Getting Things Done 中英文双语版 by Jonathan Luan

尽管去做 —无压工作的艺术［美］戴维·艾伦著张静译 fatdragoncat(胖龙猫)手打 nisky 增加英语部分/格式调整/修正部分错误

中信出版社

目录第一部分通向从容之道第1章新情况，新做法

像实干家一样思考问题，像思想家一样付诸行动。第2章

横向管理工作进程的 5 个阶段

我们应该使任何事物都变得越简单越好，而不是比较简单。第3章纵向管理：巧妙制定工作计划

当着手处理平凡琐事的时候，必须着眼于大局，这样一来，所有的烦琐小事才能够沿着正确的方向发展。第二部分远离压力，提高效率第4章确定时间、空间和工具

提升个人工作效率的最佳手段之一，就是拥有你乐于使用的管理工具。第5章

收集阶段：填充工作篮

训练自己发现那些没有到位的事情。第6章

处理阶段：清空工作篮

工作篮是一个处理问题的站点，而不是一个存储容器。第7章

管理阶段：建立好清单

在从局部管理向全局总揽的转化过程中，一个完整和同步的工作清单堪称为一个主要的运作手段。第8章

检查阶段：回过头看看

只要你保证在适当的时间查阅适当的资料，每天几秒钟也就是回顾检查所需要的全部时间。第9章

行动阶段：选最佳方案

你的工作是发现你的工作，然后全身心地投入到其中去。第10章

创造性地思考工作准备行动、创造条件，对工作进行一些创造性的思考。然后，你就把大多数人远远地抛在后面了。第三部分事半功倍的几个窍门第11章窍门 1：养成收集和自省的习惯

焦虑感和内疚感并非是由于承担太多的工作而造成的，这是由于你撕毁了同自己签订的协议而自然导致的后果。第12章

窍门 2：下一步行动

无论问题有多么大、多么严峻，你总可以向解决它们的方向迈出小小的一步，来根除掉束手无策的感觉。行动起来吧。第13章

窍门 3：关注结果

没有明确任务的展望充其量只是一个梦想，而缺乏前景的任务只是痛苦和艰辛的劳作。同时拥有前景和任务才是世界的希望。

结论欢迎来到蕴涵着深刻洞察力的战略黄金宝库。这里介绍了如何获取更加旺盛的精力，变得更加轻松自如，事半功倍的方法。如果你像我一样，既希望出色地完成工作，也期待着品味生活的滋味，这不再是一种鱼和熊掌不可兼得的选择了。你完全有可能做到在快乐地享受生活的同时，高效地处理工作上的事务。 Welcome TO A gold mine of insights into strategies for how to have more energy, be more relaxed, and get a lot more accomplished with much less effort. If you're like me, you like getting things done and doing them well, and yet you also want to savor life in ways that seem increasingly elusive if not downright impossible if youre working too hard. This doesrit have to be an either-or proposition. It is possible to be effectively doing while you are deliehtfullv bei}Q, in your ordinarv workadav world. 我认为高效是一种非常有价值的东西。也许你目前从事着十分重要、妙趣横生或者值得赞扬的工作；又或许并非如此，但是你仍不得不面对这一切。在第一种情况下，你希望所投入的时间和精力收获尽可能丰厚的回报。在第二种情况下，你希望能够尽快地投入到其他工作中去，同时不遗留任何令你念念不忘的问题。 I think efficiency is a good thing. Maybe what youre doing is important, interesting, or useful; or maybe it isn't but it has to be done anyway. In the first case you want to get as much return as can on your investment of time and energy. In second, you want to get on to other things as fast as you can, without any na}}in} loose ends. 无论正在做什么，你都希望更轻松更自信，这正是你需要做的事情—你可能正在同你的员工们一道举杯痛饮；夜深人静时，你正温柔怜爱地凝视着摇篮中安然酣睡的爱子；也许你正忙忙碌碌地回复着涌向你面前的电子邮件，或者在会议结束后抽几分钟的时间与具有潜力的新客户攀谈。 And whatever you're doing, youdprobably like to be more relaxed, confident that whatever youre doing at the moment is just what you need to be doing-that having a beer with your staff after hours, gazing at your sleeping child in his or her crib at midnight, answering the e-mail in front of yoi，or spending a few informal minutes with the potential new client after the meeting is exactly what you ought to be doing, as you're doing it.

放松精神的技巧和使其远离烦恼与忧虑的力量，很可能就是我们那些伟人的秘诀。 —J ·A ·哈特菲尔德（J. A. Hatfield） The art of resting the mind and the power of dismissing from it all care and worry is probably one of the secrets of our great men. 一 Giptain.A.Hatfield 本书写作的宗旨在于：教你在有需要或期望之时，如何才能尽管去做达到高效和轻松的最佳境界。 Teaching you how to be maximally efficient and relaxed, whenever you need or want to be, was my main purpose in writing this book. 我已经探求了很长一段时间（也许你也曾尝试过），一直希望找到下列问题的答案，即做什么，什么时间去做，以及如何去做。根据 2 0 多年发展和应用提高效率的新方法的实践，

我可以断言，没有一种万能的解决方案。当你跋涉在每天、每周乃至一生的漫长旅途中，没有任何一种软件产品、研讨会、一流的个人计划手册或者个人使命的宣言，可以简化你的工作或者代替你作出选择。而当你刚刚掌握如何在某一个层面提升办事效率和决策能力时，又会不知不觉地接受一批新的任务和富于创意的目标。由此所产生的新的挑战，公然否定了任何一个促成你达到目的、解决问题可以套用的简单公式或者人们最近流行的某种方法。 I have searched for a long time, as you may have, for answers to the questions of what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. And after twenty-plus years of developing and applying new methods for personal and organizational productivity, alongside years of rigorous exploration in the self-development arena, I can attest that there is no single, once-and-for-all solution. No software, seminar, cool personal planner, or personal mission statement will simplify your workday or make your choices for you as you move through your day, week, and life. What's more, just when you learn how to enhance your productivity and decision-making at one level, you'll graduate to the next accepted batch of responsibilities and creative goals, whose new challenges will defy the ability of any simple formula or buzzword-du 一 our to get you what you want, the way you want to get it. 不过，即使不存在一种通用手段，我们还是可以通过采取某些措施来提高效率和完善个人管理。当我逐渐地成熟起来，我发现了许多层次更深刻、内容更丰富、意义更重大的事情，值得我去关注、探讨和付诸行动。而且，我已经找到了一些完全可以学习到的简单方法，它们将显著地提高我们处理日常烦琐事务的能力。 But if there's no single means of perfecting personal organization and productivity, there are things we can do to facilitate them. As I have personally matured, from year to year, I've found deeper and more meaningful, more significant things to focus on and be aware of and do. And I've uncovered simple processes that we can all learn to use that will vastly improve our ability to deal proactively and constructively with the mundane realities of the world. 下面是对 2 0 多年来有关个人效率各种发现的汇编：最大程度地增加输出和最小程度地缩减输入，并且在工作量变得日益庞大且性质模糊不定的现实世界推行这种做法。我曾经耗费几千个小时，在工作台边实地培训，帮助人们处理和组织安排手头上的所有工作。我所揭示的这些方法，在各种类型的企业中，在每一种工作层面上，在不同的文化氛围中，甚至在家庭和学校里，也已经证明是功效卓著的。在我花费了 2 0 年的时间培养和训练了一些最为精明干练的专业人士之后，我才领悟到当今社会正如饥似渴地寻求这些方法。 What follows is a compilation of more than two decades' worth’of discoveries about personal productivity-a guide to maximizing output and minimizing input, and to doing so in a world in which work is increasingly voluminous and ambiguous. I have spent many thousands of hours coaching people "in the trenches" at their desks, helping them process and organize all of their work at hand. The methods I have uncovered have proved to be highly effective in all types of organizations, at every job level, across cultures, and even at home and school. After twenty years of coaching and training some of the world's most sophisticated and productive professionals, I know the world is hungry for these methods. 长期以来，顶层的经理主管们一直不遗余力地向他们自己和其他员工灌输“冷酷执行” 这个基本标准。他们知道，我也清楚，每一天，在紧闭的大门后，经过几个小时的苦苦奋斗，还存在着一大堆没来得及回复的电话，需要应付的电子邮件，有待指派他人处理的任务，

会后尚未处理的事务，以及缺乏管理的个人工作。而无数的商业人士之所以成功，是因为他们解决的危机和把握的机遇，远远多于在自己的办公室和公文包里存在及制造的问题。 Executives at the top are looking to instill "ruthless execution" in themselves and their people as a basic standard. They know, and I knov}，that behind closed doors, after hours, there remain unanswered calls, tasks to be delegated, unprocessed issues from meetings and conversations, personal responsibilities unmanaged, and dozens of e-mails still not dealt with. Many of these businesspeople are successful because the crises they solve and the opportunities they take advantage of are bigger than the problems they allow and create in their own offices and briefcases. But given the pace of business and life today, the equation is in question. 一方面，我们需要一些大家公认的手段，可以帮助人们从战略和战术的双重角度来集中精力，不遗漏任何一件事情。另一方面，我们需要创造工作氛围和技能，以保证那些投入最为彻底的人们，不会因为不堪重负而惨败。我们急需积极而正确的工作标准，来吸引和挽留精英和奇才们。 On the one hand, we need proven tools that can help people focus their energies strategically and -tactically without letting anything fall through the cracks. On the other, we need to create work environments and skills that will keep the most invested people from burning out due to stress. We need positive work-style standards that will attract and retain the best and brightest. 我们知道各种企业机构迫切地需要这个信息，同时在学校也存在着这种需求。在那里，我们的孩子尚未受到有关如何处理信息、如何关注成果，和采取哪些行动达到目标的教育。而对于我们每个人来说，这样的信息也是不可或缺的。只有这样，我们才能够充分地利用机遇，积极、长久地为这个世界增添价值。 We know this information is sorely needed in organizations. It's also needed in schools, where our kids are still not being taught how to process information, how to focus on outcomes, or what actions to take to make them happen. And for all of us individually, it's needed so we can take advantage of all the opportuni ties were given to add value to our world in a sustainable, self-nurturing way. 我在《尽管去做》一书中所讨论的简单性和高效性最好成为你在生活中实时的亲身体验，因此，本书必须将工作流程管理法的精髓用直线的形式体现出来。我试图这样安排本书，以便使你在实践的过程中，一面领悟到鼓舞人心的全局总览，一面品尝立竿见影的成效。 The power, simplicity, and effectiveness of what I'm talking about in Getting Things Dome are best experienced as experiences, in real time, with real situations in your real world. Necessarily, the book must put the essence of this dynamic art of workflow management and personal productivity into a linear format. I've tried to organize it in such a way as to give you both the inspiring big picture view and a taste of immediate results as you go along. 本书分为三个部分。第一部分扼要地介绍了这个系统的概况，并解释了其独特性和时效性。接着，又以最为凝练和基础的形式提出了这些方法论。第二部分展示了如何实施这个系统。它是你的私人培训顾问，指导你循序渐进地在真刀真枪的现实生活中运用这些行动模式。第三部分进入更加深刻的讨论。描述了当你把这些方法和模式融入到你的工作和生活之中后，可以产生的形式更加微妙、意义更加深远的众多成果。

The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 describes the whole game, providing a brief overview of the system and an explanation of why it's unique and timely, and then presenting the basic methodologies themselves in their most condensed and basic form. Part 2 shows you how to implement the system. It's your personal coaching, step by step, on the nitty-gritty applicanon of the models. Part 3 goes even deeper, describing the subtler and more profound results you can expect when you incorporate the methodologies and models into your work and your life. 我希望你加入这个行列，我盼望你检验这些内容，甚至提出质疑。我渴望你向自己证明，我所承诺的效果对你个人来说，不仅可能而且伸手可及。此外，我还希望你了解，我提出的每一项建议都是简单易行的，根本没有涉及任何的新技能。你早已经掌握了如何关注问题，如何把它们记录下来，如何判定成果和行为，以及如何回顾各种选择并作出决定。你将证实，你长久以来一直凭借本能和直觉对许多问题进行的处理都是正确而恰当的。我将为你提供一些方法，帮助你充分地利用这些基础技能，将它们推向高效的新境界。我希望能够激励你把它们纳入一个令你为之振奋的全新的行为模式中。 I want you to hop in. I want you to test this stuff out, even challenge it. I want you to find out for yourself that what I promise is not only possible but instantly accessible to you personally. And I want you to know that everything I propose is easy to do. It involves no new skills at all. You already know how to focus; how to write things down, how to decide on outcomes and actions, and how to review options and make choices. You'll validate that many of the things you've been doing instinctively and intuitively all along are right. I'll give you ways to leverage those basic skills into new plateaus of effectiveness. I want to inspire you to put all this into a new behavior set that will blow your mind. 在本书中，我自始至终地提及针对这些资料所开展的培训工作和研讨会。在过去的 2 0 多年中，我作为一名“管理学顾问”独立地工作着，并与别人进行了小范围的合作。我的工作主要是围绕本书中介绍的方法，针对个人进行提升效率的培训，以及举办各种讲座。我（和我的同事们）已经指导了一千多人，训练了几十万名专业人士，举办了几百次公开研讨会。这就是我提取经验和总结实例的背景情况。 Throughout the book I refer to my coaching and seminars on this material. I've worked as a "management consultant" for the last two decades, alone and in small partnerships. My work has consisted primarily of doing private productivity coaching and conducting seminars based on the methods presented here. I (and my colleagues) have coached more than a thousand individuals, trained hundreds of thousands of professionals, and delivered many hundreds of public seminars; This is the background from which I have drawn my experience and examples. 我的一位客户曾经生动形象地描述了我所作出的承诺：“当我习以为常地采纳着本书中的各项原则时，它拯救了我的生命；当我一丝不苟地运用它们时，它改变了我的一生。这是一种疫苗，可以预防日常生活中的 ‘救火现象’（在某个工作日中，出现的所谓的紧急事件和危机）；同时也是一种解毒剂，能有效舒缓人们施加在自己身上不平衡的压力。” The promise here was well described by a client of mine who wrote, "When I habitually applied the tenets of this program it saved my life…when I faithfully applied them, it charged my life. This is a vaccination against day-to-day fire-fighting (the so-called urgent and crisis demands of any given workday) and an antidote for the imbalance many people bring upon themselves."

第一部分通向从容之道第 1 章新情况，新做法可能有这样一种情况：一个人整日事务缠身，却仍然能够头脑清醒，轻松自如地控制这一切。极高的效率，卓著的效果，这是生活和工作的一种美妙的境界。同时，这也是那些经验丰富的专业人士要获取成功所必备的一种关键性的运作模式，你已经知如何做才能达到这种高效率的境界，然而，如果你本人同其他大多数人一样，那么，你必须快速地、完整地、系统地运用这些技巧，才能够真正地把握住它，而不会有一种被深埋其中的感觉。尽管本书中所描写的方法和技巧具有极强的实用价值，并且源于生活常理，但是，大多数人都已经养成了自成体系的工作习惯，他们只有对自身这些工作习惯加以调整之后，才有可能实施本系统。不要小看这些微小的调整，它们能够给你日常生活中处理重要工作的技巧带来清新的变化。我有很多客户把这种方法称之为范例改变（paradigm shift ）。 IT'S POSSIBLE FOR a person to have an overwhelming number of things to do and still function productively with a clear head and a positive sense of relaxed control. That's a great way to live and work, at elevated levels of effectiveness and efficiency. It's also becoming a critical operational style required of successful and high-performing professionals. You already know how to do everything necessary to achieve this high-performance state. If youre like most people, however, you need to apply these skills in a more timely, complete, and systematic way so you can get on top of it all instead of feeling buried. And though the method and the techniques I describe in this book are immensely practical and based on common sense, most people will.have some major work habits that must be modified before they can implement this system. The small changes required-changes in the way you clarify and organize all the things that command your attention-could represent a significant shift in how you some key aspects of your day-to-day work. Many of my clients have referred to this as a significant paradigm shift.

