時間管理的祕密：你的第25小時

學習，兼職，朋友，家庭……讓你忙得團團轉？天天精疲力竭還是有一堆事情無法按時完成？你是不是也想要第25個小時幫你解脫困境？那就一起來看看第25個小時是如何現身的？

If you’re like me, you have more than just classes to go to, more than homework assignments or textbooks to read. Besides your full-time class schedule, you have a job, maybe two, and maybe you have the added responsibility of a family too. Maybe you have to take care of grandma or watch your little sister, or maybe you’re a parent. For those of us who have very full schedules, here’s a few thoughts and ideas on managing the time we have so that you don’t fall behind, and so you can keep your sanity.

如果你和我一樣，不僅是要上課、寫作業、讀課本，還有其他事情要完成。除了滿滿的課表，你還有一份、甚至兩份兼職，也或許你還要養家餬口。可能你不得不照料年邁的奶奶或是不諳世事的妹妹，也或許你自己已經爲人父母。對於我們這些天天忙不停的人，爲了讓你不落後於進度而不至於瘋掉，在此介紹一些我們所知道的關於管理時間的想法和意見。

Organize and Prioritize

組織安排，分清先後

The first thing you should do when you have a lot on your plate is to separate the tasks, just like the different squares of food in a meal. Keep your work responsibilities separate from your family and school, if possible. Mixing flavors can be great at times, but sometimes it can lead to a confusing and stressful pile of goo.

當你有一堆事情等着處理的時候你應該做的第一項事情是區分任務，就如同將食物分類一樣。如果有可能，把你的工作責任、家庭責任、課業責任區分開來。混在一起有時可能也不錯，但是有時卻會變成困窘、壓力山大的黏黏一坨。

Once you’ve separated your tasks, you must prioritize. Which takes the top? School? Work? You have to decide. Once you’ve created your list of priorities, you must create a schedule.

一旦你羅列了各項任務，就一定要分清輕重緩急。那些任務是當務之急？課業？工作？你必須決定。一旦你整理出任務的先後次序，就一定要制定計劃。

Keeping a schedule of events and activities is a good way to get what you need to get done, done. One of the pitfalls many of us fall into is that we rarely set a time and date to do things. This is true not just with our work but our play, too. Always wanted to take a road trip? Well, if you never set a real date, a real deadline, nothing’s going to happen. You’ll do the essay later? When? Set a date for your work, and then get it done. That doesn’t mean last minute stuff, though, things happen and sometimes we just can’t predict when Shakey the cat is going to curl over and die, the same is true for grandma.

事事有計劃是個很好的方法來確保你完成需要完成的事情。我們常常陷入的誤區之一就是很少設置具體實施的時間和日期。這不僅僅是針對我們的工作還有我們娛樂的時間。總是想去自駕遊？如果你不制定一個真正的日子，一個真正的截止日期，這旅行就永遠走不成。你晚些再寫文章？什麼時候？給自己的工作設定個時間，然後就去完成它。這並不意味着臨時抱佛腳，雖然計劃沒有變化快，世事難料，誰知道貓咪Shakey會不會蜷縮着死掉，同樣的事情也可能發生在奶奶身上。

Just Do It

說做就做

Once your schedule is set up, once you’ve given yourself predetermined time slots to get different types of work done, you have to do it, which can be the most difficult part. I tend to lose focus because I often feel overwhelmed at all I need to do. Read for Tuesday and Wednesday, write the assignments, work on the post, don’t forget the forms for work, remember to call the bank because they screwed up your transaction, grade a stack of papers because you’re a teacher’s assistant, and don’t forget to call about that party you were invited to, but I forgot about it anyways, until just now.

計劃制定，一旦你給了自己不同任務完成時間的底線，你就一定要着手去做，雖然這可能是最困難的部分。我常常堅持不來，因爲我總是覺得對於所有這些要做的事情有點不堪重負。週二週三閱讀、寫作業、寫帖子，不要忘記工作上的表格、記得給銀行致電（誰讓他們搞砸了你的轉賬）、身爲助教還要批改那一沓卷子、而且不要忘記打電話聯繫邀請你的那個派對，但是我還總是忘記，至今仍然如此。

Some of us may want to create a “To-do” list and if it works for you, then by all means but not everybody is the same. For me, these lists can lead to stress, especially when we’re crunching for time. Having a list of all the things we need to accomplish can add to the feeling of being over worked, I mean seriously, look at how long that list is. Use “to-do” lists if it works for you, and be sure to give yourself enough time on each task so that you don’t fall behind and get into “stress mode.”

