時間總是不夠用？關於時間管理的18條小建議

Are you usually punctual or late? Do you finish things within the time you stipulate? Do you hand in your reports/work on time? Are you able to accomplish what you want to do before deadlines? Are you a good time manager?
你是個守時的人還是經常遲到？你能在規定的時間內完成事情嗎？你能按時提交報告/工作嗎？你能在最後期限前完成想做的事情嗎？你是一個擅長管理時間的人嗎？

If your answer is “no” to any of the questions above, that means you’re not managing your time as well as you want. Here are 18 tips on how to be a better time manager:
如果上面的問題中你有一個回答的是“不”，那表明你沒能像你所想的那樣管理好時間。下面的18個小貼士能讓你更好地管理好時間。

1. Create a daily plan.
每天制訂計劃。

Plan your day before it unfolds. Do it in the morning or even better, the night before you sleep. The plan gives you a good overview of how the day will pan out. That way, you don’t get caught off guard. Your job for the day is to stick to the plan as best as possible.
提前計劃好一天的工作。可以在早晨做，但在前一晚睡覺前做更好。計劃能讓你想清自己的一天會如何展開。這樣你就不會措手不及。你當天的工作就是儘可能按計劃堅持去做。

2. Peg a time limit to each task.
爲每項任務設定時間期限。

Be clear that you need to finish X task by 10am, Y task by 3pm, and Z item by 5:30pm. This prevents your work from dragging on and eating into time reserved for other activities.
弄清楚你想在早晨10點前完成任務X，下午3點前完成任務Y，下午5:30完成任務Z。這會防止你拖延工作，佔用其他活動的時間。

3. Use a calendar.
使用日曆。

Having a calendar is the most fundamental step to managing your daily activities. If you use outlook or lotus notes, calendar come as part of your mailing software. Google Calendar is great – I use it. It’s even better if you can sync it to your mobile phone and other hardwares you use – that way, you can access your schedule no matter where you are.
使用日曆是管理日常活動的最基本的步驟。如果你用outlook或lotus notes，你電子郵件軟件也會自帶日曆。谷歌日曆很不錯——我在用它。如果你能把日曆同步到手機或所用的其他硬件上那就更好了。——那樣的話，無論你在哪裏，你都可以訪問自己的日程安排。

4. Know your deadlines.
瞭解最後期限。

When do you need to finish your tasks? Mark the deadlines out clearly in your calendar and organizer so you know when you need to finish them.
你需要何時完成任務？在日曆和備忘本上清楚地標記最後期限，讓自己知道何時需要完成它們。

5. Learn to say “No”.
學會說“不”。

Don’t take on more than you can handle. For the distractions that come in when you’re doing other things, give a firm no. Or defer it to a later period.
不要接太多任務以至於自己完成不了。 若當你在做其他事情時有事兒讓你分心，你要堅決說不。或把它推遲以後再做。

6. Target to be early.
把目標時間設定地提前一點。

When you target to be on time, you’ll either be on time or late. Most of the times you’ll be late. However, if you target to be early, you’ll most likely be on time. For appointments, strive to be early. For your deadlines, submit them earlier than required.
當你的目標是“按時” 時，你要麼按時要麼延後，大多數時候你會延後。然而，如果你打算提前一點的話，你很有可能會按時。約會時，儘量提前一點兒。對有最後期限的任務而言，提交得比規定時間提早一點。7. Have a clock visibly placed before you.
在你的面前擺放一個時鐘。

Sometimes we are so engrossed in our work that we lose track of time. Having a huge clock in front of you will keep you aware of the time at the moment.
有時我們工作時太全神貫注了以至於都忘記了時間。 在面前擺放一個大的時鐘能讓你意識到當前的時間。

8. Set reminders 15 minutes before.
把提醒時間提前15分鐘。

Most calendars have a reminder function. If you’ve an important meeting to attend, set that alarm 15 minutes before.
大部分的日曆都有提醒功能。如果你要參加重要的會議，讓鬧鈴提前15分鐘響。

9. Focus.
集中注意力。

Are you multi-tasking so much that you’re just not getting anything done? If so, focus on just one key task at one time. Close off all the applications you aren’t using. Close off the tabs in your browser that are taking away your attention. Focus solely on what you’re doing. You’ll be more efficient that way.
你是不是在進行多任務處理，但是什麼也沒有做完？如果這樣的話，一次只做一件主要的任務。關掉你不用的應用。把瀏覽器上吸引你注意力的瀏覽窗口都關閉掉。把注意力集中在你做的事情上。這樣你的效率會更高。