焦虑是由于缺乏控制力，组织管理、准备和行动不足所造成的。 —戴维·凯克奇（David Kekich） Anxiety is caused by a Lack of control, orgamZation, preparation, and action. - David Kekich

我在这里所介绍的方法主要基于两个目的：（1）抓住所有一切需要处理的事情（现在的、以后的、将来某时的；大的、小的、或者不大不小的）把它们统统置入一个脱离大脑的逻辑系统中。（2 ）训练自己在接受一切“输入信息”的前期作出决定。这样一来，在任何时候，你都把下一步行动计划掌握在手，可以实施或者进行再议。 The methods I present here are all based on two key objectives:(1) capturing all the things that need to get done-now, later, someday, big, little, or in between-into a logical and trusted system outside of your head and off your mind; and (2)disciplining yourself to make front-end decisions about all of me "inputs" you let into your life so that you will always have a plan for "next actions" that you can implement or renegotiate at any moment. 本书提供了一种经过实践验证的、高效的工作流程管理方法。为推动这一方法的实施，

还列举了一些实用的手段、技巧及窍门。你将发现，这些原理和方法无论是在你的个人生活中，还是在你的职业生涯里都可以立即派上用场。(我是从最普遍的意义出发来考虑“工作” 的。它可以是指你希望或者需要改变任何一种有别于当前状况的事情。许多人把 “工作”和 “个人生活”严格区分开来，但我不是这样：对于我来说，清除花园中的杂草或者更新我的

遗嘱都不亚于撰写本书或者培训一名客户的工作。本书中所涉及到的各种方法和技巧都可以广泛地融入生活及工作的各个领域中去。) 正如在你之前的很多人已经体验到的那样，你可以把我所描述的这种颇具活力的模式融入你的工作以及你的世界中去。或者，你也可以仿效其他一些人的做法，当你感觉必要时，把它仅仅选定为一个向导，以获得更佳的控制状态。 This book offers a proven method for this kind of high performance workflow management. It provides good tools, tips, techniques, and tricks for implementation. As you'll discover, the principles and methods are instantly usable and applicable to everything you have to do in your personal as well as your professional life.* You can incorporate, as many others have before you, what I describe as an ongoing dynamic style of operating in your work and in your world. Or, like still others, you can simply use this as a guide to getting back into better control when you feel you need to.

问题：新的要求，匮乏的资源. The Problem: New Demands,Insufficient Resources 这些日子以来，几乎我遇到的每个人都感叹自己要处理的事情过于繁多，而且总是缺乏足够的时间来一一搞定。在仅仅一周的时间里，我与一位在一家较大的全球投资公司任职的合伙人交换了意见。他承担着公司的管理工作，但他担心沉重的工作负荷将会影响到他的家庭生活；另一位中层的人力资源经理打算在一年的时间内，把公司在该地区办事处的人员从 1 100 人扩增到 2 000 人。由于受到这一目标的驱使，她每天都要拼命地处理 1 5 0 多封电子邮件。她忘我地工作着，为的是保住自己在周末能享受到正常的社交生活。 Almost everyone I encounter these days feels he or she has too much to handle and not enough time to get it all done. In the course of a single recent week, I consulted with a partner in a major global investment firm who was concerned that the new corporate-management responsibilities he was being offered would "stress his family commitments beyond the limits; and with a midlevel human-resources manager trying to stay on top of her 150-plus e-mail requests per day fueled by the goal of doubling the company's regional office staff from eleven hundred to two thousand people in one year, all as she tried to protect a social life for herself on the weekends. 新千年伊始，就出现了这样一个自相矛盾的现象：人们的生活质量得到了显著提高，但是同时又承担着自己力所不能及的工作，结果导致他们承受了越来越大的压力。这似乎是眼高手低造成的，而且绝大多数人都对怎样改善这种局面感到茫然。 A paradox has emerged in this new millennium: people have enhanced quality of life, but at the same time they are adding to their stress levels by taking handle. It's as though their on more than they have resources to eyes And most people are to about how to improve the some were bigger than their stomachs. degree frustrated and perplexed situation. 工作不再有清楚的界线

Work No Longer Has Clear Boundaries 我们感到身上的压力与日俱增，一个主要的原因在于：工作的性质发生了快速而巨大的变化，这种变化是我们自身的能力以及我们为此所接受的名目繁多的培训都追赶不上的。仅仅在 2 0 世纪的后 5 0 年中，在这个工业化的世界里，工作的性质已经由流水线装配、制造，以及搬运一类的活动转变为彼得·德鲁克（P e t e r D r u c k e r ）所恰如其分地描述的那种 “知识工作”（k n o w l e d g e work ）。 A major factor in the mounting stress level is that the actual nature of our jobs has changed much more dramatically and rapidly than have our training for and our ability to deal with work. In just the last half of the twentieth century, what constituted "work" in the industrialized world was transformed from assembly line, make-it and move-it kinds of activity to what Peter Drucker has so aptly termed "knowledge work."

我试图一次处理一天的事情，但是有时，几天的问题一起洪水猛兽般地向我袭来。 —阿什利·布里连特（Ashley Brilliant） Tinee is the quality of nature that keeps events frone happening all at once. Lately it doesn'tseeneto be working. 一 Anonvneous 以前，工作是一件不言而喻的事情。人们耕田种地，用机器加工工具，装箱搬运，挤牛奶，摆弄精密的工具。你知道哪些工作必须完成，哪些工作已经大功告成，哪些问题还悬而未决，一切都明明白白。现在，大多数人接手的大部分工作都不具备明确的边界。我所认识的大多数人，他们手头上都至少堆积着半打子的事情要处理。即使他们搭上自己的下半辈子去苦苦地努力，也不可能把一切都做到尽善尽美，恐怕你也深有同感。这次会议有多大的潜力可以挖掘？这个培训计划是否有效？或者主管人员的解聘赔偿结构是否合理？你正在起草的文章是否能够鼓舞人心？即将召开的员工会议能否令人为之振奋不已？公司的重组计划是否行之有效？还有一个问题：要想更加出色地完成这些任务，你能够搜寻到多少相关的资料呢？回答是：通过因特网，你可以轻而易举地获取数目无穷无尽的信息，至少存在着这样的潜力。 Now，for many of us, there are no edges to most of our projects. Most people I know have at least half a dozen things they’re trying to achieve right now, and even if they had the rest of their lives to try，they wouldn't be able to finish these to perfection. Youre probably faced with the same dilemma. How good could that conference potentially be? How effective could the training program be, or the structure of your executives' compensation package? How inspiring is the essay you're writing? How motivating the staff meeting? How functional the reorganization? And a last question: How much available data could be relevant to doing those projects "better"? The answer is, an infinite amount, easily accessible, or at least potentially so, through the Web. 几乎每一件事情都可能处理得更加完善，而且现在促成这一切成为现实的信息，已数不胜数、唾手可得。 Almost every project could be done better, and an infinite quantity of information is now available that could make that happen. 另一个问题是，工作缺乏明确的边界导致每一个人的工作量加大。今天，许许多多大公

司的运作都是各部门之间互相交流、鼎力合作和磨合的结果，我们这个独立的部门由于从不愿自找麻烦地去查阅由市场部、人力资源部或某个专门的委员会转发来的电子邮件，结果导致我们的部门正面临着彻底崩溃的威胁。 On another front, the lack of edges can create more work for everyone. Many of today's organizational outcomes require cross-divisional communication, cooperation, and engagement. Our individual office silos are crumbling, and with them is going the luxury of not having to read cc'd e-mails from the marketing department, or from human resources, or from some ad hoc, dealwith-a-certain-issue committee. 工作在不断地变化 Our Jobs Keep Changing 一般情况下，我们工作中所出现的参差不齐、变化万千的枝节问题，对任何人来说都是一个不小的挑战。现在，在这个基础上还要添加一个变化无穷的工作定义的问题。我经常在研讨会上提问：“你们当中，有谁做的是招聘你的时候要你做的事情？”很少有人举手。由于工作职责很可能既无明确的限制，又无特定的形式，因此，如果你有机会在相当长的一段时间里从事某一特定的工作，也许你才有可能弄明白你到底需要做什么？做多少？做到什么程度？才可以使自己的头脑保持清醒。但是，很少有人能享受这个福分，主要有以下两个原因： The disintegrating edges of our projects and our work in general would be challenging enough for anyone. But now we must add to that equation the constantly shifting definition of our jobs. I often ask in my seminars, "Which of you are doing only what you were hired to do?" Seldom do I get a raised hand. As amorphous as edgeless work may be, if you had the chance to stick with some specifically described job long enough, you'd probably figure out what you needed to do-how much, at what level-to stay sane. But few have that luxury anymore, for two reasons: 1.我们所工作的机构似乎处于一种永恒的变化之中，奋斗目标、产品、用户、市场、技术，以及所有者都在不断地更新变化。这必然导致各种现存的结构、模式、角色和责任的重组整顿。 1 The organizations we're involved with seem to be in constant morph mode, with ever-changing goals, products, partners, customers, markets, technologies, and owners. These all, by necessity, shake up structures, forms, roles, and responsibilities. 2. 与从前相比，当今一般的专业人士具有更强的独立性和自由度。他们变换职业就如同他们的父母换工作岗位一样频繁，甚至连 4 0 多岁和 5 0 多岁的人也信奉不断发展的信条。他们希望更全面地融入主流社会中去，投身于 “包罗万象的发展大潮之中，无论是在专业方面、管理方面还是行政方面”。简单地说，他们不会长期从事任何一个职业。 2 The average professional is more of a free agent these days than ever before, changing careers as often as his or her parents once changed jobs. Even fortysomethings and fiftysomethings hold to standards of continual growth. Their aims are just more integrated into the mainstream now, covered by the catchall "professional, management, and executive development"-which simply means they won't keep doing what they're doing for any extended period of time.

我们永远无法为那些新的事物真正作好充分的准备。我们不得不调整我们自己，而每一次彻底的调整本身就将使自尊心面临一次危机：我们经受着考验，我们不得不证明自己。这需要我们振奋起自信心去面对剧烈的变革，这样内心深处才不会感到瑟瑟发抖。 —埃里克·霍弗（Eric Hoffer） We can never really be prepared for that which is wholly new. We hove to adjust,. ourselves, and every radical adjustment is a crisis in self esteem: we undergo? a test, we hove to prove ourselves.It needs subordinnte self-confidence to face drastic change without inner trembling. -Eric Hoffer 现在很少有人非常清楚，工作到底是什么？到底需要多大的投入才能够把它做好呢？我们从外部世界吸取了大量的信息，同时，在我们的内心世界又形成了同样数量巨大的观点以及与别人达成的共识。然而，我们自身还没有具备相应的能力来承担和调整来自于我们内心和外界环境的一切。 Little seems work is and what clear for very long anymore, as far as what our or how much input may be relevant to doing it well. We're allowing in huge amounts of Information and communication from the outer world and generating an ideas and agreements with equally large volume of ourselves and others from inner world. And we havent been well equipped to deal with huge number of internal and external commitments.

旧的模式和习惯已显得力不从心 The Old Models and Habits Are Insufficient 无论是我们所接受的标准教育，或是传统的支配时间的方法，还是当今那些充斥市场、随手可得的管理辅助工具，如个人记事本、微软的 O u t l o o k 软件或者个人掌上电脑（P D A ），都无法全面地帮助我们应付我们所面对的各种新要求，如果你已经试过使用上述任何一种处理器或者工具，恐怕你已经发现，它们都无法满足工作中各种不断产生和转移的复杂要求。要期望在这个波涛汹涌的时代获得轻松和良好的自我控制，人们需要全新的思维方式和工作模式。我们迫切地需要挖掘出一些新方法、新技术和新的工作习惯，以帮助我们永远立于不败之地。 Neither our standard education, nor traditional time-management models, nor the plethora of organizing tools available, such as personal notebook planners, Microsoft Outlook, or Palm personal digital assistants (PDAs), has given us a viable means of meeting the new demands placed on us. If you've tried to use any of these processes or tools, you've probably found them unable to accommodate the speed, complexity, and changing priority factors inherent in what you are doing. The ability to be successful, relaxed, and incontrol during these fertile but turbulent times demands new ways of thinking and working. There is a great need for new methods, technologies, and work habits to help us get on top of our world.

狂风和巨浪永远站在最精明强干的航海家一边。 —爱德华·吉本（Edward Gibbon ） The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators. -Edward Gibbon 传统的时间管理法和个人管理法在过去的时代大显身手。当劳动大军从工业化装配流

水线中抽身出来，涌入一种全新的工作模式时，这些传统的方法为我们提供了极为有益的参照点。这包括对行动对象和时机的判断。而当“时间”自身也转化为一种工作因素时，个人日程表随之成为一种关键性的工作管理工具。（2 0 世纪 8 0 年代，许多专业人士把袖珍日程表视为工作条理化的主要手段。时至今日，仍有许多人把自己的日程表奉为重要工具。）有了自由支配的时间，选择做什么事的要求也接踵而来。“1 2 3”优先顺序代码和每日开列的事务清单，就是人们在过去的实践中逐渐发展起来的重要手段。如果你拥有作出选择的自由，你也需要考虑到那些需要优先解决的事情。 The traditional approaches to time management and personal organization were useful in their time. They provided helpful reference points for a workforce that was just emerging from an industrial assembly-line modality into a new kind of work that included choices about what to do and discretion about when to do it. When "time" itself turned into a work factor, personal calendars became a key work tool. (Even as late as the 1980s many professionals considered having a pocket Day-Timer the essence of being organized, and many people today think of their calendar as the central tool for being in control.) Along with discretionary time also came the need to make good choices about what to do. "ABC" priority codes and daily "to-do" lists were key techniques that people developed to help them sort through their choices in some meaningful way. If you had the freedom to decide what to do, you also had the responsibility to make good choices, given your "priorities." 你可能已经认识到，尽管日程表的作用不容忽视，但是实际上，它也只是有效地管理了你所从事的大量事务中的一小部分内容，至少在某种程度上如此。而且，已为人们所证实的是，每天的工作清单和那些重要事件的顺序代号，远远不足以应付一个普通专业人士所遭遇到的数目巨大、纷繁复杂的日常事务。越来越多的人每天要处理几十封甚至几百封电子邮件，他们不能忽略掉任何一个邀请、投诉或订单。几乎没有人能够（或者甚至应该）把所有的事务一一按照“1、2、3 ”的顺序排出先后，也没有人敢在接到老板的电话或指令后，不立即撤消自己事先确定的工作日程。 What you've probably discovered, at least at some level, is that a calendar, though important, can really effectively manage only a small portion of what you need to organize. And daily to-do lists and simplified priority coding have proven inadequate to deal with the volume and variable nature of the average professional's workload. More and more people's jobs are made up of dozens or even hundreds of e-mails a day, with no latitude left to ignore a single request, complaint, or order. There are few people who can (or even should) expect to code everything an "A," a "B," or a "C" priority, or who can maintain some predetermined list of to-dos that the first telephone call or interruption from their boss won't totally undo. “大局”与事物的本质 The "Big Picture" vs. the Nitty-Gritty 另一方面，大量的商业书籍、范例、研讨会和专家权威们，都极力推崇把“着眼大局” 作为一种处理我们复杂问题的思路。认清主要的目标和价值观，为我们的工作赋予了先后次序、意义和方向。然而，在实践中，运用价值观思维方式这一良好的初衷却经常达不到预期的效果。我经常看到，出于下面三个原因，这些努力往往都付诸东流了： At the other end of the spectrum, a huge number of business books, models, seminars, and gurus

have championed the "bigger view" as the solution to dealing with our complex world. Clarifying major goals and values, so the thinking goes, gives order, meaning", and direction to our work. In practice, however, the well-intentioned exercise of values thinking too often does not achieve its desired results. I have seen too many of these efforts fail, for one or more of the following three reasons: 1. 在处理每天、每小时的事务时，有很多干扰因素分散了我们的注意力，以致我们无法集中足够的精力关注更重要的问题。 1 There is too much distraction at the day-to-day, hour-to-hour level of commitments to allow for appropriate focus on the higher levels. 2. 由于个人管理系统方面存在欠缺，引发了一种下意识的抵触情绪，在面对那些原本棘手的重要项目和目标时，这种情绪阻止了具体行动的实施。结果导致了更加严重的干扰作用，进一步强化了压力。 2 Ineffective personal organizational systems create huge sub-conscious resistance to undertaking even bigger projects and goals that will likely not be managed well, and that will in turn cause even more distraction and stress. 一旦阐明了更高一级的水准和价值观，我们原有的标准尺度也随之提升，这使我们认识到有更多的事物有待转变。对于那些自己原已应接不暇，又不得不应付的工作我们已经作出了强烈的消极反应。那么，是什么促使我们首先在清单上堆积了大量的任务呢？是我们的价值观。 3 When loftier levels and values actually are clarified, it raises the bar of our standards, making us notice that much more that needs changing. We are already having a serious negative reaction to the over-whelming number of things we have to do. And what created much of the work that's on those lists in the first place? Our values!

