五個同時提高創造力和生產力的方法

You don’t need to choose one or the other. By implementing these tactics, you can learn to work smarter as you see your creativity flourish.

創造力和生產力可以同時獲得。通過下面這些技巧，你可以在提高生產力的同時也提高創造力。

Creativity and productivity are too often seen as opposing forces battling for your time and the soul of your work. But working longer and harder isn’t the only way to be productive, and thinking creatively can achieve amazing results. It’s all in how you approach your work.

創造力和生產力常常被視爲對立力量，一個消耗時間，另一個消耗腦力。但是，工作時間越長、越努力並不是唯一的提高生產力又具有創造力的方法。改進工作方式，魚和熊掌可以兼得。

Even after decades of extensive research, we actually still know relatively little about creativity, let alone how to make ourselves more creative. What we have been able to identify are patterns and traits that affect creative thinking. Based on those, we can create hacks and tools based on what stifles creativity and what helps it thrive.

即使經過了幾十年的研究，我們仍然對創造力知之甚少，更別提如何讓自己更有創造力了。我們能夠理解的是影響創造性思維的模式和特徵。基於對扼殺創造力、提高創造力的要素的認識，我們可以創造一些工具和手段。

It starts with the four “Ps” of creativity, first described by educational scientist Mel Rhodes. There are two factors that you can’t really control–the traits of creative Persons and the Products (or outcome) of your creativity. Then, there are two traits you can control–the Processes you use and the Press or environment you work in.

首先是由教育科學家梅爾•羅德斯(Mel Rhodes)所描述的四個“p”。有兩個因素是你無法真正控制的——創意人士的特質和創造力的產物(或結果)。有兩種你可以控制的特徵——你使用的過程和你工作的環境。

The following hacks and tools for creative thinkers can help anyone be more creative. Each one plays into one of the two Ps that are within your control–either your Process or your Press (environment). Instead of ways to get more done, here are five tricks to bring creativity to your work to get better work done:

下面的技巧和工具可以幫助有創造力的人更有創造力。每一個都在你控制的兩個p中發揮作用，要麼是你的過程，要麼是你的環境。這裏有5個技巧可以讓你的工作變得更有創造性：

Ever noticed how you might feel more creative about a problem when you’re further away from it–perhaps when taking a shower at home after work? That’s psychological distance at work. Psychological distance helps creativity, according to psychology professor Lile Jia. Our minds are more likely to think creatively about things we aren’t experiencing right here, right now, without stress.

有沒有注意到，當你遠離工作的時候，你可能會覺得自己更有創造力——也許是下班後在家裏洗澡?這是工作中的心理距離。心理學教授Lile Jia表示，心理距離幫助我們提高創造力。在沒有壓力的情況下，我們的大腦更有可能創造性地思考我們現在沒有經歷的事情。

That means to be creative, we need to feel a little more removed from the problem. One way is to take another person’s perspective. Ask yourself: Who else is working on this problem or talking about this issue?

這意味着要有創造力，我們需要從當下的問題中抽離出來。一種方法是接受他人的觀點。問問自己:還有誰在研究這個問題或者討論這個問題?

Another way to create psychological distance is to reformulate the task by thinking of the central issue or question as if it was hypothetical, unlikely, futuristic, distant, or unreal. For example, if you want a team to come up with all possible solutions to traffic jams in a city, don’t choose your city. Find a sister city that is thousands of miles away, if possible, with similar statistics, to get the creative solutions started.

另一種創造心理距離的方法是通過思考中心問題來重新制定任務，就好像它是假設的、不可能的、未來的、遙遠的或不真實的。例如，如果你想要一個團隊想出所有可能的解決方案來解決城市的交通堵塞問題，不要選擇你的城市。如果可能的話，找一個遠在千里之外的姐妹城市，用類似的統計數據，開始制定讓創造性的解決方案。

Another way to achieve psychological distance is to switch to another project anytime you start to feel overwhelmed, and to schedule regular breaks. Whenever you step away from a project, you can approach from a more objective, distant perspective when you come back.

另一種達到心理距離的方法是在你感到不知所措的時候切換到另一個項目，並安排有規律的休息。這樣當你再回來看待原來的項目和問題時，你可以從一個更客觀、更旁觀者的角度來看待問題。

Best of all, combine all the ideas. Take a break, and then when you come back to the task, ask yourself how others would tackle the issue and consider it from alternative perspectives.