我們中有些人可能希望寫個“待完成事宜”清單，如果這個對你有作用，當然可以，但是並不是每個人都適用同樣的方法。對於我來說，這些清單隻能給我更多的壓力，特別是當時間緊缺的時候。有一個所有待做事情的清單可能會增加超額工作的感覺，說真的，看看那單子有多長呢。如果適合你就用“待做清單”，確保給自己足夠的時間去做每件事情，保證自己不至於落後，進入“壓力模式”。Stress Mode

壓力模式

Let’s talk about “stress mode,” or something one of my professors calls the “I suck spiral.” Don’t get into that negative mindset, don’t be a victim to your own mind. I know that sounds a little facetious but stress is of the mind. When you’re feeling sweaty, and shaky and mentally exhausted from the tornado of tasks, take a step back, take a short break. There are many things you can do to keep yourself going throughout the semester. Once you’ve cooled down a bit, step back into it and you must focus only at the task, make everything else secondary.

讓我們來談談“壓力模式”，或是我的一位教授稱之爲“鬧心漩渦”。不要陷入消極心態，不要淪爲自己情緒的受害者。我知道這聽起來很滑稽但是壓力的確是由心而生。當你由於任務風暴而感到汗流浹背、顫抖不止並精疲力盡的時候，退一步，短暫的休息一下。有許多你能做的事情讓自己度過這個學期。一旦你冷靜一些，回到任務重，全神貫注，把其他事情都放在次要位置。

If it’s four in the freaking afternoon and your calendar you set up says you have to write that essay at four, then you get to the nearest typing device, fire up some form of word word processor and get to work on the greatest damned essay your balding English professor’s beady little eyeballs has ever seen.

如果已經是下午四點，在你指定的日曆上寫着4點寫文章，那麼就坐在最近的打字設備前，啓動碼字模式，寫一篇最棒的文章，讓你那禿頂英語教授的綠豆眼飽飽眼福。

Sound and Setting the Environment

周圍聲音和環境設置

A brief note on environment. Make sure to surround yourself with things that aren’t distracting if possible. When writing that essay, put yourself in a quiet place, or remove yourself from the luxuries of home. I’ve done some of my best work outside of my own room. If you want to be a little bit more hardcore about it, you can leave your computer at home and use your campus PCs so you won’t feel the urge to log into Facebook or listen to the new Lorde album. Doing work on a machine that isn’t yours removes a layer of comfort and can help you focus on what needs to be done. If you really want to put yourself into real life hard mode then leave the phone at home too. But seriously, who’s going to do that? My precious…

簡單的說說環境。如果可能的話，確保你周遭沒什麼令你分神的東西。當寫文章的時候，找個安靜的環境，或是別讓自己呆在奢侈的家中。我部分出色的作品都是在我房間之外完成的。如果你想要更堅強，撇下你自己的電腦而使用校園機，你就不會按捺不住的登入臉譜或是聽洛德的新專輯。在不是自己的機器上做事情會消除你的舒適感從而幫助你更好的專注於需要完成的事情。如果你真的想要把自己置於“生活窘境”，就手機也別帶。但是，說真的，誰會那麼做呢？我寶貴的……

Whatever you do, whether you create a list of to-dos or make up your calendar and planner, the most important thing to take away is to tackle one thing at a time. Focus on just one thing at a time and concentrate on what needs to be done right then and there. Don’t overwhelm yourself by letting your mind fly wild. There’s only 24 hours in a day, but if we try hard enough, we can squeeze in everything we need to do in those 24 hours. And that’s it!

不論你做什麼，不論你是否會寫"待做清單"，或是在日曆或計劃簿上標註，最重要事情是一心不可二用。一次專注於一件事，做就全神貫注的完成它。不要想東想西而崩潰。一天只有24小時，但是如果我們夠努力，我們在這24小時裏擠擠完成所有事情。就是這樣！