关注价值观并不会使你的生活变得简单。它阐明意义，指导方向，而且带来更多复杂的情况。 Focusing on values does notsimplify your life. It gives meaning and direction-and a lot more complexity. 当然，集中精力对付主要的成果和价值观是至关重要的。但是，这并不意味着我们要做的工作就减轻了，或者遇到的困难和挑战大大地减少了。恰恰相反，只是牌局中的赌注提高了，但还必须一如既往地玩下去。例如，对一位人力资源部的经理来说，仅仅决定提高工作生活的质量来吸引并留住人才，这并不能使事情变得简单化。 Focusing on primary outcomes and values is a critical exercise, certainly. But it does not mean there is less to do, or fewer challenges in getting the work done. Quite the contrary: it just ups the ante in the game, which still must be played day to day. For a human-resources executive, for example, deciding to deal with quality-of-work-life issues in order to attract and keep key talent does not make things simpler. 长期以来，在“知识工作”的新文化中存在着一种缺陷：缺少一套连贯一致的系统和工具，它们能够在实实在在的工作中发挥出卓越的功效。它必须能够从大局着眼，从小处入手，

并且使二者有机地融合在一起。它必须能够管理多个层面；必须能够坚持不懈地对每天衍生的众多新生事物保持控制；必须比原来节省更多的时间和精力；必须化繁为简。 There has been a missing piece in our new culture of knowledge work: a system with a coherent set of behaviors and tools that functions effectively at the level at which work really happens. It must incorporate the results of big-picture thinking as well as the smallest of open details. It must manage multiple tiers of priorities. It must maintain control over hundreds of new inputs daily. It must save a lot more time and effort than are needed to maintain it. It must make it easier to get things done. 承诺：武术家的“一切就绪的状态” The Promise: The "Ready State" of the Martial Artist

缺乏洞察力，生活就会拒绝你。无论是擦窗户还是撰写宏篇巨著都是如此。 —纳迪亚·布朗热（Nadia Boulanger） Life is denied by lack of attention,whether itbe to cleaning windows or tryng to waste a masterpiece.. 一 Nadia Bonlanger 让我们反省一下，如果你在任何程度上、任何时间内都能够随心所欲地控制自己的一切事物，情况会是怎么样呢？如果你能够 1 0 0 %地把精力投入到工作中而不受任何外界的干扰，情形又会是怎么样呢？ Reflect for a moment on what it actually might be like if your personal management situation were totally under control, at all levels and at all times. What if you could dedicate fully 100 percent of your attention to whatever was at hand, at your own choosing, with no distraction? 这是有可能实现的。有一种方法可以让你紧紧抓住遍及生活各个角落的所有的事情，同时保持随意而放松，花费最少的气力完成一切有意义的工作。它使你在这个错综复杂的世界里，能够体验到武术家们所说的“心静如水”（mind like water）的境界，优秀的运动员则称之为“区域”（zone）。事实上，你很有可能已经体会到这种美妙的感觉了。 It is possible. There is a way to get a grip on it all, stay relaxed, and get meaningful things done with minimal effort, across the whole spectrum of your life and work. You can experience what the martial artists call a "mind like water" and top athletes refer to as the "zone," within the complex world in which youre engaged. In fact, you have probably already been in this statefrom time to time. 你发挥能量的能力与你放松休息的能力直接成正比。 Your ability to generate power is directly proportional to your ability to relax. 在这种工作状态下，你头脑清醒，积极的事物层出不穷，每个人都可能获得这种状态。要想积极有效地应付 2 1 世纪复杂多样的生活，人们对这种状态的需求日益增强。对于那些高效率的专业人士来说，如果他们希望保持工作中的平衡和积极稳定的成果，那么，这种状态必将成为一种不可或缺的条件。世界级的划船手克雷格·兰伯特（Craig Lambert ）曾在《碧波上的心境》（Mind Over Water，霍顿·米夫林公司 1998 年出版）一书中这样描述这种感受：

It's a condition of working, doing, and being in which the mind is clear and constructive things are happening. It's a state that is accessible by everyone, and one that is increasingly needed to deal effectively with the complexity of life in the twenty-first century. More and more it will be a required condition for high-performance professionals who wish to maintain balance and a consistent positive output in their work. World-class rower Craig Lambert has described how it feels in Mind Over Water (Houghton Miffin, 1998): 划船手们用这样一个词语来描述这种无摩擦的状态：摇荡。使我们回想起，在后院荡秋千时的那种惬意和欢娱—一种简单的循环往复的运动，完全凭借着来自秋千自身的冲力。秋千承载我们，我们丝毫不需要用力。我们荡起双腿，促使秋千在空中划过的弧度越飞越高，但是，这主要是地球引力的功劳。与其说我们荡秋千，还不如说我们被荡了起来。船推动着你前行，是船身渴望着快速地向前，在它的航线上，在它的自然状态中，速度在吟唱着。我们的任务仅仅是与船身并肩作战，拼命地挥桨加快速度，避免拖其后腿。而过于用力又会阻碍船速。努力变成了为努力而努力，其结果适得其反，反而在努力中又化解了其自身。形形色色一心往上爬的人拼命地想挤进贵族阶层，然而，他们挖空心思却只能够证明自己并不身属此类。贵族们并不需要努力，他们早已经到达了这种境界。荡秋千就是这样一种到达了的境界。 Rowers have a word for this frictionless state: swing. . . . Recall the pure joy of riding on a backyard swing: an easy cycle of motion, the momentum coming from the swing itself. The swing carries us; we do not force it. We pump our legs to drive our arc higher, but gravity does most of the work. We are not so much swinging as being swung. The boat swings you. The shell wants to move fast: Speed sings in its lines and nature. Our job is simply to work with the shell, to stop holding it back with our thrashing struggles to go faster. Trying too hard sabotages boat speed. Trying becomes striving and striving undoes itself Social climbers strive to be aristocrats but their efforts prove them no such thing. Aristocrats do not strive; they have already arrived. Swing is a state of arrival. “心静如水”的比喻空手道中用“心静如水”来形容一切就绪的状态。想像把一粒石子投入沉寂无声的池塘中，池塘中的水会有何种反应呢？答案是：依照所投入物体的质量和力度作出相应的反应，然后又归于平静。池水既不会反应过激，也不会听之任之。 In karate there is an image that's used to define the position of perfect readiness: "mind like water." Imagine throwing a pebble into a still pond. How does the water respond? The answer is, totally appropriately to the force and mass of the input; then it returns to calm. It doesn't overreact or underreact.

如果你的大脑中空空如也，总是处于一切就绪的状态，它就会向一切事情敞开大门。 —Shunryu Suzuki If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. —Sbunryu Suzuki 空手道中的击拳动作，其力量来自速度，而不是肌肉，即挥拳最后阶段急剧的“爆发”。这就是为什么瘦小柔弱的人，也能够学会用双手劈开木板和砖块了。这并不是靠皮糙肉厚或

者凭借蛮力，而是灵活地运用一种能够附和着高速度而产生聚集冲力的能力。但是如果肌肉紧张，动作就会慢下来。因此，在高级阶段的武功训练中，对平衡和放松状态的教学并不亚于对其他方面的要求。扫除杂念和灵活柔韧是关键之所在。 The power in a karate punch comes from speed, not muscle; it comes from a focused "pop" at the end of the whip. That's why petite people can learn to break boards and bricks with their hands: it doesn't take calluses or brute strength, just the ability to generate a focused thrust with speed. But a tense muscle is a slow one. So the high levels of training in the martial arts teach and demand balance and relaxation as much as anything else. Clearing the mind and being flexible are key. 任何造成你反应过度或不足的事情都可能控制住你，事情往往如此。不能处理好自己的电子邮件、员工、项目、未读的杂志、下一步行为的思考、孩子、或者与老板的关系，都可能导致比你预期差得多的结果。很多人对于一些事情，要么给予过分的关注，要么不屑一顾，这仅仅是因为他们无法做到“心静如水”般地行事。 Anything that causes you to overreact or underreact can control you, and often does. Responding inappropriately to your e-mail, your ects, your unread magazines, your thoughts about what you need to do, your children, or your boss will lead to less effective results than you'd like. Most people give either more or less attention to things than they deserve, simply because they don’t operate with a "mind like water." 任何造成你反应过度或不足的事情都可能控制住你，事情往往如此。 Anything that causes you to overreact or underreact can control you, and often does. 你能够在需要时进入自己的“高效状态”吗？ Can You Get into Your "Productive State" When Required? 回想一下上一次你感觉工作高效时的情形。很可能你当时感觉自己完全能够控制一切，丝毫没有紧张的感觉。你全身心投入到工作中去，时间的概念似乎消失了，（怎么已经到了午餐的时间了？）你明显地感受到工作上取得的进展。你还希望再次体验这样的感觉吗？ Think about the last time you felt highly productive. You probably had a sense of being in control; you were not stressed out; you were highly focused on what you were doing; time tended to disappear (lunchtime already?); and you felt you were making noticeable progress toward a meaningful outcome. Would you like to have more such experiences?

有一件事我们可以做到，最幸福快乐的人是那些尽力而为的人，我们完全可以达到这一境界，我们能够全身心地投入。我们可以全神贯注地关注我们面前的机遇。 —马克·范·多琳（Mark Van Doren ） There is one thing we can do, and the happiest people are those who can do it to the limit of their ability. We can be completely present. We can be all here. We can . . . give all our attention to the opportunity before us. —Mark Van Doren 如果你确实已经远远地脱离了那种理想状态，开始感受到自己渐渐地失去了控制、压力重重、痛苦不堪，你是否能再一次回归到那种状态呢？这就是本书的宗旨，它将告诉你如何才能回归 “心静如水”的境界，把全部的才智发挥得淋漓尽致，因此，本书将对你的生活

具有重大的指导意义。 And if you get seriously far out of that state—and start to feel out of control, stressed out, unfocused, bored, and stuck—do you have the ability to get yourself back into it? That's where the methodology of Getting Things Done will have the greatest impact on your life, by showing you how to get back to "mind like water," with all your resources and faculties functioning at a maximum level.

原则：有效地处理内心中的承诺 The Principle: Dealing Effectively with Internal Commitments 从事 2 0 余载的培训工作，我发现了一个最为基本的常识，即由于人们对自己作出的承诺或者承担的义务不明确，导致了他们承受着重重压力的折磨。即使那些并没有明显体验到压力的人，如果他们学会了如何更加有效地对生活中“悬而未决的问题”加以控制，毫无疑问，在放松自我、集中精力、提高效率方面也会呈现出明显的改观。 A basic truism I have discovered over twenty years of coaching and training is that most of the stress people experience comes from inappropriately managed commitments they make or accept. Even those who are not consciously "stressed out" will invariably experience greater relaxation, better focus, and increased productive energy when they learn more effectively to control the "open loops" of their lives. 恐怕你已经与自己达成了许多项协议（这一点多半连你自己也尚未认识到）。而每一项协议，无论大小，都时时刻刻地被你自身中的无意识紧密地追随着。这些就是“未完成的事情”或者“悬而未决的问题”。它们可能是大到像“根除世界上的饥饿问题”这样的重大事务，也可能是 “雇佣一个新助手”之类的一般性事件，或“更换电子削笔刀”一类的琐碎小事。 You've probably made many more agreements with yourself than you realize, and every single one of them-big or little—is being tracked by a less-than-conscious part of you. These are the "incompletes," or "open loops," which I define as anything pulling at your attention that doesn't belong where it is, the way it is. Open loops can include everything from really big to-do items like "End world hunger" to the more modest "Hire new assistant" to the tiniest task such as "Replace electric pencil sharpener." 现在，你内心很有可能已经承担了比你自己所意识到的还多得多的工作。想想看，有多少微乎其微的事情你必须去改变和完成。比如，你需要以某种方式回复电子邮箱、语言信箱以及工作中的新信息；你知道有无数的工程项目将会被划分到你的责任范围内；你还需要确定某些目标和方向，经营自己的事业，在总体上平衡自己的生活。 It's likely that you also have more internal commitments currently in play than you're aware of. Consider how many things you feel even the smallest amount of responsibility to change, finish, handle, or do something about. You have a commitment, for instance, to deal in some way with every new communication landing in your e-mail, on your voice-mail, and in your in-basket. And surely there are numerous projects that you sense need to be defined in your areas of responsibility, as well as goals and directions to be clarified, a career to be managed, and life in general to be kept in balance. You have accepted some level of internal responsibility for everything in your life and work that represents an open loop of any sort.

任何没有找到应有的位置和恰当的存在方式的事物，都会盘踞在我们的脑海中，成为悬而未决的问题。 Anything that does not belong where it is, the way it is, is an "open loop" pulling on your attention. 为了能够高效地应付这一切问题，首先，你必须收集所有那些“经常唤醒你模糊记忆” 的事情，然后着手计划如何一一地解决掉。这看起来似乎极为简单，但在实际操作中，大多数人都难以始终如一地坚持下去。 In order to deal effectively with all of that, you must first identify and collect all those things that are "ringing your bell" in some way, and then plan how to handle them. That may seem like a simple thing to do, but in practice most people don't know how to do it in a consistent way. 管理承诺时的基本要求 The Basic Requirements for Managing Commitments 如果希望出色地管理好所有的工作，那么，你需要做到下面几点： Managing commitments well requires the implementation of some basic activities and behaviors: 首先，如果这件事总占据着你的头脑，你的思维就会受阻。任何一件你认为没有完成的事情，都必须置于一个客观可靠的体系中，或者是我称之为“工作篮”的工具之中—必须经常回访并且清理它。 * First of all, if it's on your mind, your mind isn't clear. Anything you consider unfinished in any way must be captured in a trusted system outside your mind, or what I call a collection bucket, that you know you'll come back to regularly and sort through. 第二，你必须明白你的工作到底是什么。你还必须作出判断：需要采取什么行动来推动工作的发展进程。 * Second, you must clarify exactly what your commitment is and decide what you have to do, if anything, to make progress toward fulfilling it. 第三，一旦决定了需要采取的行动方案，你必须在某一个你会经常查阅的体系中安排组织好这些行为的提示信息。 * Third, once you've decided on all the actions you need to take, you must keep reminders of them organized in a system you review regularly. 检验这种模式的一个重要训练 An Important Exercise to Test This Model 我建议，你拿笔记下来目前盘踞在你大脑中的那些最重要的工作或事情。哪一件事最让你心烦意乱？哪一种情况最能够分散你的注意力？哪一个问题令你兴趣浓厚？或者哪一种局面以其他的方式消耗了你大量的注意力？也许，正是某一件“摆在你面前的”工作或者问题需要解决，而且越早处理越好。 I suggest that you write down the project or situation that is most on your mind at this moment. What most "bugs" you, distracts you, or interests you, or in some other way consumes a large part of your conscious attention? It may be a project or problem that is really "in your face," something

you are being pressed to handle, or a situation you feel you must deal with sooner rather than later. 也许，你马上就要背上行装外出度假去了。出发之前，你还有几个重大决策要敲定。或许你刚刚继承一笔 6 0 0 万美元的遗产，而你不知道该如何处置这些现金等。明白了吗？ Maybe you have a vacation trip coming up that you need to make some major last-minute decisions about. Or perhaps you just inherited six million dollars and you don't know what to do with the cash. Whatever. 好，请用简单的一句话来描述一下，你希望得到的理想结果是什么。换句话说，怎样才算得上是“完成”了呢？这可能非常简单，就像 “去夏威夷度假”，“处理有关客户 X 的事情”，“与苏珊协调大学里的情况”，“弄清新的分区管理结构”或者 “实施新的投资策略”。你现在都清楚了吗？好极了。 Got it? Good. Now describe, in a single written sentence, your intended successful outcome for this problem or situation. In other words, what would need to happen for you to check this "project" off as "done"? It could be as simple as "Take the Hawaii vacation," "Handle situation with customer X," "Resolve college situation with Susan," "Clarify new divisional management structure," or "Implement new investment strategy." All clear? Great. 现在，请写下为了推动事情的进程，紧接着你需要采取的具体行动是什么。如果你目前除了要马上结束这件事，再无其他的事情要处理，那你现在打算去哪里？打算采取什么行动步骤呢？你会不会打一个电话？会不会走到计算机前敲一封电子邮件？会不会坐下来，取出纸和笔，心血来潮地写上几笔呢？有没有可能与你的配偶、秘书、律师或你的老板面对面地谈上一会儿呢？还是去五金商店买一些钉子呢？是什么？ Now write down the very next physical action required to move the situation forward. If you had nothing else to do in your life but get closure on this, where would you go right now, and what visible action would you take? Would you pick up a phone and make a call? Go to your computer and write an e-mail? Sit down with pen and paper and brainstorm about it? Talk face-to-face with your spouse, your secretary, your attorney, or your boss? Buy nails at the hardware store? What? 你找到答案了吗？好极了。 Got the answer to that? Good. 你能从这短短 2 分钟的思考中挖掘出什么有价值的东西吗？如果你同那些在参加研讨会时完成了这个训练的大多数人一样，那么，你就会体验到，至少你的控制力增加了一点点，精神放松了一些，注意力更集中了。此外，对于某些长久以来一团乱麻的局面，你似乎也会增加动手解决它的冲动。设想一下，在生活和工作中，这种驱动力放大 1 000 倍时将会是怎样的一番景象。 Was there any value for you in these two minutes of thinking? If you're like the vast majority of people who complete that drill during my seminars, you'll be experiencing at least a tiny bit of enhanced control, relaxation, and focus. You'll also be feeling more motivated to actually do something about that situation you've merely been thinking about till now. Imagine that motivation magnified a thousandfold, as a way to live and work.