10. Block out distractions.
阻擋住讓你分心的事情。

What’s distracting you in your work? Instant messages? Phone ringing? Text messages popping in? I hardly ever use chat nowadays. The only times when I log on is when I’m not intending to do any work. Otherwise it gets very distracting. When I’m doing important work, I also switch off my phone. Calls during this time are recorded and I contact them afterward if it’s something important. This helps me concentrate better.
什麼事情使你在工作時分心？即時消息？電話鈴聲？跳出來的短消息？我現在幾乎不使用聊天工具。只有在我不打算工作時我才登錄到聊天工具上，否則的話會讓人分心。當我在做重要工作的時候，我也會關掉電話。這段時間的來電會被錄音下來，把重要的事情做完後我會聯繫他們。這樣我能更好地專心工作。

11. Track your time spent.
記錄所用的時間。

Egg Timer is a simple online countdown timer. You key in the amount of time you want it to track (example: “30 minutes”, “1 hour”) and it’ll count down in the background. When the time is up,the timer will beep. Great way to be aware of your time spent.
Egg Timer是一個簡單的在線倒數計時器。你輸入想讓它倒數的時間（比如：“30分鐘”，“1小時”），它會在後臺倒數。當時間到時，計時器會發出蜂鳴聲，這是知道所用時間很好的一種方式。

12. Don’t fuss about unimportant details.
不要計較那些不重要的細節。

You’re never get everything done in exactly the way you want. Trying to do so is being ineffective.
你不可能讓所有的事情都以你想要的方式完成。嘗試這樣做會讓你效率低下。13. Prioritize.
區分事情的輕重緩急。

Since you can’t do everything, learn to prioritize the important and let go of the rest. Apply the 80/20 principle which is a key principle in prioritization.
既然你不可能完成所有的事情，學着優先做重要的事情，放手其他的事情。80/20原則是區分事情優先次序的一條重要原則，要學會使用。

14. Delegate.
委託處理。

If there are things that can be better done by others or things that are not so important, consider delegating. This takes a load off and you can focus on the important tasks.
如果有些事情別人可以做得更好或不是很重要的事情，你可以考慮委託他人處理。這會減輕你的負擔，讓你專注於重要的任務。

15. Batch similar tasks together.
相似的任務批量處理。

For related work, batch them together. For example, my work can be categorized into these core groups: (1) writing (articles, my upcoming book) (2) coaching (3) workshop development (4) business development (5) administrative. I batch all the related tasks together so there’s synergy. If I need to make calls, I allocate a time slot to make all my calls. It really streamlines the process.
把相關的任務批量處理。例如，我的工作主要可以分爲這幾組：（1）寫作（文章，即將出版的新書） （2）培訓 （3）研討會發展 （4）業務發展（5）行政工作。我把這些相關的任務放在一起來協同處理。如果我需要打電話，我會安排一段時間專門打電話。這樣做簡化了工作過程。

16. Eliminate your time wasters.
排除浪費時間的因素。

What takes your time away your work? Facebook? Twitter? Email checking? Stop checking them so often. One thing you can do is make it hard to check them – remove them from your browser quick links / bookmarks and stuff them in a hard to access bookmarks folder. Replace your browser bookmarks with important work-related sites. While you’ll still check FB/Twitter no doubt, you’ll find it’s a lower frequency than before.
什麼佔據了你工作的時間？Facebook？Twitter？ 查看電子郵件？ 不要這麼頻繁地去查看它們。你可以讓自己很難去查看它們——把它們從瀏覽器的快速鏈接/書籤上移出，放在很難找到的書籤文件夾中。用和工作相關的重要網站代替它們放在瀏覽器的書籤中。當然，你還是會查看Facebook/Twitter的，但你會發現查看的頻率沒以前那麼頻繁了。

17. Cut off when you need to.
在需要的時候可以放棄。

#1 reason why things overrun is because you don’t cut off when you have to. Don’t be afraid to intercept in meetings or draw a line to cut-off. Otherwise, there’s never going to be an end and you’ll just eat into the time for later.
事情太多的首要原因是該放棄的時候卻沒有放棄。不要害怕會議中途退出或取消會議。否則會沒完沒了，你會佔用隨後的時間。

18. Leave buffer time in-between.
預留緩衝時間。

Don’t pack everything closely together. Leave a 5-10 minute buffer time in between each tasks. This helps you wrap up the previous task and start off on the next one.
不要把事情安排的太緊。在每項任務之間留出5-10分鐘的緩衝時間。這會幫助你總結前一項任務，並開始進行下一項任務。