I don’t usually read forwarded email, but I received one today that caught my attention. It was written by someone who works at Volvo in Sweden, and he mentions how any project in the company “takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It’s a rule.”

我并不常常去看那些转发的邮件，但是今天收到的一封却引起了我的注意。这封信是一位瑞典沃尔沃工作人员写的，他提到公司里的任何项目，“即使想法简单、高明，但是也至少要花两年的时间才确定下来。”

Apparently the fast-paced global corporate world, focused on immediate results, “contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this always yields better results.”

显然，快节奏的全球合作注重立竿见影的成果。“这与瑞典缓慢模式迥然不同。从另一方面来说，他们不断的讨论，讨论，再讨论，召开n场会议并且放慢议题过程。最终，这种模式常常带来更丰厚的回报”

He relates the following story:
The first time I was in Sweden, one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The first day, I didn’t say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, “Do you have a fixed parking space? I’ve noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot.” To which he replied, “Since we’re here early we’ll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don’t you think? Imagine my face.

他讲述了下面这个故事：
起初，我在瑞典，每天早上我的同事到我的小旅馆来，顺道带我去公司。时至九月，飞雪严寒，我们到达公司比较早，他把车停在了离入口处很远的地方（2000个员工都是开车来上班）。第一天，我没说什么，第二天，第三天同样是这样。一天早上，我问道：“你有固定的停车地点吗？我发现我们总是停在离入口处很远的地方，哪怕停车场没有其他的车子。”他回答说：“正是因为我们到的比较早，我们有时间走过去，迟到的人更需要一个靠近大门的空车位。不是吗？”可以想象我的脸红成什么样了吧。

He goes on to talk about a movement in Europe named Slow Food, which “establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle.”

他继续谈论着在欧洲的一场慢食运动，它鼓励人们应该细嚼慢咽的吃喝，拥有足够的时间品尝食物，花些时间和家人朋友在一起，而不是一味的奔忙。慢食运动反对它的对立面：快餐精神和拥护它作为一种生活方式的任何事物。

I love this idea. It is what is at the heart of the simplicity movement, as well as those who are trying to live frugal lives. It’s not just a matter of reducing clutter or saving money … it’s a matter of slowing down to enjoy life more, of savoring life’s simple pleasures, of rejecting on some level the materialistic culture we are all caught up in and embracing fellow humans instead. It is about changing our values and priorities.

我爱这种观点。这场简约运动的核心和那些想尽力过上节约型生活的人的想法是一致的。这不仅仅只是减少垃圾和节约金钱。在更大程度上，放慢脚步是为了享受生活，品味简约的快乐，摈弃我们日陷其中的拜物文化，皈依人本。它关乎改变我们的价值观和生活优先权。

He goes on:Basically, the movement questions the sense of “hurry” and “craziness” generated by globalization, fueled by the desire of “having in quantity” (life status) versus “having with quality”, “life quality” or the “quality of being”. French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour workweeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%. This slow attitude has brought forth the US’s attention, pupils of the fast and the “do it now!”.

他继续说：本质上，这场运动质疑了因全球化产生的“忙碌”与“狂热”，也正是因为“物质生活”（生活地位）与“品质生活”的比较，或者说“生活质量”与“生存质量”的比较才刺激了这场运动的产生。尽管法国人每周只工作35个小时，产量却高出美国和英国人的。德国建立了每周工作28.8工作制，却发现他们的产量增加了20%。这种慢速的生活态度引起了美国人的注意，尤其那些那些崇尚快节奏生活的人和立刻执行者们。

This no-rush attitude doesn’t represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress. It means reestablishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the “now”, present and concrete, versus the “global”, undefined and anonymous. It means taking humans’ essential values, the simplicity of living.

这种不慌不忙的态度并不代表做的少或者产量低。它意味着以高品质，高产量，尽善尽美的态度去工作和处理事情，注意细节避免压力。它象征着人们重塑家庭观念，朋友关系，重新拥有自由和闲暇时光。用当下的具体的“现实”世界代替模糊不清的“全球”概念。它体现了简约生活的人类价值观念。

It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do. It’s time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit.

它倡导一种无压工作环境，身心更愉悦，产量更高，在这种环境中，人们更乐于做他们所熟知的事情并知道如何做到最好。是时候停下来好好考虑什么样的公司既需要提高品质又工作轻松，既增加了产量又保证了产品质量与服务，同时又不失人们灵魂之质。

Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”.

大多数人为了生存拼命的赶时间，但是我们恐怕只能等死于心脏病或者在赶时间的时候葬身车祸才能赶上时间吧。另一些人总在担忧未来，忘记了他们正生活在当下，这段他们唯一存在的时间中。我们拥有平等的时间，没有人多些或少点。不同的是我们如何对待我们的时间。我们需要珍惜每一刻。正如约翰·列侬所说：“生活正是你在忙于另一些计划的时候从身边悄然而过”。