像实干家一样思考问题，像思想家一样付诸行动。 —亨利·伯格森（Henry Bergson） Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought. —Henry Bergson 如果这个小小的试验能够对你产生一些积极影响，请你想一想：究竟是什么发生了变化？根据你的经验，是什么促使局面得到了改观？事物本身并不会向前发展，至少在这个物质世界中这一点是千真万确的。当然，事情还没有结束呢。恐怕，所发生的一切只是，你更加明确地了解到你所期盼的结果和确定了下一步需要采取的行动方案。 If anything at all positive happened for you in this little exercise, think about this: What changed? What happened to create that improved condition within your own experience? The situation itself is no further along, at least in the physical world. It's certainly not finished yet. What probably happened is that you acquired a clearer definition of the outcome desired and the next action required. 然而，是什么创造了这一切呢？回答是：思考。你并不需要进行很多思考，仅仅需要一些，能够把你所承担的责任和投入的资源凝聚到一起就绰绰有余了。 But what created that? The answer is, thinking. Not a lot, just enough to solidify your commitment and the resources required to fulfill it. “知识工作”的本质 The Real Work of Knowledge Work 欢迎参与到“知识工作”的真实经验以及意义深远的运作原则中来。原则是：你对工作投入的思考必须比你认识到的多得多，但是又比你所担心的工作量少得多。就像彼得·德鲁克所描写的那样：“在知识工作中，任务没有被指定，它需要被确定。‘这项工作的预期成果是什么？’这是一个提高知识工作者工作效率的关键性问题。这个问题可能导致一些极具风险性的决定。通常，没有正确的答案，只有不同的选择。想要获取高效益，一定要明确地认定预期结果。” Welcome to the real-life experience of "knowledge work," and a profound operational principle: You have to think about your stuff more than you realize but not as much as you're afraid you might. As Peter Drucker has written, "In knowledge work ... the task is not given; it has to be determined. 'What are the expected results from this work?' is ... the key question in making knowledge workers productive. And it is a question that demands risky decisions. There is usually no right answer; there are choices instead. And results have to be clearly specified, if productivity is to be achieved."

行动来源于思想。 —拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生（Ralph Waldo Emerson） The ancestor of every action is a thought. —Ralph Waldo Emerson 要弄清人们工作生活中涌现出的各种事物的真实面目，要决定为此需要采取的种种行动，都将消耗人们大量的气力。因此，许多人都对此产生了抵触情绪。实际上，我们从来没

有学过在开始行动之前进行周密的思考。大部分的日常活动（如一家人的吃喝拉撒，照顾孩子）早已被明确地定义出来了，但几乎没有人认为，他们有必要先花些气力屏气凝神地思考一下，明确预期的结果。然而事实上，思考后果是促使希望转化为现实的最为有效的手段之一。 Most people have a resistance to initiating the burst of energy that it will take to clarify the real meaning, for them, of something they have let into their world, and to decide what they need to do about it. We're never really taught that we have to think about our work before we can do it; much of our daily activity is already defined for us by the undone and unmoved things staring at us when we come to work, or by the family to be fed, the laundry to be done, or the children to be dressed at home. Thinking in a concentrated manner to define desired outcomes is something few people feel they have to do. But in truth, outcome thinking is one of the most effective means available for making wishes reality. 为什么有些事情总是萦绕在你的心头 Why Things Are on Your Mind 在通常情况下，你对一些事总是念念不忘，这是因为你希望它们当前的状况能有所改善，另外： * 你还没有确切地认定它们的预期结果是什么； * 你还没有决定你下一步的具体行动到底是什么； * 你还没有把后果和即将采取行动的提示信息存入你所依赖的体系中去。 Most often, the reason something is "on your mind" is that you want it to be different than it currently is, and yet: * you haven't clarified exactly what the intended outcome is; * you haven't decided what the very next physical action step is; and/or * you haven't put reminders of the outcome and the action required in a system you trust. 这就是为什么你忘不掉这些事情的原因了。直到你澄清了所有的问题，作出一切必要的决定，并把结果存储到那个系统中去，同时心里十分清楚，需要时你能够随时调用查询这个系统，你的大脑才会放松下来。你可以骗过所有的人，但是你却无法愚弄自己的大脑。它能够明察秋毫：你是否已经作出了必要的决定，是否已把预期的结果和行动的提示信息寄存于一个安全可靠的地方，以便这些信息能够在恰当的时候在你的意识中浮现出来。如果你没有作好这些准备，那么，你的大脑就一分钟也不会停止运转。通常情况下，当你对某件事感到无能为力时，你的某根神经仍然会持续不断地对你施加压力，这仅仅会进一步增加你的精神负担。 That's why it's on your mind. Until those thoughts have been clarified and those decisions made, and the resulting data has been stored in a system that you absolutely know you will think about as often as you need to, your brain can't give up the job. You can fool everyone else, but you can't fool your own mind. It knows whether or not you've come to the conclusions you need to, and whether you've put the resulting outcomes and action reminders in a place that can be trusted to resurface appropriately within your conscious mind. If you haven't done those things, it won't quit working overtime. Even if you've already decided on the next step you'll take to resolve a problem,

your mind can't let go until and unless you write yourself a reminder in a place it knows you will, without fail, look. It will keep pressuring you about that untaken next step, usually when you can't do anything about it, which will just add to your stress.

持续不断且毫无成效地深陷于我们不得不处理的事务当中，是对时间和精力的最大浪费。 —克里·格利森（Kerry Gleeson） This constant, unproductive preoccupation with all the things we have to do is the single largest consumer of time and energy. —Kerry Gleeson 你的大脑并不总那么管用 Your Mind Doesn't Have a Mind of Its Own 有趣的是，你的大脑中至少有一部分是相当愚蠢的。如果它多多少少拥有一些天资的话，它就会在你需要处理某件事时及时地提醒你。 At least a portion of your mind is really kind of stupid, in an interesting way. If it had any innate intelligence, it would remind you of the things you needed to do only when you could do something about them. 你有没有这样一把手电筒，电池中的电量都已经消耗殆尽了？而你的大脑一般是什么时候，才提醒你该买电池了呢？你又是什么时候，才发现电池没有电了呢？这不能算是反应灵敏的表现吧。如果你的大脑天资聪颖，它就应该当你在商店里看到电池时给你通风报信了，而且提醒你选择正确的型号。 Do you have a flashlight somewhere with dead batteries in it? When does your mind tend to remind you that you need new batteries? When you notice the dead ones! That's not very smart. If your mind had any innate intelligence, it would remind you about those dead batteries only when you passed live ones in a store. And ones of the right size, to boot. 从你今天早晨醒来到现在，你是否想到任何需要处理但还未动手解决的事情呢？你是不是不止一次地想到了它们呢？为什么？不断地考虑那些毫无进展的事情纯粹是浪费时间和精力。而且这往往只会增加你的焦虑不安。 Between the time you woke up today and now, did you think of anything you needed to do that you still haven't done? Have you had that thought more than once? Why? It's a waste of time and energy to keep thinking about something that you make no progress on. And it only adds to your anxieties about what you should be doing and aren't. 似乎许多人的脑子里总在接连不断地放电影，特别是当我们一谈到有许多事要处理时，这一现象更加严重。人们把许许多多悬而未决的问题委托给大脑来处理，但这个实体目前却无法有效地应付这些情况。 It seems that most people let their minds run a lot of the show, especially where the too-much-to-do syndrome is concerned. You've probably given over a lot of your "stuff," a lot of your open loops, to an entity on your inner committee that is incapable of dealing with those things effectively the way they are—your mind.

控制你的头脑，要么由它来操纵你。 —贺勒斯（Horace） Rule your mind or it will rule you. —Horace “材料”的转化 The Transformation of "Stuff" 我是这样定义“材料”（Stuff）的：任何进入你的精神或现实世界中但尚未找到归属的事情，所有你尚未推理出理想的解决方法和下一步具体行动的事情。对于很多人来说，大部分的组织管理系统没有发挥应有的功效，原因在于没有首先完成对它们的转化。只要它们还保持着“材料”的身份，人们便无法加以控制。 Here's how I define "stuff": anything you have allowed into your psychological or physical world that doesn't belong where it is, but for which you haven't yet determined the desired outcome and the next action step. The reason most organizing systems haven't worked for most people is that they haven't yet transformed all the "stuff" they're trying to organize. As long as it's still "stuff," it's not controllable. 我们需要把所有我们尽力管理的“材料”转化为可以付诸行动的事务。 We need to transform all the "stuff" we're trying to organize into actionable stuff we need to do. 多年以来，我所见过的绝大部分任务清单纯粹都是一些列举“材料”的单子，它们仅仅代表着许多尚未解决的事务中的某一部分的提示信息，而这些事务也仍未转化为预期结果和行动方案，即真正意义上的工作提纲和细节。 Most of the to-do lists I have seen over the years (when people had them at all) were merely listings of "stuff," not inventories of the resultant real work that needed to be done. They were partial reminders of a lot of things that were unresolved and as yet untranslated into outcomes and actions—that is, the real outlines and details of what the list-makers had to "do." “材料”在本质上并不是一件坏事。就其本质而言，如果某些事情吸引了我们的注意力，那么，它们往往以“材料”的形式表现出来。但是，一旦“材料”进入到我们的生活和工作中，便需要被定义和解释。作为脑力劳动者，这是我们的责任。如果“材料”已经完成了转化过程，而且明白无误，那么，我们的价值观（不是我们的体力劳动）就大可不必存在了。 "Stuff" is not inherently a bad thing. Things that command our attention, by their very nature, usually show up as "stuff." But once "stuff" comes into our lives and work, we have an inherent commitment to ourselves to define and clarify its meaning. That's our responsibility as knowledge workers; if "stuff" were already transformed and clear, our value, other than physical labor, would probably not be required. 在一次研论会临近结束时，一家生物工程公司的资深经理在重新审视她最初列出的工作任务表时，感叹不已：“天哪，这简直是一堆根本无法完成的工作，毫无章法可言！”就大多数个人管理系统中所谓的计划表而言，这是我所听到过的最生动形象的描述了。绝大多数人一直在调整那些性质原本模糊不清、残缺不全的任务清单。但是，他们仍然没有认识到，到底需要组织多少内容，管理什么细节，才能够获得真正的回报。如果他们希望自己的组织管理工作富有成效，就应该搜集一切需要思索的问题，然后开始冥思苦想。

At the conclusion of one of my seminars, a senior manager of a major biotech firm looked back at the to-do lists she had come in with and said, "Boy, that was an amorphous blob of undoability!" That's the best description I've ever heard of what passes for organizing lists in most personal systems. The vast majority of people have been trying to get organized by rearranging incomplete lists of

过程：管理你的行动 The Process: Managing Action 你几乎可以像训练运动员那样来训练你自己，在“知识工作”中表现得快速、敏捷、积极主动和精力集中。你可以更加积极有效地思考问题，轻松自如地控制事态的发展。你可以使形形色色的闲杂琐事减少到最小程度，完成更多的工作，而消耗较小的气力。此外，你还可以针对搜集到的全部“材料”进行前期阶段的判定，为你的工作和生活制定出标准的运作程序。 You can train yourself, almost like an athlete, to be faster, more responsive, more proactive, and more focused in knowledge work. You can think more effectively and manage the results with more ease and control. You can minimize the loose ends across the whole spectrum of your work life and personal life and get a lot more done with less effort. And you can make front-end decision-making about all the "stuff" you collect and create standard operating procedure for living and working in this new millennium. 然而，在你未达到这一境界之前，你首先需要培养一个习惯：在大脑中不留任何事情。正如我们已经看到的那样，通过管理时间、信息或者重要事情，都无法实现这一目标。毕竟： * 你不可能通过对 5 分钟进行管理，赚取 6 分钟的时间。 * 你无法对付超载的信息量，否则，你会走进图书馆便立刻死掉。或者当你第一次连接因特网，甚至在你打开电话号码本时，你就会大发脾气，失去耐心。 * 你不能管理重要事宜，你只是拥有它们。 Before you can achieve any of that, though, you'll need to get in the habit of keeping nothing on your mind. And the way to do that, as we've seen, is not by managing time, managing information, or managing priorities. After all: * you don't manage five minutes and wind up with six; * you don't manage information overload—otherwise you'd walk into a library and die, or the first time you connected to the Web, or even opened a phone book, you'd blow up; and * you don't manage priorities—you have them. 因此，管理你的行动是管理好你全部“材料”的关键所在。 Instead, the key to managing all of your "stuff" is managing your actions. 管理行动是一个重要的挑战 Managing Action Is the Prime Challenge 你利用你的时间都做了些什么事情呢？你是如何运用你获取的信息的呢？你是如何调用你的身体和关注焦点事物的精力的呢？这些是当你面临着分配有限资源的时候必须作出的选择。真正的问题是，在某一时间，如何恰当地选择你要做的事情、如何管理我们的行动。 What you do with your time, what you do with information, and what you do with your body and

your focus relative to your priorities—those are the real options to which you must allocate your limited resources. The real issue is how to make appropriate choices about what to do at any point in time. The real issue is how we manage actions. 这似乎是显而易见的。然而，希望管理那些尚未确认或决定的行动是极其困难的。很多人手头有许多事情有待推进，但连他们自己都还没有搞清楚要做些什么。常常听到有人抱怨“我没有时间去……”，这完全是可以理解的，因为许多工作似乎都难以控制。之所以有这种感觉，是因为你根本没有能力一口气完成一项工作，你仅仅能够完成这项任务中的某一个步骤。在多数情况下，很多推动整个工作进程的步骤实际上仅仅需要一两分钟的时间就可以搞定。 That may sound obvious. However, it might amaze you to discover how many next actions for how many projects and commitments remain undetermined by most people. It's extremely difficult to manage actions you haven't identified or decided on. Most people have dozens of things that they need to do to make progress on many fronts, but they don't yet know what they are. And the common complaint that "I don't have time to " (fill in the blank) is understandable because many projects seem overwhelming—and are overwhelming because you can't do a project at all! You can only do an action related to it. Many actions require only a minute or two, in the appropriate context, to move a project forward.

