直面慘淡的人生:躲不過的殘酷事實(2)
Have you ever made a mistake so Monumental that you wish you could go back in time and do it all over again? Join the club. It’s called being human. I know you might feel immense regret, but beating yourself up over something that is already done serves no purpose. Shift your attention to the present, where you can take control of your life and move forward into a better future.
你以前是不是犯過重大錯誤，以至你真心希望時光倒流、從頭再來？得了吧，你只是普普通通的人而已。或許你悔得腸子都青 了，但盯着過去的事情耿耿於懷又能怎樣呢？還是活在當下，經營好現在的生活，努力創造更好的未來吧。5. Tomorrow Is Not Guaranteed
明天是不確定的
Steve Jobs said it best, so I’m going to defer to him for this harsh truth:
史蒂夫·喬布斯說得很好，我引申爲下面這個殘酷事實：“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”
“因爲意識到自己不久將辭別人世，我竟能更好地做出人生重大抉擇。要知道，所有一切——不論是外界期許、個人驕傲、對窘迫或失敗的恐懼，在死亡面前都顯得毫無意義，唯留下那些真正重要的。”The next time you catch yourself playing the “I will do it tomorrow” game, remember that tomorrow is not guaranteed. Traffic accidents, heart attacks, and acts of violence do happen. Live in the present and take action today, because that is where progress happens.
下次你再說“明天再做”時，請提醒自己：明天是不確定的。說不定你就會遇到交通事故、心臟病或暴力行爲。所以，活在當下，今天就去行動，這樣才能取得進步。6. Just Because You’re “Busy” Doesn’t Mean You’re Accomplishing Something
“忙碌”並不代表你完成了什麼事情If you like to brag about how great you are at multitasking, stop it, because you are only kidding yourself. Changing tasks without rhyme or reason is wasting your productivity, stressing you out, and possibly causing you to make mistakes.
如果你喜歡吹噓自己多麼擅長同時處理多項任務，那還是算了吧，別自欺欺人了。毫無節拍或理由地換任務只會浪費精力、徒增壓力，甚至使你犯錯。It will probably take you longer to complete two tasks that you are switching back-and-forth between than it would to complete each one separately. If you want to save time, instead of multitasking, try grouping similar tasks together. Have a bunch of e-mails you need to send? Do them all at once.
相比一次只完成一個任務而言，同時反覆處理兩個任務或許要花更多功夫。如果你想節約時間，與其同時處理多個任務，不如嘗試分批處理類似任務。是不是要發多封郵件？那就一次發出去吧。Have an article or essay you need to write? Get it done before moving onto anything else. Different tasks require different mind-sets, so focus on one thing at a time. Being “busy” does not guarantee that you are doing something useful (it probably just means you are doing a lot of things badly).
有文章或論文要寫？寫好了再做其他事吧。不同任務需要不同的思維狀態，所以，最好一次只專注一件事。“忙忙碌碌”並不表示你在有效做事，或許你只是在焦頭爛額斡旋於多個事情中罷了。7. You Have More Time Than You Think You Do
時間比你認爲的多You should eliminate the phrase, “I don’t have the time,” from your vocabulary, because it is profoundly untrue. There are 168 hours every week. Let that sink in for a moment. That is a monumental amount of time. Where could it possibly go? The average person spends 4.09 hours on leisure activities per day according to a survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
你應該把“我沒時間”從你的字典中刪除，因爲這完全不符合事實。一週有168小時，用心想想，這絕對是大把大把的時間啊。這些時間都用來幹嘛了？根據勞動統計局調查顯示，一般人每天要花4.09小時用來娛樂。Most of that time, 2.8 hours per day, is devoted to the television. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think watching TV does much to help me grow as a person. You could spend that time creating art that adds value to the world, reading books that will help you improve your life, or exercising for a better body and health. The next time you say you “don’t have the time,” change your wording to say “it isn’t a priority.”
其中，每天有2.8小時貢獻給了電視機。我不清楚你怎麼想，但我覺得看電視對個人成長並無益處。有這個時間，還不如搞搞藝術，爲世界創造價值，或閱讀來改善個人生活，或健身塑型保養呢。下次你再說“我沒時間”時，趕緊改口告訴自己“這事兒不是當務之急”。No time to exercise? Your fitness isn’t a priority. No time to prepare healthy meals at home? Your health isn’t a priority. No time to do something nice for the love of your life? Your relationship isn’t a priority. It’s harsh, but it’s true. How you spend your time is a choice, so spend it wisely.
沒時間運動？健身不是當務之急；沒時間在家做健康飯菜？健康不是當務之急；沒時間爲愛人制造浪漫？伴侶關係不是當務之急。很諷刺，不是？可這也都是現實啊。時間怎麼分配在於你如何選擇，所以，請明智利用時間吧。