最重要的是，把所有的想法結合起來。休息一下，然後當你回到任務中的時候，問問自己其他人是如何處理這個問題的，並從不同的角度來思考問題。

Creativity ebbs and flows naturally during peak hours or the time of the day you’re most productive, which vary from person to person. Consistently trying to work against your natural clock and rhythm can mean consistently getting less done.

創造力一般出現在人們生產力最高的時段，這個時段因人而異。違背自己的生物鐘和節奏最終只會導致生產力降低、創造力減弱。

For most people, high productivity hours take place in the morning, but this isn’t true for everyone. Research indicates that most people run in productivity cycles of 90 to 120 minutes that themselves happen throughout the 24-hour day—that is based on circadian rhythms. Almost no one focuses well for longer than 120 minutes; we need breaks.

對大多數人來說，高效的工作時間是在早上，但這不是對每個人都適用。研究表明，大多數人的工作週期是90到120分鐘，這是基於24小時循環的，是基於晝夜節律的。幾乎沒有人能超過120分鐘地長時間工作。我們需要休息。

You just need to find your own body’s cycles. A Life of Productivity author Chris Bailey recommends recording energy, focus, and motivation “scores” for yourself for three weeks to track your peak hours. Basically, you’ll rank your energy, focus, and motivation from 1 to 10 every hour for work hours, for about three weeks. Don’t overthink it.

你只需要找到你自己身體的循環。《生產力生命》一書的作者Chris Bailey建議用三個星期的時間來記錄你的精力、注意力和動機“分數”來測算你在工作中的高峯時間。基本上來說，你需要在工作時間內，將每小時的精力、注意力和動力水平按照1-10的標準進行記錄，連續記錄三週。不要想太多，只要做好記錄就可以了。

You can plot your scores on a chart to look for patterns, and write notes down when you think outside factors are having an impact (“got three hours’ sleep, barely functional” or “just had a venti coffee, feel awesome!”).

你可以在圖表上標出你的分數來尋找規律，當你認爲外部因素有影響時，將這些因素記錄下來(“只睡了三個小時，幾乎不能工作”或者“喝了杯超大杯咖啡，感覺棒極了!”)。

Once you know which hours are truly less productive for you, you can schedule administrative tasks like billing or responding to messages for those times and save bigger, thought-intensive projects for your peak hours.

一旦明白自己哪些時候是效率最低下的，你就可以將一些瑣碎的工作安排在這個時間段中，比如支付賬單或回覆信息。將效率高、注意力集中、思想活躍的時間用於重要的工作當中。

Creative, non-linear thinkers can benefit from the right constraints, but not from micromanagement or too much restriction. It’s about finding the sweet spot.

創造性的、非線性的思考者可以從正確的約束中受益，微觀管理或過多的限制並不能幫助提高創造力。這是關於如何尋找最佳界點的問題。

Constraints change the way we see the world around us, and the way we solve problems. Although it may intuitively seem like fewer rules equals more creativity, this isn’t actually the case. Researchers have found that people who have experienced having fewer resources tend to show more creativity in problem solving and think more expansively, because when resources are abundant, there’s less incentive to use things in innovative ways. This means that to some extent, creativity is situational, and can be cultivated.

約束改變了我們看待周圍世界的方式，也改變了我們解決問題的方式。儘管直覺上看起來更少的規則意味着更多的創造力，但事實並非如此。研究人員發現，擁有較少資源的人在解決問題和思考問題時往往表現出更多的創造力，因爲當資源豐富的時候，用創新的方式使用事物的動機就會減少。這意味着在某種程度上，創造力是情境性的，可以培養。

As an example, if you ask an architect to design a house without a budget or too many parameters, you will probably get a collage of nice ideas–some of their “greatest hits” thrown together in one generic house design. If you ask that architect to design that house within a budget, and according to some high-end green building specifications, chances are excellent that the design they produce will present you with a number of creative solutions–and probably a better design.

舉個例子，如果你讓一個建築師設計一套沒有預算或太多參數的房子，你可能會得到一個好點子的拼貼畫——一些他們的“最偉大的作品”組合在一個普通的房子設計中。如果你要求建築師在預算中設計房子，根據一些高端的綠色建築規範，他們生產的設計很有可能會給你提供一些創造性的解決方案，而且可能是一個更好的設計。

Apply this in your own work by setting the bar high enough to really be a challenge and constrain you enough to produce better results–but not so high that you shut down the creative process.