开始便是行动的一半。 —希腊谚语 The beginning is half of every action. —Greek proverb 在培训成千上万名专业人士的实践中，我发现，他们的突出问题并不是缺乏时间（尽管他们自己这样认为）。问题的关键在于，他们无法断定到底要干些什么，下一步需要采取哪些行动。就像第一次在雷达屏幕上观察到敌情时，你应在前期界定问题，而不是等到问题严重化了才手忙脚乱地判断。这将让你收获行为管理所带来的丰硕成果。 In training and coaching thousands of professionals, I have found that lack of time is not the major issue for them (though they themselves may think it is); the real problem is a lack of clarity and definition about what a project really is, and what the associated next-action steps required are. Clarifying things on the front end, when they first appear on the radar, rather than on the back end, after trouble has developed, allows people to reap the benefits of managing action. 事情极少由于时间匮乏而受阻。它们陷入困境往往是由于未能判定行动而造成的。 Things rarely get stuck because of lack of time. They get stuck because the doing of them has not been defined. 自下而上法的价值 The Value of a Bottom-Up Approach 多年来，我已经发现了，自下而上的方法对提高个人工作效率具有实用价值，即从当前活动和任务的最底层入手。头脑精明的人一般认为，最恰当的做事方法应该是自上而下地进行：首先确定个人和公司的任务；然后定义工作的主要目标；最后把焦点集中到实施计划的细节问题上。然而问题在于大多数人总是陷于繁杂的事务中难以脱身，严重地阻碍了他们

去集中精力总揽大局。结果，自下而上的方法反而更加行之有效。 I have discovered over the years the practical value of working on personal productivity improvement from the bottom up, starting with the most mundane, ground-floor level of current activity and commitments. Intellectually, the most appropriate way ought to be to work from the top down, first uncovering personal and corporate missions, then defining critical objectives, and finally focusing on the details of implementation. The trouble is, however, that most people are so embroiled in commitments on a day-to-day level that their ability to focus successfully on the larger horizon is seriously impaired. Consequently, a bottom-up approach is usually more effective. 现在，就开始掌控各种情况的最新动态，并且采取一切有效方法保持这种状态，这将成为拓宽视野的最佳途径。如此一来，你的创造力就获得了解放，它将更加有力地支持你着眼于新的高度，同时，你也会满怀信心地去迎接创造出来的新成果。对于那些参与具体运作实施的人们来说，一种自由、舒展和精神振奋的奇妙感觉便会油然而生。 Getting current on and in control of what's in your in-basket and on your mind right now, and incorporating practices that can help you stay that way, will provide the best means of broadening your horizons. A creative, buoyant energy will be unleashed that will better support your focus on new heights, and your confidence will increase to handle what that creativity produces. An immediate sense of freedom, release, and inspiration naturally comes to people who roll up their sleeves and implement this process. 当你用于对付实施结果的工具成为目前工作模式中的一个组成部分时，这也就是说，你为进行更高一级的思维活动作好了更加充分的准备。事实上，在你的工作以外，更多有价值的事情还有待思考。但如果你这一层次上的控制管理能力不够，就好似穿着硕大宽松的衣服游泳一样难言轻松。 You'll be better equipped to undertake higher-focused thinking when your tools for handling the resulting actions for implementation are part of your ongoing operational style. There are more meaningful things to think about than your in-basket, but if your management of that level is not as efficient as it could be, it's like trying to swim in baggy clothing. 我接触过许多主管经理，他们在白天处理着各种繁杂琐碎的事务，到了晚上，头脑里仍塞满了对公司前景以及个人前途的考虑和展望。这一切是在完全地摆脱了一天工作的纠缠之后，自然而然引发的结果。 Many executives I have worked with during the day to clear the decks of their mundane "stuff" have spent the following evening having a stream of ideas and visions about their company and their future. This happens as an automatic consequence of unsticking their workflow.

仅仅怀有对前景的展望是远远不够的，它必须与大胆的行结合起来。仅仅靠双眼盯住阶梯是不够的，我们必须勇于跨上阶梯。 —瓦茨拉夫·哈维尔（Vaclav Havel） Vision is not enough; it must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs. —Vaclav Havel

横向和纵向的行动管理 Horizontal and Vertical Action Management 你需要从横向和纵向两个角度出发来控制各种任务、工作和行动。“横向的”控制保证了所有行动都具有连贯性、逻辑性，让我们把你的神智想像成警察局的雷达吧，它一刻不停地对你周围的一切事物进行扫描监测。它可能捕捉到 2 4 小时内吸引你注意力的上千件事情中的任何一件：药店、管家、玛萨姑妈、战略计划、午餐、办公室里枯萎的植物、一位抱怨不迭的顾客、需要擦的皮鞋，买邮票、存一张支票、预订旅馆、取消一次员工会议、今晚去看一场电影等等。你也许会对自己在仅仅一天的时间里需要考虑和处理如此之多的事情而感到惊异不已，因此，你需要配备一个完善的系统来辅助你记录尽可能多的工作，并在需要时及时地提供必要的提示，确保你能够快速而轻松地从一件事情过渡到另一件。 You need to control commitments, projects, and actions in two ways—horizontally and vertically. "Horizontal" control maintains coherence across all the activities in which you are involved. Imagine your psyche constantly scanning your environment like police radar; it may land on any of a thousand different items that invite or demand your attention during any twenty-four-hour period: the drugstore, the housekeeper, your aunt Martha, the strategic plan, lunch, a wilting plant in the office, an upset cus-tomer, shoes that need shining. You have to buy stamps, deposit that check, make the hotel reservation, cancel a staff meeting, see a movie tonight. You might be surprised at the volume of things you actually think about and have to deal with just in one day. You need a good system that can keep track of as many of them as possible, supply required information about them on demand, and allow you to shift your focus from one thing to the next quickly and easily. 相比之下，“纵向的”控制则是指针对每个具体的主题和工作所进行的思考。比如，吃晚饭时，你和你的配偶谈论起下一次度假，这时，你内心深处的“监控雷达”开始锁定这一信息 —你们将去哪里，什么时候去，将做些什么，要作什么准备等；或者你即将对部门进行重组，你和老板需要商讨一些决策；或者你仅仅需要挑选一个日期，在那天给一位顾客打一个电话。从广泛的意义上讲，这就是“工作计划”，它的重点聚集在某一情况或某一个人身上，勾勒出执行过程中一切必要的想法、细节、重要环节和事情的先后次序，至少在目前是这样的。 "Vertical" control, in contrast, manages thinking up and down the track of individual topics and projects. For example, your inner "police radar" lands on your next vacation as you and your spouse talk about it over dinner—where and when you'll go, what you'll do, how to prepare for the trip, and so on. Or you and your boss need to make some decisions about the new departmental reorganization you're about to launch. Or you just need to get your thinking up to date on the customer you're about to call. This is "project planning" in the broad sense. It's focusing in on a single endeavor, situation, or person and fleshing out whatever ideas, details, priorities, and sequences of events may be required for you to handle it, at least for the moment. 横向控制和纵向控制的目标是一致的：解除你精神上的负担，并把事情做好。恰到好处的行为管理能够令你轻松自如地游历于工作和生活的广阔领域之中。同时，适度的工作计划能够使你清楚地认识到所需的具体环节，并且紧抓不放。 The goal for managing horizontally and vertically is the same: to get things off your mind and get things done. Appropriate action management lets you feel comfortable and in control as you move through your broad spectrum of work and life, while appropriate project focusing gets you clear about and on track with the specifics needed.

主要的变化：把一切赶出你的大脑 The Major Change: Getting It All Out of Your Head 如果你把一切事情仅仅存储在大脑里，那么，你就无法真正地获取我所承诺的那种轻松的控制感。你将发现，本书中所描述的这些独立的行为正是目前你正在按部就班进行的事情。我与其他人迥然不同的做法是，我将所有的“材料”百分之百地存入一些实实在在的工具篮中，而不是遗留在我的头脑中，并且利用这些工具进行处理。这一方法适用于一切事务— 重大事件或者微不足道的小事，个人的私事或者工作中的问题，突发事件或者不甚紧急的情况，无一例外。 There is no real way to achieve the kind of relaxed control I'm promising if you keep things only in your head. As you'll discover, the individual behaviors described in this book are things you're already doing. The big difference between what I do and what others do is that I capture and organize 100 percent of my "stuff" in and with objective tools at hand, not in my mind. And that applies to everything—little or big, personal or professional, urgent or not. Everything. 通常，你大脑中盘踞问题的多少与其解决的效率成反比。 There is usually an nverse proportion between how much something is on our mind and how much it's getting done. 我相信，当你的工作或者生活达到某一个阶段时，你不得不坐下来平静一下，拿起纸笔列出一张清单。如果是这样的话，对于我所说的一切你就获取了一个参照点。然而，大多数人只是在生活工作变得一团糟、混乱不堪，令他们难以忍受、不得不采取措施时，才会开始草拟工作清单。通常情况下，这个清单也仅仅涉及使他们备受折磨的那些具体问题。但是，如果你能够把这种做法转化为你现在生活和工作中运行模式中的一种常态，并使之贯穿于你生活中的各个领域（不仅仅在处理“紧急情况时”），那么，你就开始进入了我们所描述的“黑带”（black belt ）水准的管理模式。 I'm sure that at some time or other you've gotten to a place in a project, or in your life, where you just had to sit down and make a list. If so, you have a reference point for what I'm talking about. Most people, however, do that kind of list-making drill only when the confusion gets too unbearable and they just have to do something about it. They usually make a list only about the specific area that's bugging them. But if you made that kind of review a characteristic of your ongoing life- and work style, and you maintained it across all areas of your life (not just the most "urgent"), you'd be practicing the kind of "black belt" management style I'm describing. 注视着我面前的几种选择，我尽量依赖于直觉作出判断，而不是为这些选择绞尽脑汁、苦苦思索。我应该已经对方方面面的情况进行周密严谨的斟酌，并以一种可靠的方式获取了结果。我不希望再次浪费时间来考虑它们，否则，就是徒劳无益地耗费创造力，同时自己制造挫折和压力。 I try to make intuitive choices based on my options, instead of trying to think about what those options are. I need to have thought about all of that already and captured the results in a trusted way. I don't want to waste time thinking about things more than once. That's an inefficient use of creative energy and a source of frustration and stress. 你没有理由两次产生同一想法，除非你对它情有独钟。 There is no reason ever to have the same thought twice, unless you like having that thought.

你无法逃避这种思考。你的大脑会紧紧地纠缠那些悬而未决的事情不放。但是，大脑负载这些未尽事宜的能力是有限度的一旦超越了这个限度，它就会暴跳如雷。 And you can't fudge this thinking. Your mind will keep working on anything that's still in that undecided state. But there's a limit to how much unresolved "stuff" it can contain before it blows a fuse. 大脑中肩负短期记忆的那部分组织往往负责存储不完整、尚未决定和没有组织安排好的“材料”，其功能类似于个人计算机中的随机存储器。你的意识就仿佛是计算机的显示器，只是一个用于聚集的工具，而不是一个存储场所。你每一次只能考虑两三件事情。但是那些不完整的项目仍然存储于短期记忆空间里。大脑容纳“材料”的能力有一定的限度。很多人终日里忙忙碌碌，而随机存储器的接缝处早已涨裂四溢了。他们时常感到心神不宁、坐卧不定，正是因为在他们内心深处，超负荷的精神负担无时无刻不在侵扰他们的注意力。 The short-term-memory part of your mind—the part that tends to hold all of the incomplete, undecided, and unorganized "stuff"—functions much like RAM on a personal computer. Your conscious mind, like the computer screen, is a focusing tool, not a storage place. You can think about only two or three things at once. But the incomplete items are still being stored in the short-term-memory space. And as with RAM, there's limited capacity; there's only so much "stuff" you can store in there and still have that part of your brain function at a high level. Most people walk around with their RAM bursting at the seams. They're constantly distracted, their focus disturbed by their own internal mental overload. 比如，在刚刚过去的几分钟里，你是不是已经走神了，脑子里冒出一些与你现在阅读的内容毫不相干的事情了呢？很可能你的大脑开了小差，跑到一些未处理完的事情上去了。它们从你大脑中的随机存储器里一跃而起，冲着你大吼大叫。而你又是怎样做的呢？除非你把它记下来，放在一个可靠的篮子里，这样你知道你将很快再次回顾这个问题，否则，它很可能对你纠缠不休。最徒劳无益的做法是：事情毫无进展，而压力陡然激增。 For example, in the last few minutes, has your mind wandered off into some area that doesn't have anything to do with what you're reading here? Probably. And most likely where your mind went was to some open loop, some incomplete situation that you have some investment in. All that situation did was rear up out of the RAM part of your brain and yell at you, internally. And what did you do about it? Unless you wrote it down and put it in a trusted "bucket" that you know you'll review appropriately sometime soon, more than likely you worried about it. Not the most effective behavior: no progress was made, and tension was increased. 糟糕的是，当你对这些事情感到无能为力、无可奈何时，你的大脑仍然毫不懈怠地一个劲地提醒你。大脑中从来就不存在过去或者将来的概念。也就是说，一旦你告诉自己有些事情需要处理，并把这一信息传递到你的随机处理器中，大脑中的某一些区域立即认定，你应该自始至终努力完成那件事情。对于任何你应该去解决掉的问题，大脑都会破译为你应该立刻投入办理。坦率地讲，一旦把两件事同时放入随机存储器就导致了失败，因为你根本无法同时对付它们。就这样，无孔不入的压力一下子冒了出来，而造成它的原因我们就不得而知了。 The big problem is that your mind keeps reminding you of things when you can't do anything about them. It has no sense of past or future. That means that as soon as you tell yourself that you need to do something, and store it in your RAM, there's a part of you that thinks you should be

doing that something all the time. Everything you've told yourself you ought to do, it thinks you should be doing right now. Frankly, as soon as you have two things to do stored in your RAM, you've generated personal failure, because you can't do them both at the same time. This produces an all-pervasive stress factor whose source can't be pinpointed.

同一个在你的大脑中没有岗哨的敌人作战，是十分艰巨的任务。 —萨莉·肯普顿（Sally Kempton） It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head. —Sally Kempton 大多数人都长期处于这样或那样的精神紧张状态，由于耗时持久，他们全然意识不到这种状态的存在。就像万有引力无时不在，以至于感受万有引力的人们甚至意识不到压力的存在。只有当人们彻底地摆脱了这种压力的束缚，拥有一种完全不同的体验时，他们才可能认识到自己曾经承受着多么大的压力啊。 Most people have been in some version of this mental stress state so consistently, for so long, that they don't even know they're in it. Like gravity, it's ever-present—so much so that those who experience it usually aren't even aware of the pressure. The only time most of them will realize how much tension they've been under is when they get rid of it and notice how different they feel. 你能够摆脱这种压力的束缚吗？你肯定会的。下面的内容将告诉你具体的做法。 Can you get rid of that kind of stress? You bet. The rest of this book will explain how.

第 2 章横向管理工作进程的 5 个阶段 Getting Control of Your Life: The Five Stages of Mastering Workflow 如何掌握既轻松又不失控的知识工作，我所教授的这个技巧的核心部分就是征服工作进程的 5 个阶段。无论在什么情况下，我们在工作时都将经历这 5 个阶段：（1）收集一切引起我们注意力的事情；（2 ）加工处理后，确定它们的实质以及解决方法；（3）组织整理得出的结论；（4 ）把它们列为我们行动的选择方案；（5）行动，这就构成了我们生活中的“横向”管理层，随时添加新事务。 THE CORE PROCESS I teach for mastering the art of relaxed and controlled knowledge work is a five-stage method for managing workflow. No matter what the setting, there are five discrete stages that we go through as we deal with our work. We (1) collect things that command our attention; (2) process what they mean and what to do about them; and (3) organize the results, which we (4) review as options for what we choose to (5) do. This constitutes the management of the "horizontal" aspect of our lives—incorporating everything that has our attention at any time.

