Does This Sound Familiar?
　　这听上去很熟悉是吗?
　　Everyone seems to complain about being busy nowadays. That’s no surprise considering the wealth of information, activities and opportunities that we have at our fingertips when compared to just a few decades ago, but it also means that one of our most precious resources – time – is becoming even harder to control.
　　如今每个人似乎都在抱怨自己很忙。考虑到我们触手可及的信息、活动和机会的数量和几十年前相比已经不可同日而语，这并不奇怪。但这也意味着我们最珍贵的资源之一——时间——正在变得更加难以控制。
　　That said, there are people who are achieving amazing things every day in the same 24 hours that we all have available. So what do they know that most people don’t?
　　即便如此，还是有人每天都做到了不可思议的事情，而他们和我们拥有的同样都是每天24小时。他们知道什么大部分人不知道的秘诀呢?
　　What’s Really Important to You?
　　什么是对你真正重要的?
　　We’re surrounded by distractions that will steal our time if we’re not careful. Everyone is busy for 24 hours a day but it’s important to remember that we’re all busy doing different things.
　　我们周围充满了让我们分心的东西，一不小心，我们的时间就会被偷走。每个人一天都忙碌了24小时，但重要的是你要记住，我们忙碌所做的事情是不同的。
　　The question is whether you are busy doing the things that are really important to you, or if you find your days filled with endless time vampires.
　　问题在于，你每天是否在为那些对于你来说真正重要的事情忙碌，还是说你的时间只是被无尽的时间吸血鬼所吞噬。
　　How to Organize Your Life to Maximize Your Productivity
　　怎样管理你的生活，让效率最大化?
　　Here’s a simple exercise to look at where your time is going on an average day and to help prioritize the important stuff:
　　下面这个简单的方法可以看出你每天的时间都用在哪里，并且帮助你优先处理重要事项：
　　1. Take out a piece of paper and divide it into 3 sections
　　拿出一张纸，分成3个区
　　2. In the first section write “Sleep – 8 hours” or whatever that number is for you
　　在第一区里写上“睡觉——8小时”或者你平时的睡眠时间
　　3. In the second write “Work – 8 hours”
　　在第二区里写上“工作——8小时”
　　4. Now in the final box write down the following things and the time they take
　　在最后一个区里写上下面的事项和它们所需要的时间
　　1)Things that you have to do (showering, commuting, eating, etc)
　　你必须要做的事情(洗澡，上下班，吃饭等)
　　2)Things that you want to do (activities, time with family, etc)
　　你想做的事情(活动，陪家人等)
　　3)Other things that you currently do (TV, Facebook, etc)
　　其他你正在做的事情(看电视，用Facebook等)
　　4)Anything else that takes your time each day and isn’t captured already
　　任何其他你每天花时间做但还没有完成的事情
　　Now you simply ask yourself if you’re happy with where your time is going in that additional 8 hours. If you wish you had more time to spend on your hobby or with your family but find you’re spending a couple of hours in front of the TV each night then you might want to change that.
　　现在你只需要问问自己，对于自己在剩下这8小时的时间安排是否满意。如果你希望有更多时间用在兴趣爱好上，或者用来陪家人，但发现你每晚花了几个小时看电视，那么你也许想要改变一下了。
　　This exercise is designed to show us the places where we’re leaking time into activities we don’t really care about. At the end of the day it’s up to you how you structure your life. Maybe you’d rather spend more time watching TV and less time with your family; it’s completely up to you.
　　这个测试告诉我们，我们把许多时间浪费在了那些我们其实并不在意的事情上。在一天结束时，你可以决定该如何规划你的生活。也许你宁愿花更多时间看电视，而不愿意多陪陪家人，这完全取决于你。
　　Eliminating Huge Time Sucks from Your Life
　　减少生活中浪费掉的时间
　　There are also parts of our life that you might have to do right now but aren’t always the best use of your time. For example you might spend an hour or two commuting to and from work. That’s time that you’re losing every single day of your life and you’ll never get it back.
　　我们的生活中还有一些事情你现在也许不得不做，但并没有让这些时间得到最佳利用。比如说你也许要花一两个小时上下班。这些时间你每天都在失去，而且永远不会再回来。
　　You might look at how you can get a job closer to home or tele-commute a few days a week. Since my commute is 7 steps from the bedroom to the office (yes I just counted), it saves me a ton of time every day that I’d otherwise lose. Again it’s your life and completely up to you which choices you make – just be aware that there are always choices available.
　　你也许可以考虑找一个离家近一些的工作，或者一周来回几天。因为我从卧室到办公室的距离只有7步 (是的，我刚刚数过)，所以每天我节约了大量可能失去的时间。再重申一次，生活是你自己的，你做出何种选择完全取决于你——只要知道总有一些选择可供你考虑。
　　Other things might include dropping off and picking up children when you could take turns with other parents. Perhaps you jump on Facebook or turn on the TV and it’s time for bed before you know it. Limiting yourself in these areas can reveal a whole bunch of wasted productive time.
　　还有一些事情，也许包括接送孩子，你可以和其他家长轮流来。也许你登陆Facebook或者打开了电视，而此时已经该睡觉了。控制在这些方面花费的时间，你会发现大量被浪费的有效时间。
　　Using “Dead Time” Productively
　　有效利用“停滞时间”
　　If you still need to commute or do other tasks, then you’ll want to work out the most productive way you can do it. For example, you might start listening to personal development or business audios while commuting to up-skill in some area. By turning your car into a driving university you can easily listen to 5-10 hours of uplifting audio every week… that’s 250 to 500 hours a year!
　　如果你还是需要远距离上下班，或者有其他任务，那么你会想要研究出最有效利用这段时间的办法。比如说，在上下班路上你可以开始听一些关于个人发展或者商业的音频资料。把你的车变成一所移动的大学，这样你每周就可以听5-10个小时令人振奋的内容，一年下来就有250-500个小时呢!
　　When cooking or cleaning, you might get the kids involved or simply have them sit at the kitchen counter so you can chat. That way you have quality time with the kids every night as you cook and eat dinner at the same time. You’re basically asking yourself how to maximize the time spent on those “must do” activities.
　　当你做饭或者打扫房间时，你可以让孩子们参与进来，或者让他们坐在橱柜边，这样你们就可以聊天了。这样一来你每晚在做饭和吃饭的同事，就可以和孩子们共度黄金时光。你可以问问自己该如何让最大化利用花在“必须要做”的事情上的时间。
　　It’s Your Time… So Organize Your Life to Get What YOU Want
　　轮到你了。管理你的生活，做你想做的事
　　We all have a limited amount of time each day and it’s up to us to make the most of it. By knowing what’s important to you and making the most of your dead time you change your life dramatically. Remember it’s about designing your ideal life – not somebody else’s – so focus on what works for you.
　　我们每天的时间都是有限的，能否最大化利用时间取决于我们。知道了对你重要的事情以及该如何利用大部分停滞时间，你可以让你的生活得到巨大改变。记住，这样设计你的理想生活，而不是别人的。所以专注于对你有用的东西吧。