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It’s easy to spot when people are lying to themselves—like when a co-worker confidently starts a huge project at 4:30, but has a 5 PM deadline. “Who’s he kidding?” you might chuckle. But when you’re telling lies to yourself—well, that’s another story.
指出某人在自欺欺人是十分容易的。——比方说一位同事自信满满地在4点30分开始做一个浩大的项目，但是这个任务的期限是5点。“他在开谁的玩笑呢？”你也许会这样嘲笑他。但当你自己在自欺欺人时——好吧，那就是另一种结果了。
When it comes to productivity, you may think you have it mastered. You check tasks off your to-do list, multitask like the best of them, and stay insanely busy from morning until night. But it turns out, your so-called “productivity” may actually be a jumble of popular myths that make you think you’re getting more done than you actually are.
当涉及到效率的问题时，你总是自以为把握得很好。你查看了一下你的任务清单，然后开始一心多用，从早到晚发了疯似地忙碌工作。最后你却发现，你所谓的“效率”可能事实上只是一句非常常见的，会令你错认为你真的完成了什么事儿的谎言而已，事实上你做的远没有那么多。
Lie #1: My Day’s Full of Activity, So I Must Be Super Productive
谎言#1：我一整天全是事情要做，所以我一定是个超级高效的人。
These days, there’s no shortage of digital time-fillers that can make you feel productive. You can easily spend all day emailing, tweeting, searching, instant messaging, texting, and whatever else it takes to stay in the online loop. But while your fingers are busy typing and your eyes busy reading, all you’re really doing is getting hits of information—over and over again—instead of working toward a goal.
时下，各种电子产品能让你觉得你相当有效率。你会轻易地花上一整天发邮件、转微博、搜索、聊天、发短信，或是任何那些会让你留在线上的事儿。但在你手指不停地打字，眼睛不停地看东西的同时，你唯一做的事情无非是一遍又一遍地点击信息罢了。——而不是为了一个目标而努力工作。
Solution: The Done List
解决方案：完成事项清单
To make sure you’re actually accomplishing substantial tasks each day, keep a “done list”—that is, a list of tasks you’ve completed instead of things you have left to do. When you stop to recognize each day’s accomplishments, you’ll be able to reflect more constructively: Did you spend your time wisely? Did you make any significant progress today?
为了确保你每天确实能够完成一些实际的任务，你必须创建一份“已完成事项列表”——你把那些你已经完成了的工作记下来，而不是记下你要去做的事情。当你停下来回想你已经完成的事情时，你就能进行以下这些更有建设性的思考了：你有没有合理的安排你的时间呢？你今天有没有什么显著的进展呢？
Lie #2: Please, I’m a Multitasking Master
谎言#2：拜托，我可是个一心多用的专家
Multitasking can trick you into feeling like you’re a productivity superhero. After all, if you have the skills to simultaneously compile a budget, listen to a podcast, and catch up on your email, you must be running circles around your single-tasking co-workers, right?
一心多用很容易会令你错以为你是个效率极高的超级英雄。毕竟，要是你可以同时编预算、听播客、看邮件，你不就比那些一次只能做一件事的同事要厉害很多？
Actually, multitasking can make you perform worse in whatever you’re doing. Studies show that when you try to focus on too many things at the same time, you’re less likely to be able to filter out irrelevant facts, switch between tasks effectively, and remember important information.
事实上，一心多用会让你不论做什么都做得更差。研究表明，当你试着同时关注太多事情的时候，你就更难以过滤那些不相关的事情，更难实现在不同的任务间高效转换，也很难记住那些重要的信息。
Solution: Practice Single Focus
解决方案：练习一心一用
Try focusing on one task at a time. Hear me out: It might feel less productive—or even be less enjoyable—to work on one thing at a time, but extreme focus will bring out your best.
试着一次只做一件任务。听我说一句：一心一用听起来确实会减少效率——甚至会变得没那么有意思，但极致的专注能够激发你全部的潜能。
Lie #3: No Worries! I’ll Do it Tomorrow
谎言#3：别担心！我明天会做的
The power of procrastination is, well, pretty powerful. Without much thought, the top task on your to-do list can get pushed to tomorrow, and then to the next day, and then to the next. And in your mind, you truly believe you’ll get to it eventually—but “eventually” keeps getting pushed further and further away.
拖延的力量是很强大的。可想而知，你任务清单上最上面的任务肯定是要被你推到明天去做了，然后又被推到下一天，然后又到下一天。在你心中，你真的以为你最后能把它完成——但“最终”的含义就是不停的拖下去、拖下去、拖下去……
Solution: Find an Accountability Ally
解决方案：找一个问责盟友
The root of procrastination is often a lack of accountability—if no one knows what’s on your to-do list, no one knows that you’re not actually making any progress on it. To stay on track, partner up with a co-worker or group of peers—people who are committed to helping each other do what they say they’re going to do—and plan to check in with each other at least once a week. Whenever you meet (whether virtually or in person), review your progress, share your upcoming goals, and provide feedback and encouragement. You’ll be a lot more likely to finish your blog post if you have a friend who checks up on you: “I haven’t seen an update on your blog today—when are you going to post it?”
拖延症的根源在于缺乏监督与问责——假如没人知道你任务清单上有些什么，就没人知道你是否真的有所进展了。为了保持前进，找一个或一群同事来帮你——他们同意帮助别人完成那些他们自称会做的事情——然后每周互相确认至少一次。每次你们相遇时（不管是在网上还是在私下），回顾一下你们的进展，分享一下近期的目标，然后提供一些反馈和鼓励。要是你的朋友总是这么催你，你肯定会更勤地更新你的博客的：“我今天没看到你更新播客啊——你准备什么时候发啊？”