我们所认知的知识已经在行动中证明了自己。我这里所谈的知识是指行动中的信息，以及关注结果的信息。 —彼得·F ·德鲁克（Peter F. Drucker） The knowledge that we consider knowledge proves itself in action. What we now mean by knowledge is information in action, information focused on results. —Peter F. Drucker

原则上，这个方法极其简单。不管怎样，这就是我们习以为常的处事方法。但是，根据我的经验来看，大多数人都存在有效改进这 5 个阶段中每一个阶段运作方法的余地。我们工作流程的管理包括了 5 个环节，因此，除非所有的连接点都紧密地结合起来，并且由统一的标准加以维护，否则，其管理质量难以保障。大多数人在收集工作中存在着重大的遗漏。虽然很多人收集了大量信息，但是，他们却没有加工或确定需要采取哪些具体的行动。另一些人一时作出了绝妙的决策，却由于缺乏对其结果的有效管理，从而丧失了思考的价值所在。还有一些人建立起了良好的系统，但是没能坚持回顾和检查，结果导致它们无法发挥应有的功能。最后，如果这些连接点中出现任何一个薄弱环节，决策方案都不可能是最佳的选择。 The method is straightforward enough in principle, and it is generally how we all go about our work in any case, but in my experience most people can stand significantly to improve their handling of each one of the five stages. The quality of our workflow management is only as good as the weakest link in this five-phase chain, so all the links must be integrated together and supported with consistent standards. Most people have major leaks in their collection process. Many have collected things but haven't processed or decided what action to take about them. Others make good decisions about "stuff" in the moment but lose the value of that thinking because they don't efficiently organize the results. Still others have good systems but don't review them consistently enough to keep them functional. Finally, if any one of these links is weak, what someone is likely to choose to do at any point in time may not be the best option. 我们需要了解这 5 个阶段的发展历史，此外，为了使它们的功能发挥得淋漓尽致，我们还需要运用一些有效的技巧和工具。如果不是绝对必要的话，我发现在一天的工作中分别来处理这 5 个阶段将大有收获。有些时候，我只想网罗各种信息，不打算立刻决定行动计划。而有时，我可能只需要为会议准备一下我的发言稿。或者我刚刚旅行回来，需要对一路上收集和加工好的资料进行组织分类。还有一些时候，我希望检查我的工作清单。显而易见，我把大部分时间花在了我应该做的事情上。 The dynamics of these five stages need to be understood, and good techniques and tools implemented to facilitate their functioning at an optimal level. I have found it very helpful, if not essential, to separate these stages as I move through my day. There are times when I want only to collect input and not decide what to do with it yet. At other times I may just want to process my notes from a meeting. Or I may have just returned from a big trip and need to distribute and organize what I collected and processed on the road. Then there are times when I want to review the whole inventory of my work, or some portion of it. And obviously a lot of my time is spent merely doing something that I need to get done. 许多人无法把工作安排得井井有条，主要原因正是他们试图一口气完成这 5 个阶段的工作。当他们坐下来“开列工作清单”时，大多数人试图收集“最重要的事情”，并把它们按照重要程度和先后次序进行排序，然而，他们并没有拟定任何具体的行动方案。但是，如果你认为秘书的生日目前“并非那么重要”，因此暂时搁置一旁不作任何考虑，那么这件事就成了一个悬而未决的问题。它将时时刻刻地消磨你的精力，阻碍你富有成效地思考那些真正重要的事情。 I have discovered that one of the major reasons many people haven't had a lot of success with "getting organized" is simply that they have tried to do all five phases at one time. Most, when they sit down to "make a list," are trying to collect the "most important things" in some order that reflects priorities and sequences, without setting out many (or any) real actions to take. But if you

don't decide what needs to be done about your secretary's birthday, because it's "not that important" right now, that open loop will take up energy and prevent you from having a totally effective, clear focus on what is important. 本章将具体阐述这 5 个阶段的内容。在第 4 章到第 8 章中，你可以看到一个逐步实施的方案，它针对每一阶段介绍一个无懈可击的系统，并且附有大量经典的实战经验。 This chapter explains the five phases in detail. Chapters 4 through 8 provide a step-by-step program for implementing an airtight system for each phase, with lots of examples and best practices. 收集 Collect 要了解需要收集哪些信息，以及如何富有成效地完成这一工作，这一点非常重要。因为只有这样，你才能够开始恰如其分地推进加工处理的过程。为了把你的大脑从那些层次较低的、希望抓住一切的意识中解放出来，你必须认识到，所谓的“真正地抓住了所有的事情”，事实上，它们只代表着那些你必须处理的事情。而在将来的某个时间，你还将处理和回顾这些事情。 It's important to know what needs to be collected and how to collect it most effectively so you can process it appropriately. In order for your mind to let go of the lower-level task of trying to hang on to everything, you have to know that you have truly captured everything that might represent something you have to do, and that at some point in the near future you will process and review all of it. 百分之百地捕获一切“未尽事宜” Gathering 100 Percent of the "Incompletes" 为了消除“桶上的一切漏洞”，你需要寻找和搜集一切符号或者代表物，临时地代表任何个人生活中或工作上的事物，重大的或细小的，迫在眉睫的或无关紧要的，那些你认为应该有别于当前状况的事情，以及在你内心深处希望多多少少有所改观的情况。 In order to eliminate "holes in the bucket," you need to collect and gather together placeholders for or representations of all the things you consider incomplete in your world—that is, anything personal or professional, big or little, of urgent or minor importance, that you think ought to be different than it currently is and that you have any level of internal commitment to changing. 在你翻阅这本书时，许多你必须处理的事情正在处于收集之中。信箱里收到了新的邮件，工作中增添了新的备忘录，计算机向你提示新的电子邮件已经到达，语音信箱里积聚着来自各方的留言。但是，与此同时，你正在从周围的环境以及你的大脑里，一刻不停地收集着那些原本不属于这些区域的信息。即使它们不会像电子邮件那样一目了然，这类“材料” 仍然需要某种解决方法。如：在你书柜里的记事簿上，某些决策思路迟迟不能付诸实施；在你书桌的抽屉里，某些坏了的小电器需要修理一下或者干脆扔掉；在你的咖啡桌上，放着一些过期的杂志—这些全都属于这类“材料”的范畴。 Many of the things you have to do are being collected for you as you read this. Mail is coming into your mailbox, memos are being routed to your in-basket, e-mail is being funneled you’re your computer, and messages are accumulating on your voice-mail. But at the same time, you've been "collecting" things in your environment and in your psyche that don't belong where they are, the

way they are, for all eternity. Even though it may not be as obviously "in your face" as your e-mail, this "stuff" still requires some kind of resolution—a loop to be closed, something to be done. Strategy ideas loitering on a legal pad in a stack on your credenza, "dead" gadgets in your desk drawers that need to be fixed or thrown away, and out-of-date magazines on your coffee table all fall into this category of "stuff." 一旦你给某一事物贴上“需要”或者“应当”的标签，它就变成了一件未完成的工作。比如，如果你仍然需要决定某件事是否需要搞定，那么它就是不完善的事物。这包括你全部的“我将要……”、所有那些你已经决定实施但尚未采取行动的事情。当然，它还包括所有正在处理的事情，以及那些你已经竭尽全力，但只差宣布大功告成的事情了。 As soon as you attach a "should," "need to," or "ought to" to an item, it becomes an incomplete. Decisions you still need to make about whether or not you are going to do something, for example, are already incompletes. This includes all of your "I'm going to"s, where you've decided to do something but haven't started moving on it yet. And it certainly includes all pending and in-progress items, as well as those things on which you've done everything you're ever going to do except acknowledge that you're finished with them. 为了正确地管理这些悬而未决的问题，你需要把这个清单暂时放入一个“存储器”中，直到你能够抽出时间来思考一下它们到底都是一些什么样的问题，你打算怎样解决。然后，你必须定期地清空这些“存储器”，以确保这个收集工具可以随时随地取用。 In order to manage this inventory of open loops appropri ately, you need to capture it into "containers" that hold items in abeyance until you have a few moments to decide what they are and what, if anything, you're going to do about them. Then you must empty these containers regularly to ensure that they remain viable collection tools. 大致说来，在广泛的意义上，一切事情都处于人们的收集之中。如果没有一个可靠的外在体系对它们进行直接的管理，那么，这些事情必定会藏匿于你脑中的某个角落里。事实上，即使你没有把某项任务放入你的工作篮，也并不意味着它就不存在。在这里，我们主要讲的是，如何确保一切必要的事情统统得到了收集并且存储在你大脑之外的某个地方。 Basically, everything is already being collected, in the larger sense. If it's not being directly managed in a trusted external system of yours, then it's resident somewhere in your psyche. The fact that you haven't put an item in your in-basket doesn't mean you haven't got it. But we're talking here about making sure that everything you need is collected somewhere other than in your head. 收集工具 The Collection Tools 有几种类型的工具，包括科技含量较低的工具和高科技手段，均可用于收集那些你尚未完成的工作。下面几种形式的工具可以用于捕捉你的想法以及从外部获取的资料： * * * *

实实在在的工作篮纸制的记事簿电子记事簿录音设备

* 电子邮件 There are several types of tools, both low- and high-tech, that can be used to collect your incompletes. The following can all serve as versions of an in-basket, capturing self-generated input as well as information coming from outside: * Physical in-basket * Paper-based note-taking devices * Electronic note-taking devices * Voice-recording devices * E-mail 具体的工作篮 The Physical In-Basket 标准的塑料框、木制或金属编织框都是最常见的、用于存放纸制资料的工具。其他任何需要分类处理的物品也可以存放其中，如：信件、杂志、备忘录、票据、电话记事簿、收据，甚至还有已经耗尽了电池的手电筒。 The standard plastic, wood, leather, or wire tray is the most common tool for collecting paper-based materials and anything else physical that needs some sort of processing: mail, magazines, memos, notes, phone slips, receipts—even flashlights with dead batteries. 书写用的纸张或记事簿 Writing Paper and Pads 活页笔记本、螺旋装订记事本、速记本和标准拍纸本，都可以出色地记录你灵机一动时冒出来的主意、随意搜罗来的信息，以及有待处理的事情等。哪一种符合你的口味，哪一种满足你的需要，你就选择哪一种。 Loose-leaf notebooks, spiral binders, and steno and legal pads all work fine for collecting random ideas, input, things to do, and so on. Whatever kind fits your taste and needs is fine. 电子记事簿 Electronic Note-Taking 计算机可以用于存储简短信息，以便日后再处理。随着字符识别技术的发展进步，一系列用于保存数据的数码工具产品接连不断地面世，掌上电脑和电子记事簿都可以用来存储这类信息。 Computers can be used to type in notes for processing later. And as character-recognition technology advances, a parade of digital tools designed to capture data continues to be introduced. Handheld devices (personal digital assistants, or PDAs) and electronic legal pads can both be used to collect all kinds of input. 音频产品 Auditory Capture 目前，可以使用的产品包括电话应答机、语音信箱、录音设备，如数码录音机或者微型磁带录音机。这些设备都可以临时储存那些你需要记录或处理的音频信息。电子邮件 E-mail 如果你是通过电子邮件与世界的各个角落保持联系的，那么，你的计算机中就包含着一些临时区域，可以用于保留收到的信息和文件，以备日后浏览、阅读和处理。寻呼机和电话也拥有这种功能。 If you're wired to the rest of the world through e-mail, your software contains some sort of holding area for incoming messages and files, where they can be stored until they are viewed, read, and

processed. Pagers and telephones can capture this kind of input as well. 高科技产品设备 Higher-Tech Devices 现在，你能够以口述的形式给计算机输入命令，也可以以手写的方式敲进信息。随着交流模式越来越多地转换为数字和无线形式，我们记录信息的方式变得更加简单易行了。（同时，我们所收到的数据和需要我们进行处理的情况也将随之膨胀！） “计算机！” “是的，戴维，什么事？” “我需要面包。” “好的，戴维。” Now you can dictate into computers as well as hand-write into them. As more and more communication is morphed into digital and wireless formats, it will become easier to capture ideas (with a corresponding increase in the amount of data reaching us that we need to manage!). "Computer!" "Yes, David?" "I need bread." "Yes, David." 我所需要的食品一项一项地被记录下来。在行动管理过程中，组织分析这一阶段进一步向数字化的方向迈进，“面包”将自动添加到我的电子食品清单中，甚至自动完成订货和配送的程序。 My needed grocery item has been collected. And as the organizing part of the action-management process is further digitized, "bread" will automatically be added to my electronic grocery list, and maybe even ordered and delivered. 无论是高科技设备，还是技术含量不高的产品，上面所介绍的所有设备都起到类似于工作篮的作用，发挥着搜集一切具有潜在用途的信息、任务和行动方案的功效。恐怕，你早已经在使用这几种工具了。 Whether high-tech or low-tech, all of the tools described above serve as similar in-baskets, capturing potentially useful information, commitments, and agreements for action. You're probably already using some version of most of them. 影响成功收集的因素 The Collection Success Factors 遗憾的是，仅仅拥有一个工作篮，这本身并不能充分地发挥它的功能。大多数人确实选择了这种或那种形式的收集设备，但是，这些设备或多或少地处于失控状态。我们一起来看看成功收集的三个必要条件： Unfortunately, merely having an in-basket doesn't make it functional. Most people do have collection devices of some sort, but usually they're more or less out of control. Let's examine the three requirements to make the collection phase work: 1. 每一个悬而未决的事情都必须存储于你的收集系统之中，而不是在你的大脑里。 2. 你应该尽可能地控制收集工具的数量，够用即可。 3. 你必须定期地清空这些设备。

1 | Every open loop must be in your collection system and out of your head. 2 | You must have as few collection buckets as you can get by with. 3 | You must empty them regularly. 把一切赶出你的大脑 Get It All Out of Your Head 如果你试图在你的随机存储器内塞入过多的信息，那么，很可能你会丧失使用和清空这个工作篮的动力。大多数人并不把这些用于存储信息的工具放在心上，因为他们知道，无论如何，这些工具并不能代表一个独立而完整的系统。在他们的工作和大脑中，还分别存放着一系列不完善的事物，因此，他们无法从任何一处获取任何回报。结果，他们的大脑处于不停地运转之中。这就好似在布满了大洞的桌面上玩弹球一样，弹球接连不断地掉入洞里，使你一下子丧失了继续玩下去的兴趣。 If you're still trying to keep track of too many things in your RAM, you likely won't be motivated to use and empty your in-baskets with integrity. Most people are relatively careless about these tools because they know they don't represent discrete, whole systems anyway: there's an incomplete set of things in their in-basket and an incomplete set in their mind, and they're not getting any payoff from either one, so their thinking goes. It's like trying to play pinball on a machine that has big holes in the table, so the balls keep falling out: there's little motivation to keep playing the game. 这些收集工具应该成为你生活方式的一部分。你应该尽量在身边保留这样的工具，这样，无论你身处何处，都可以随心所欲地抓住任何一个极具潜力和使用价值的好主意、妙点子，把它们视为你生活中不可或缺的一部分，就像你的牙刷、驾驶执照或眼镜一样。 These collection tools should become part of your life-style. Keep them close by so no matter where you are you can collect a otentially valuable thought-—think of them as being as indisensable as your toothbrush or your driver's license or your glasses. 最大限度地减少收集设备的数量 Minimize the Number of Collection Buckets 你需要多少个工作篮，就应该设置多少个，但要限制在你可以应付的最小程度内。由于你希望获取的信息可能从任何一个地方钻出来，因此，在任何情况下，你都需要那些唾手可得、可以随时随地发挥功效的收集工具。然而，如果收集的区域过于广泛，你很可能无法做到轻松而连贯地处理这些信息。 You should have as many in-baskets as you need and as few as you can get by with. You need this function to be available to you in every context, since things you'll want to capture may show up almost anywhere. If you have too many collection zones, however, you won't be able to process them easily or consistently. 对于高科技产品而言，收集容器数量过多并不会成为一个问题；对于大多数人而言，主要是在记事簿和实实在在的工作篮这些技术含量较低的设备方面，还存在改观的机会。你应该收集和整理所有手写的便条，而不是把它们随心所欲地堆放着，夹在记事簿里或塞进抽屉中。所有纸制资料文件也应该井然有序地放进工作篮中，而不是七零八落地堆积到任何一个角落里。 An excess of collection buckets is seldom a problem on the high-tech end; the real improvement

opportunity for most people is on the low-tech side, primarily in the areas of note-taking and physical in-basket collection. Written notes need to be corralled and processed instead of left lying embedded in stacks, notebooks, and drawers. Paper materials need to be funneled into physical in-baskets instead of being scattered over myriad piles in all the available corners of your world. 随着生活和工作变得日益复杂烦琐，采用标准的工具和手段来捕捉一些想法和信息就显得尤为重要。比如，当事业处于蒸蒸日上的发展中时，你也许会注意到，一些奇思妙想往往不是在勤奋工作时产生的。如果能够把你的思考能力与高品质的存储工具结合起来，你就获得了提高工作效率的制胜法宝。 Implementing standard tools for capturing ideas and input will become more and more critical as your life and work become more sophisticated. As you proceed in your career, for instance, you'll probably notice that your best ideas about work will not come to you at work. The ability to leverage that thinking with good collection devices that are always at hand is key to increased productivity.

