. The other group had to do so when feeling less awake and alert. The tired subjects were significantly better at solving these problems, while just as effective at solving other, less creative tasks.
事實上，雖然睡眠是職業生涯中不可或缺的元素，但熬夜只要得當，也可以發揮獨特的作用。比如密歇根州立大學(Michigan State University)和密歇根阿爾比恩學院(Albion College)的研究人員2011年的論文《連軸轉對解決問題的作用：非最佳時間表現最佳》(Time of Day Effects on Problem Solving: When the Non-Optimal Is Optimal)寫道，兩組成年人都拿到要求動用創造性思維的思考題，第一組要在他們生物鐘的“高點”解答這些問題，第二組則要在感到沒那么清醒、警覺的時候來解答問題。結果疲憊的那一組解答這些問題的成績明顯更好，而在完成其他對創造性要求更低的任務時，他們的效率跟第一組是一樣的。
What is the explanation for this phenomenon? When well-rested, we tend to marshal our executive-level cognitive resources to focus efficiently on narrowly defined tasks. But creativity often mandates that we do the opposite namely, to give expression to ideas that are 'outside the box,' ideas that we might normally dismiss as silly or irrational. During an all-nighter, the walls of that 'box' can break down, to your benefit.
出現這種現象的原因是什么？在休息充分的時候，我們往往會調用自己執行層面的認知資源，有效地集中在狹義的任務之上。但創造性常常要求我們做相反的事情，也就是把“框框之外”的創意、平時我們或許覺得愚蠢或不理性的創意表達出來。在熬夜的過程中，“框框”可以打破，而這對你是有利的。
What about projects that are not creative in nature, and that simply require sustained attention, patience, and linear thinking? If you go into an all-nighter well-rested, this type of cognitive horsepower also can keep up for a surprisingly long time. For instance, a 2009 study out of Harvard Medical School, 'Failure to Find Executive Function Deficits Following One Night's Total Sleep Deprivation in University Students Under Naturalistic Conditions,' found that, despite being subjected to over 30 hours of sleep deprivation, young adults were no less effective than their well-rested counterparts at a variety of cognitive tests having to do with language, logic, and comprehension.
那些本質上不具創造性、只需要持續專注、耐心和線性思維的項目呢？如果你是休息充分地熬夜，那么這種認知能量也可以維持超乎想象的時間。比如哈佛醫學院(Harvard Medical School)2009年論文《自然條件下大學生整夜未眠之后未發現執行功能障礙》(Failure to Find Executive Function Deficits Following One Night's Total Sleep Deprivation in University Students Under Naturalistic Conditions)指出，在多項涉及語言、邏輯和理解的認知測試中，年輕成年人在30多小時不眠之后的效率不低于其他休息充分的年輕成年人。
So what's the bottom line? If you want to take your career to the next level by improving the quality or quantity of your work, the occasional all-nighter, properly planned and executed in time-tested American tradition, may be the perfect prescription.
結論是什么呢？如果你想通過提高工作的質量和數量來把自己的職業生涯帶入新的層面，那么偶爾熬夜，并按久經考驗的美國傳統進行合理的規劃和執行，或許就是完美的藥方。