在你自己的工作中應用這一點，把門檻設得足夠高，以真正成爲一個挑戰，並以此約束你，以產生更好的結果——但不要目標太高，否則會直接扼殺創造過程。

Creativity loves the right neurochemical balance. To get your creative productivity flow going, you need serotonin and dopamine. So how do you optimize this neurochemical balance?

創造力喜歡正確的神經化學平衡。爲了讓你的創造力源源不斷，你需要血清素和多巴胺。那麼如何優化這種神經化學平衡呢?

One must is reducing stress. Stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol chase away the creativity-enhancing effects of serotonin. They also cause problems like higher blood pressure that detract from your brain’s overall ability to relax and focus on cognitive work.

人必須減少壓力。應激激素，如腎上腺素和皮質醇，會消除血清素對創造力增強的作用，因而導致創造力下降。它們還會導致高血壓等問題，從而降低大腦的整體放鬆能力，並將注意力集中在認知工作上。

As your body and mind divert energy and reserves into more vital areas, things like creative expression and production can suffer. When you’re under stress, you are less likely to be open to new ideas. When we are stressed, we prefer the familiar.

當你的身體和大腦把能量和儲備轉移到更重要的領域時，創造性表達和生產就會受到影響當你處於壓力之下時，你就不太可能接受新思想。當我們感到壓力時，我們更喜歡熟悉的事物。

For most people, serotonin levels are highest in the morning (but don’t forget to track yourself because everyone is different). When you’re feeling unusually cynical, depressed, craving sweets in an unusual amount, or feeling high levels of anxiety, chances are good that your serotonin levels are low. On the other hand, when you’re feeling confident, inspired, and energetic yet relaxed, you’re more likely to be in a good place with your serotonin.

對大多數人來說，血清素水平在早上是最高的(但別忘了跟蹤你自己，因爲每個人都不一樣)。當你感到異乎尋常的憤世嫉俗、沮喪、對甜食的渴望達到不尋常的程度，或者感到高度焦慮時，你的血清素水平很低，這是很有可能的。另一方面，當你感到自信、受鼓舞、精力充沛的時候，你體內的血清素水平可能很高。

Maximize those times when you experience elevated levels of serotonin, whenever they are, by choosing high-protein, healthful foods to support brain function. As for coffee, if you’re already feeling great and productive, go ahead, enjoy another latte. If you are an anxious, hot mess, avoid that java, please. One last thing to remember is to get up and move, as aerobic exercise boosts creative potential.

當你的血清素水平升高時，最好選擇高蛋白、健康的食物來支持大腦功能。至於咖啡，如果你感覺咖啡作用很好並且很有成效，那就去喝一杯拿鐵吧。如果你覺得焦慮、混亂，那就不要使用了。最後一件要記住的事情是站起來運動，因爲有氧運動可以提高創造力。

For more traditional thinkers, A always leads right to B, and then C, and so on. For creative thinkers, A might lead to B, and a host of other ideas, or it might not lead to B at all, and just hit that forest of alternative concepts instead. That’s why the results are perceived as “creative”–they’re unexpected.

對於更傳統的思想家，A總是指向B，然後是C，等等。對於有創造力的思考者來說，A可能會導致B，還有很多其他的想法，或者它可能根本不會導致B。這就是爲什麼他們的結果被認爲是“創造性的”——因爲他們總是出人意料的。

If this is the way you think, you need to be able to work with tools that let you process things in ways that make sense to you. For example, mind mapping is a great tool for creative thinkers. This technique allows you to create a visual of wherever your mind takes you, bringing all of the great ideas you get along the way with you.

如果這是你的思維方式，你需要能夠使用工具，讓你以合理的方式處理事情。例如，思維導圖是創造性思維者的一個偉大工具。這種技巧可以讓你在腦海中勾勒出你想要的東西，帶着你一路上所能想到的所有偉大的想法。

You can’t conjure creativity on a whim. What you can do, though, is use these five tips to foster creative thinking and enhance your creative output without losing focus and productivity. While some of us (myself included) will always be easily distracted by everything from social media to video games, learning how to focus creative energy puts you on the path to success. It’s your best shot at creating a masterpiece.

你不能憑一時心血來潮想出創意。然而，你能做的是利用這五個技巧來培養創造性思維，提高你的創造力，而不會失去注意力和生產力。雖然我們中的一些人(包括我自己)總是很容易被從社交媒體到視頻遊戲的各種事情分散注意力，但學習如何專注於創造力會讓你走上成功之路。這是你創造傑作的最好機會。