一些品德高尚的天才人物在处理最少的问题时，却最为积极主动。 —达·芬奇 Men of lofty genius when they are doing the least work are the most active. —Leonardo da Vinci 定期清空收集工具 Empty the Buckets Regularly 成功收集信息的最后一个因素是显而易见的：如果不清空收集工具，加工处理里面盛放的“材料”，那么它就只是一个装满杂乱资料的仓库。这并不意味着你必须处理存放在语音信箱、电子邮箱或任务中的全部内容；其实，它仅仅要求你把信息从存储器中取出来，判定这些东西的实质是什么，以及应该采取什么样的措施。如果你仍然感到困惑，那么，把它们编排进你的系统之中好了。不要把它再次放回到工作篮中。不清理你的工作篮，简直就如同拥有一个从来没有人倾倒的垃圾桶一样，你不得不忙于接连购买新的垃圾桶，来盛放你所有的垃圾。 The final success factor for collecting should be obvious: if you don't empty and process the "stuff" you've collected, your buckets aren't serving any function other than the storage of amorphous material. Emptying the bucket does not mean that you have to finish what's in your voice-mail, e-mail, or in-basket; it just means you have to take it out of the container, decide what it is and what should be done with it, and, if it's still unfinished, organize it into your system. You don't put it back into "in"! Not emptying your in-basket is like having garbage cans that nobody ever dumps you just have to keep buying new ones to hold all your trash. 为了把工作篮清扫干净，你的行动管理系统必须全部到位。缺乏有效的“流出”系统，你的工作篮里容纳的“材料”就会堆积如山、拥挤不堪。在通常情况下，当你无法即时即刻地处理某些事情，但同时又感到必须采取一定的措施时，把它们存放在“工作篮”里，反倒看起来是一个简单易行的解决办法。对于很多人来说，工作篮是存储和管理组织信息的最为理想的工具，特别是对付像某些书面形式的资料和电子邮件一类的信息时。至少，他们知道在某个地方存有一些东西，可以给他们提个醒。令人遗憾的是，当这个体系陷入失控状态，或者当积存的电子邮件多得超过一整屏时，这个安全网络就崩溃了。

In order for you to get "in" to empty, your total action management system must be in place. Too much "stuff" is left piled in in-baskets because of a lack of effective systems "down-stream" from there. It often seems easier to leave things in "in" when you know you have to do something about them but can't do it right then. The in-basket, especially for paper and e-mail, is the best that many people can do in terms of organization—at least they know that somewhere in there is a reminder of something they still have to do. Unfortunately, that safety net is lost when the piles get out of control or the inventory of e-mails gets too extensive to be viewed on one screen. 当你掌握了下一个阶段的技巧，学会如何轻松快捷地处理那些乱七八糟的事务时，“工作篮”就可以恢复其最初的功能了。让我们一起来看一看，如何清空你的工作篮和电子邮件系统，同时不必立即动手完成这些工作呢？ When you master the next phase and know how to process your incompletes easily and rapidly, "in" can return to its original function. Let's move on to how to get those in-baskets and e-mail systems empty without necessarily having to do the work now. 加工处理

Process

对于参加这个课程的所有人来说，我帮助他所作出的最大改进，恐怕就是指导他们按部就班地针对每一项工作进行思考，最终清空他们的收集工具。当我与在某家环球公司的一个主要部门经理共同处理了她所开列出的工作任务表以后，她坐在那里，对我肃然起敬。此前她一直依赖于工作日程表提醒她去参加一个接一个的会议，而这种做法本身已经使她备感轻松了。然而，我们刚刚在一起进行的归纳和整理，使她在工作中的许多其他方面都体验到了前所未有的一种轻松。现在，我们已经把她需要提醒的行动和信息分门别类地逐个确定，并存入了一个看得见、摸得到的具体的系统里面。 Teaching them the item-by-item thinking required to get their collection buckets empty is perhaps the most critical improvement I have made for virtually all the people I've worked with. When the head of a major department in a global corporation had finished processing all her open items with me, she sat back in awe and told me that though she had been able to relax about what meetings to go to thanks to her trust in her calendar, she had never felt that same relief about all the many other aspects of her job, which we had just clarified together. The actions and information she needed to be reminded of were now identified and entrusted to a concrete system. 对于你的每一封电子和语音邮件、每一条备忘录或者每一个自然萌生的念头，你需要扪心自问一些什么样的问题呢？这是行动管理过程中的一个组成要素，它构成了你个人组织管理体系的基础。许多人试图把一切安排得“井井有条”，但是他们却错误地动手管理那些不完整的“材料”。你不可能整理组织那些即将降临的信息，你只能收集它们，加工它们。此外，你必须以下一步行动的决策为依据，对即将采取的行动进行组织管理。整个过程—加工和组织阶段，体现在决策树型分析图的主干部分。 What do you need to ask yourself (and answer) about each e-mail, voice-mail, memo, or self-generated idea that comes your way? This is the component of action management that forms the basis for your personal organization. Many people try to "get organized" but make the mistake of doing it with incomplete batches of "stuff." You can't organize what's incoming—you can only collect it and process it. Instead, you organize the actions you'll need to take based on the decisions you've made about what needs to be done. The whole deal—both the processing and

organizing phases—is captured in the center "trunk" of the decision-tree model shown here. 在后面的章节里，我将针对这个过程的每一个环节详细地对你进行指导。而现在，我建议你在我们总览全过程的同时，从你的任务篮中选择一个工作表，或者拿出一摞资料，对一些项目进行评估。 In later chapters, I'll coach you in significant detail through each element of the process. For now, though, I suggest you select a to-do list or a pile of papers from your in-basket and assess a few items as we take an overview. 这是一件什么事情？ What Is It? 这不是一个愚蠢的问题。我们已经讨论过“材料”了，也谈论了收集工具。但是，我们还没有讨论过这些材料到底是什么，需要做些什么。比如，我们从政府方面或者从公司里接收到了大量烦琐的信息和任务，而这些内容往往容易从我们的个人管理体系中溜掉，是不是应该想想办法、加以解决呢？当我们收到人力资源部门转发的电子邮件，通知我们某某政策的某某情况时，我们又应该怎么处理呢？我曾经从客户的书桌抽屉里和堆积如山的文件中，挖掘出一打有价值的信息，这仅仅是由于客户当时不愿意花上几秒钟的时间来搞清楚文件内容就随手一扔造成的。由此，我们可以看出下一步决策的重要性。 This is not a dumb question. We've talked about "stuff." And we've talked about collection buckets. But we haven't discussed what stuff is and what to do about it. For example, many of the items that tend to leak out of our personal organizing systems are amorphous forms that we receive from the government or from our company—do we actually need to do something about them? And what about that e-mail from human resources, letting us know that blah-blah about the blah-blah is now the policy of blah-blah? I've unearthed piles of messages in stacks and desk drawers that were tossed there because the client didn't take just a few seconds to figure out what in fact the communication or document was really about. Which is why the next decision is critical.

“材料”

工作篮垃圾

是什么工作

可否付诸行

不可以

可以

将来某时/也许（备忘录文件夹；保留备查）

参考资料（需要时可取）

工作（策划）下一步行动是什么工作计划行动时备查

2 分钟能否搞定

是

实施

等待让别人去处理

否

指派给别人

延迟

日程表

后面的行动

在某一具体时间内处理

尽快解决

是否需要采取行动呢？ Is It Actionable? 对于这个问题有两种回答：是和不是。 There are two possible answers for this: YES and NO. 不需要采取行动如果答案是否定的，那么有三种可能性： 1. 是一些根本没有用的垃圾。 2 . 目前没有采取行动的必要，但是日后可能需要处理（孵化，酝酿）。 3 . 该信息具有潜在的利用价值，今后也许能够派上用场（参考）。 No Action Required If the answer is NO, there are three possibilities: 1 It's trash, no longer needed. 2 No action is needed now, but something might need to be done later (incubate). 3 The item is potentially useful information that might be needed for something later (reference). 人们可以对这三类信息进行管理，我们将在下一章介绍它们。就目前而言，你所需要的是一个对付垃圾的垃圾箱和一个删除键，一个用于记录处于酝酿阶段事务的备忘录文件夹或者日程表。此外，你还需要一个完善的归档保存参考资料的系统。 These three categories can themselves be managed; we'll get into that in a later chapter. For now, suffice it to say that you need a trash basket and <Del> key for trash, a "tickler" file or calendar for material that's incubating, and a good filing system for reference information.

需要采取行动这一类信息要求我们进行处理。典型的情况可能是一封电子邮件，要求你在某一天参加公司组织的一次服务活动；或者你任务篮中的一个备忘录提醒你同集团的副总裁会面，就某一个新设立的重要项目雇请顾问的事宜进行磋商。 Actionable This is the YES group of items, stuff about which something needs to be done. Typical examples range from an e-mail requesting your participation in a corporate service project on such-and-such a date to the notes in your in-basket from your face-to-face meeting with the group vice president about a significant new project that involves hiring an outside consultant. 面对每一件需要处理的信息时，你必须作出两个方面的决定： 1. 你已经承诺完成哪些工作？需要达到什么样的结果？ 2. 下一步需要采取的行动是什么？ Two things need to be determined about each actionable item: 1 What "project" or outcome have you committed to? and 2 What's the next action required?

如果是关于一项工作…… 你必须在一个“工作”清单中体现出其结果。这如同在地上树起一个树桩，提醒你一个悬而未决的问题的存在。每周回顾一下这个工作清单将会帮助你回忆起这个尚未解决的问题。它活灵活现地存在你的管理系统中，直到你完成这项工作或者把它彻底地消灭掉。 If It's About a Project. . . You need to capture that outcome on a "Projects" list. That will be the stake in the ground that reminds you that you have an open loop. A Weekly Review of the list (see page 46) will bring this item back to you as something that's still outstanding. It will stay fresh and alive in your management system until it is completed or eliminated.

下一步行动是什么？对于你所进行的任何收集工作来说，这都是一个关键性的问题，如果你的回答恰如其分，你便掌握了实质性的组织管理内容。“下一步行动”是指那些必须付诸实施的具体活动，它们推动着形势朝着既定目标前行。做事情时，并不需要花费很多气力，但是在决策行动时，却要求投入大量的精力。 What's the Next Action? This is the critical question for anything you've collected; if you answer it appropriately, you'll have the key substantive thing to organize. The "next action" is the next physical, visible activity that needs to be engaged in, in order to move the current reality toward completion. 下面是几个下一步行动方案的实例： * 给弗雷德打个电话，让他提供他所推荐的那家修理厂的电话号码。 * 起草有关预算会议议程的想法。 * 与安吉拉谈一谈我们打算建立的文件归档系统。 * 从因特网上了解一下数据库管理软件的情况。 Some examples of next actions might be: * Call Fred re tel. # for the garage he recommended. * Draft thoughts for the budget-meeting agenda. * Talk to Angela about the filing system we need to set up. * Research database-management software on the Web. It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires a great deal of strength to decide what to do. —Elbert Hubbard 这些都是一些需要实实在在地发生的、真实而具体的活动。这些提示信息将使你的个人管理系统获益良多。 These are all real physical activities that need to happen. Reminders of these will become the primary grist for the mill of your personal productivity-management system. 处理这件事，把这件事指派给别人处理，或者延迟处理一旦你的下一步行动方案出台，紧接着，你面临三种选择： 1. 处理这件事。如果你能够在不到 2 分钟的时间内就搞定它，那么，一旦这项工作被确定，你就应该立刻着手落实。 2. 把这件事指派给别人去处理。如果处理这件事情需要花费的时间不止 2 分钟，那么，你应该问一问自己，你是否就是解决这个问题的最佳人选呢？如果回答是否定的，那就干脆委托给一个合适的人员去办理。 3. 延迟处理。如果处理的时间超过了 2 分钟，而你又恰恰是最佳人选，这时，你不得不推迟行动，把它记录在某一个或者多个“下一个行动”的清单上。 Do It, Delegate It, or Defer It Once you've decided on the nextaction, you have three options: 1 | Do it. If an action will take less than two minutes, it should be done at the moment it is defined. 2 | Delegate it. If the action will take longer than two minutes, ask yourself, Am I the right

person to do this? If the answer is no, delegate it to the appropriate entity. 3 | Defer it. If the action will take longer than two minutes, and you are the right person to do it, you will have to defer acting on it until later and track it on one or more "Next Actions" lists. 组织管理 Organize 在工作流程图的外环中，有 8 个自成体系的结构，这就是你的 “材料”经过加工处理以后，引导出来的提示信息和内容。综合在一起，它们就构成了一个完整的系统。这个系统可以处理你分内的工作，或者接纳随时可能增添进来的新内容。 The outer ring of the workflow diagram shows the eight discrete categories of reminders and materials that will result from your processing all your "stuff." Together they make up a total system for organizing just about everything that's on your plate, or could be added to it, on a daily and weekly basis. 对于那些不可能采取行动的事务来说，它们可以划分为垃圾、孵化工具和参考资料存储器。如果某件事不需要立即采取行动，你可以把它轻轻地抛进垃圾桶，或者“存入备忘录” 以备日后再次评估，或者归档保存起来以便今后需要参阅时能够及时地选取。在管理那些能够解决掉的事情时，你需要一张工作任务清单、一个保存工作计划和资料的存储器或文件夹、一个日程表、一张下一步行动的提示清单，以及一张你所期待的回复信息的提示清单。 For nonactionable items, the possible categories are trash, incubation tools, and reference storage. If no action is needed on something, you toss it, "tickle" it for later reassessment, or file it so you can find the material if you need to refer to it at another time. To manage actionable things, you will need a list of projects, storage or files for project plans and materials, a calendar, a list of reminders of next actions, and a list of reminders of things you're waiting for. 所有这些资料都应该分门别类地存放在一些棱角分明的器皿中。当我谈到“清单”时，我仅仅是指人们可以经常查阅到的某一组提示信息。这些清单既可以保存在备忘录手册中，也可以放进计算机程序中，甚至还能够出现在那些独立收录资料的文件夹中。比如，我们可以把当前的工作清单列入每天的工作计划中，也可以使之显示在掌上电脑中“需要完成”的目录下，或者也可以在标注为“工作清单”的文件夹中找到它们。孵化器提示信息（如“3 月 1 日后，与我的会计师联系，约定一次会面。”）既可以保存在书面形式的备忘录文件夹中，也可以存放在书面形式或者计算机程序中的日程表内。 All of the organizational categories need to be physically contained in some form. When I refer to "lists," I just mean some sort of reviewable set of reminders, which could be lists on notebook paper or in some computer program or even file folders holding separate pieces of paper for each item. For instance, the list of current projects could be kept on a page in a Day Runner; it could be a "To Do" category on a PDA; or it could be in a file labeled "Projects List." Incubating reminders (such as "after March 1 contact my accountant to set up a meeting") may be stored in a paper-based "tickler" file or in a paper- or computer-based calendar program. 工作任务 Projects 我是这样给工作下定义的：任何一个由几个步骤构成的我们所期待的结果。这就意味着

你的“工作”清单中会出现一些相当细小琐碎的事情。而在一般的情况下，你根本不会将它们称为工作。我之所以如此下定义，其根据是：如果采取一个行动不足以完成一项工作的话，那么，你就需要在地上立起一个木桩，提醒自己还有事情尚未处理。如果你没有一个替代符号随时随地地给你提个醒，这件事情很有可能将会滑落到随机存储器里。另一种提示方法是列出一个包含着所有悬而未决问题的清单。 I define a project as any desired result that requires more than one action step. This means that some rather small things that you might not normally call projects are going to be on your "Projects" list. The reasoning behind my definition is that if one step won't complete something, some kind of stake needs to be placed in the ground to remind you that there's something still left to do. If you don't have a placeholder to remind you about it, it will slip back into RAM. Another way to think of this is as a list of open loops. “工作”清单的部分范例安排新的董事会成员研发合资生产录像机的项目 8 月份的度假安排制作一个新的培训光盘为非现场聆讯会安排人员确定明年学术研究会的日程安排出版书籍组织一个小时左右的重要讲话完成计算机升级演讲更新遗嘱熟悉视频会议的操作决定预算规程敲定一个新产品生产线签署一个雇佣协议了解新的联络管理软件在后院安装新的照明灯找到《财富》杂志的再版文章与南美的代表正式建立合作关系寻找一位公关人员制定雇员政策和工作程序在新果园里种一些植物为起居室添置一把新的靠椅 A Partial "Projects"List Get new staff person on board R&D joint-venture video project August vacation Produce new training compact disk Staff off-site retreat Establish next year's seminar schedule Publish book Orchestrate a one-hour keynote Finalize computer upgrades presentation Update will Get proficient with videoconferencing Finalize budgets access Finalize new product line Finalize employment agreements Get comfortable with new contact Install new backyard lights management software Establish formal relationships with South Get reprints of Fortune article American rep Get a publicist Finalize staff policies and procedures Finish new orchard planting Get a new living-room chair 这些工作不需要按照某一种特殊的顺序进行排列。你只需把它们列在一张主清单上，以便经常地查阅它们就足够了。这将确保你针对每一项任务制定出恰当的行动方案。 Projects do not need to be listed in any particular order, whether by size or by priority. They just

need to be on a master list so you can review them regularly enough to ensure that appropriate next actions have been defined for each of them. 事实上，你并没有真正地动手去落实任何一项工作，只是启动了一些相关的活动。当你经历了足够多的正确步骤以后，也就顺理成章地创造出了某些局面。这些情况基本上与你最初所设想的结局相吻合，这时你就大功告成了。实际上，这个工作清单就是一个放在我们面前的各种终点线的汇编手册。它指导我们所采取的每一步行动将能够沿着正确的方向推进。 You don't actually do a project; you can only do action steps related to it. When enough of the right action steps have been taken, some situation will have been created that matches your initial picture of the outcome closely enough that you can call it "done." The list of projects is the compilation of finish lines we put before us, to keep our next actions moving on all tracks appropriately. 工作的辅助性资料 Project Support Material 在工作中，你会积累大量的相关资料，希望按照主题、话题或者工作名称分别进行归纳管理，“工作”清单仅仅是一个索引。当你着手处理各种各样的工作时，你所需要的一切详情细目、计划、辅助资料都应该分门别类地存放于独立的文件夹中，也可以存入计算机的文件里、笔记本中或者活页文件夹中。 For many of your projects, you will accumulate relevant information that you will want to organize by theme or topic or project name. Your "Projects" list will be merely an index. All of the details, plans, and supporting information that you may need as you work on your various projects should be contained in separate file folders, computer files, notebooks, or binders.

辅助性资料及参考资料的文件夹一旦你把工作的辅助性资料按照主题或者题目分类组织整理时，你会发现，它们几乎与你的参考资料一模一样，而且也可以同参考资料一道保存在同一个系统中（例如，一个有关“婚礼”的文件可以保存在一个一般性参考资料文件夹中）。惟一的区别是，对于那些处于实施阶段的工作项目而言，我们可能需要比较频繁地查阅这些辅助性资料，以指导我们判定一切必要的行动。 Support Materials and Reference Files Once you have organized your project support material by theme or topic, you will probably find that it is almost identical to your reference material and could be kept in the same reference file system (a "Wedding" file could be kept in the general-reference files, for instance). The only difference is that in the case of active projects, support material may need to be reviewed on a more consistent basis to ensurethat all the necessary action steps are identified. 通常，我建议人们在自己的视线之外保存他们的辅助性资料。如果你拥有一个运行良好的参考文件归档系统，而且随时可以调用，你就能发现，这是最为简便易行的组织管理方法。尽管也有一些时候，把资料放在你的面前，抬眼便可以看到，这种做法会更加方便快捷。特别是当你正在处理一件热门的工程时，在同一天里急切需要多次查阅这些资料，这时后一种方法便大显身手了。在这种情况下，把这类“悬而未决”的文书资料存放在伸手可及的、钢丝编制的文件筐里，或者一摞叠起堆放的抽屉中，不失为一种实用的选择。 I usually recommend that people store their support materials out of sight. If you have a good

working reference file system close enough at hand, you may find that that's the simplest way to organize them. There will be times, though, when it'll be more convenient to have the materials out and instantly in view and available, especially if you're working on a hot project that you need to check references for several times during the day. File folders in wire standing holders or in stackable trays within easy reach can be practical for this kind of "pending" paperwork. 下一步行动的种类 The Next-Action Categories 正如同工作流程示意图所清楚显示的那样，下一步行动的决策是最为最础、最重要的一个环节。对于每一个悬而未决的问题，下一步的举措应该都是那些可以一目了然的具体行动。 As the Workflow Diagram makes clear, the next-action decision is central. That action needs to be the next physical, visible behavior, without exception, on every open loop. 当然，你不必再去追踪任何用不了 2 分钟时间即可以搞定的工作，也没有必要记录已经告一段落的事情。需要紧追不放的是那些将在某一个特定时间或日期里将要发生的事情（把它们记入你的日程表中）；那些处理得越快越好的事情（把它们添加到你的 “下一步行动”的清单中）；以及所有你等待其他人去办理的事情（把这些填入“等候”目录中去）。 Any less-than-two-minute actions that you perform, and all other actions that have already been completed, do not, of course, need to be tracked; they're done. What does need to be tracked is every action that has to happen at a specific time or on a specific day (enter these in your calendar); those that need to be done as soon as they can (add these to your "Next Actions" lists); and all those that you are waiting for others to do (put these on a "Waiting For" list). 日程表 Calendar 提示信息可以分为两大类：一类是将在某一具体的日期或时间里发生的事情；另一类是应该即刻予以办理且越早动手越好的事情。第一类事情可以委托给你的日程表。 Reminders of actions you need to take fall into two categories: those about things that have to happen on a specific day or time, and those about things that just need to get done as soon as possible. Your calendar handles the first type of reminder. 你的日程表上一般标注三种情况： * 在某一个确切的时间里采取的行动； * 在某一个确切的日期里采取的行动； * 在某一个确切的日期里将要获取的信息。 Three things go on your calendar: * time-specific actions; * day-specific actions; and * day-specific information.

在某一个确切的时间里采取的行动这其实是给约会起了一个花里胡哨的别名。通常情况下，如果某项工作的下一步行动是参加这个项目的一个讨论会，你只需把它标注在日程表里就足够了。 Time-Specific Actions This is a fancy name for appointments. Often the next action to be taken on a project is attending a meeting that has been set up to discuss it. Simply tracking that on the

calendar is sufficient.

在某一个确切日期里采取的行动一些事情需要在某一个特定的日子里搞定，但不一定非得苛求于某一个确定的时间段。也许你告诉米欧奇奥星期五会给她打电话，问问你给她的报告有没有问题。她星期四才可能拿到报告，而星期六又要出国，因此星期五是采取行动的最佳时机，而这一天中的任何时间都无关紧要。因此，只要标注在那一天的工作日历中就大功告成了。所以，拥有一个既可以记录具体时间，又可以标注具体日期的工作日程表，实在是太有用了。 Day-Specific Actions These are things that you need to do sometime on a certain day, but not necessarily at a specific time. Perhaps you told Mioko you would call her on Friday to check that the report you're sending her is OK. She won't have the report until Thursday, and she's leaving the country on Saturday, so Friday is the time window for taking the action—but anytime Friday will be fine. That should be tracked on the calendar for Friday but not tied to any particular time slot—it should just go on the day. It's useful to have a calendar on which you can note both timespecific and day-specific actions.

在某一个确切日期里获取的信息在日程表中，你还可以标明，在某一个特定的日子里你希望了解到哪些情况，但不一定非要采取什么行动，也许是有关安排约会的注意事项，有其他人员（家里人或员工）参与的活动，或者是某些妙趣横生的事情。同时，它也有助于记载一些短期的提示信息，如提醒自己等某些人度假回来以后，给他们打个电话等。 Day-Specific Information The calendar is also the place to keep track of things you want to know about on specific days—not necessarily actions you'll have to take but rather information that may be useful on a certain date. This might include directions for appointments, activities that other people (family or staff) will be involved in then, or events of interest. It's also helpful to put short-term "tickler" information here, too, such as a reminder to call someone after the day they return from a vacation.

不再需要“每日工作”清单只有上面那三种情况才允许被记录在日程表中，其他的一概免谈！我知道，这对于传统的时间管理训练法来说，简直如同异端邪说。按照传统的时间管理方法，“每日工作”清单就是一剂百试不爽的灵丹妙药。但实际上，工作清单的收效却令人大失所望，这主要有两个原因。 No More "Daily To-Do" Lists Those three things are what go on the calendar, and nothing else! I know this is heresy to traditional time-management training, which has almost universally taught that the "daily to-do list" is key. But such lists don't work, for two reasons.

具有灵活性的人是有福的，因为他们不会由于受到压力而不堪重负。 —迈克尔·麦格里菲（Michael McGriffy ）医学博士 Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape. —Michael McGrtffy, M.D. 首先，由于新情况持续不断地产生，策略重点不断地转移，每天的工作安排也必将随之作出相应的调整。因此，事实上，人们不可能提前确定一个工作清单。制定一个工作计划作为一个参照点一般是大有益处的，但是，在任何时候，这个计划都应该可以进行调整。如果你在日程表中记下一串长长的任务，一旦无法执行，又不得不将它们的逐项内容重新抄录

到另一个日期里，这未免有些令人泄气吧，同时也浪费了宝贵的时间。而我提倡使用的“下一步行动”清单包容了所有行动的提示信息，甚至是那些有严格时间界定的事情，而且不必每天重新标注。 First, constant new input and shifting tactical priorities reconfigure daily work so consistently that it's virtually impossible to nail down to-do items ahead of time. Having a working game plan as a reference point is always useful, but it must be able to be renegotiated at any moment. Trying to keep a list in writing on the calendar, which must then be rewritten on another day if items don't get done, is demoralizing and a waste of time. The "Next Actions" lists I advocate will hold all of those action reminders, even the most time-sensitive ones. And they won'thave to be rewritten daily. 第二，如果每日工作清单上的某一项工作不一定非要在这一天中完成，那么，它将起到弱化作用，对其他确确实实需要得到落实的工作产生一定的负面冲击。如果我必须在星期五给米欧奇奥打电话，因为我只有在那一天才能找到她。然而同时，我又在那一天的日程安排中挤进了其他 5 个电话，它们无足轻重，也不存在严格的时间限制。结果，当那一天我忙得晕头转向时，可能早就把给米欧奇奥打电话的事情抛到九霄云外了。我的大脑将不再提醒我：这个电话必须要打，否则我不可能再有其他的机会了。机不可失，时不再来，这就是该系统运作不当的典型表现。我认为，日程安排是一块神圣的领地。一旦在那里做下了标记，你就必须予以落实，或者根本不去碰它。日历上惟一允许出现的改变是，更改原定的日期。 Second, if there's something on a daily to-do list that doesn't absolutely have to get done that day, it will dilute the emphasis on the things that truly do. If I have to call Mioko on Friday because that's the only day I can reach her, but then I add five other, less important or less time-sensitive calls to my to-do list, when the day gets crazy I may never call Mioko. My brain will have to take back the reminder that that's the one phone call I won't get another chance at. That's not utilizing the system appropriately. The way I look at it, the calendar should be sacred territory. If you write something there, it must get done that day or not at all. Theonly rewriting should be for changed appointments. “下一步行动”清单 The "Next Actions" List(s) 你所有的行动提示信息应该记在哪里呢？应该写在“下一步行动”清单中，连同日程表一起构成每日行动管理的核心结构。 So where do all your action reminders go? On "Next Actions" lists, which, along with the calendar, are at the heart of daily action-management organization. 任何已经确定的、需要 2 分钟以上才能够解决掉的事情，以及那些无法指派其他人代理的事情都应该记录在某个地方。“给吉姆·史密斯打电话，谈谈预算会议的事情”，“给雷切尔和劳拉的母亲打电话，通知在外过夜露营的事情”，和“为年度销售会议起草计划”等。这些事情的提示信息需要在适当的目录或工作篮中加以保存，以供我们今后进行评估选择。 Any longer-than-two-minute, nondelegatable action you have identified needs to be tracked somewhere. "Call Jim Smith re budget meeting," "Phone Rachel and Laura's moms about sleepaway camp," and "Draft ideas re the annual sales conference" are all the kinds of action reminders that need to be kept in appropriate lists, or buckets, to be assessed as options for what we will do at any point in time.

如果这类事情只有 2 0 或 3 0 件，那么，你完全可以把它们统统列在一个“下一步行动” 清单中，你什么时候有空都可以浏览一遍。然而，对于我们大多数人而言，这个数字很可能达到 5 0 ~ 1 5 0 件。在这种情况下，把“下一步行动”清单进一步地细分不失为一个理智的做法。例如，当你手头有一部电话机时，你可以拿出一张“电话”清单，或者在每周例行会议上随身携带“工作中的主要问题”清单以便发问。 If you have only twenty or thirty of these, it may be fine to keep them all on one list labeled "Next Actions," which you'll review whenever you have any free time. For most of us, however, the number is more likely to be fifty to 150. In that case it makes sense to subdivide your "Next Actions" list into categories, such as "Calls" to make when you're at a phone or "Project Head Questions" to be asked at your weekly briefing.

我们应该使任何事物都变得越简单越好，而不是比较简单。 —阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦 Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. —Albert Einstein

不能够立即落实的工作 Nonactionable Items 如同处理那些可以立即付诸行动的工作一样，对于一些不能够立即落实的事情，你同样需要一个组织良好、自成一体的系统。这个系统可以进一步划分为三类：垃圾、孵化器和参考资料。 You need well-organized, discrete systems to handle the items that require no action as well as the ones that do. No-action systems fall into three categories: trash, incubation, and reference. 垃圾 Trash 垃圾都是不证自明的。把一切没有潜在行动价值或者参考价值的东西统统扔掉。如果你继续保留着这些东西并与其他的资料混为一谈，这些垃圾资料将会严重地损害这个系统的正常运转。 Trash should be self-evident. Throw away anything that has no potential future action or reference value. If you leave this stuff mixed in with other categories, it will seriously undermine the system. 孵化器 Incubation 除了垃圾以外，还存在其他两类情况。它们同样不必立即投入行动，但是你仍然希望保存这些材料。再重申一次，把那些不必立即付诸实施的事情与需要即刻解决的问题区分开来是至关重要的。否则，面对堆积如山的工作，你会逐渐地变得无动于衷，不知道从哪里切入，或者不知道要做些什么。 There are two other groups of things besides trash that require no immediate action, but this stuff you will want to keep. Here again, it's critical that you separate nonactionable from actionable items; otherwise you will tend to go numb to your piles, stacks, and lists and not know where to start or what needs to be done. 例如，当你浏览一个备忘录或者阅读一封电子邮件时，极其偶然地获得了一丝启发，

你很可能会在以后的某一个时间里再着手办理，而不是现在。你希望今后能够再一次得到提醒，以便再评估日后的解决办法。比如，你的邮箱里收到一个宣传小册子，是关于当地交响乐团下一个演出季节的节目安排。你对演出的曲目颇有兴趣，但是距离演出还有 4 个月的时间—太遥远了，不可能立即行动（你还无法确定 4 个月后的行程安排）。但是，如果到那时你还留在城里，你很可能会去观看演出的。在这种情形下，你应该怎么办呢？ Say you pick up something from a memo, or read an e-mail, that gives you an idea for a project you might want to do someday, but not now. You'll want to be reminded of it again later so you can reassess the option of doing something about it in the future. For example, a brochure arrives in the mail for the upcoming season of your local symphony. On a quick browse, you see that the program that really interests you is still four months away—too distant for you to move on it yet (you're not sure what your travel schedule will be that far out), but if you are in town, you'd like to go. What should you do about that? 目前，有两种“孵化”体系可以应付这一局面即“将来某时/也许”清单和“备忘录”清单。 There are two kinds of "incubate" systems that could work for this kind of thing: "Someday/Maybe" lists and a "tickler" file. “将来某时/也许” 可以用于保存一些目前你不打算实施，但又希望在将来某一时间运作的工作。拥有这样一个清单不仅具有实用价值，而且令人备受鼓舞。这就好比是一个“停车场”，用来停放那些你当前无法操作，却又不打算彻底遗忘的事情。每隔一段时间，你将会得到一些提醒。 "Someday/Maybe" It can be useful and inspiring to maintain an ongoing list of things you might want to do at some point but not now. This is the "parking lot" for projects that would be impossible to move on at present but that you don't want to forget about entirely. You'd like to be reminded of the possibility at regular intervals. 比较典型的“将来某时/也许”清单弄一条鲈鱼捕猎船制作雇员晋级录像带学习西班牙语找到斯坦福·里昂报名学习绘水彩画买一部数码摄像机添置一个厨房餐具柜去意大利北部旅行建造一个环状游泳池向我的木匠学习木工活为凯西买一个单脚滑车向公众展示我们的艺术品乘热气球游玩建造一个池塘建造一个酒窖将旧照片和录像带进行数字化处理去蒙大拿州旅行举行一个社区晚会学习 Photoshop 软件在家里建立一个远程服务器设立一个非营利性基金 Typical Partial "Someday/Maybe" List Get a bass-fishing boat Create promotional videos of staff Learn Spanish Find Stafford Lyons Take a watercolor class Get a digital video camera * Get a sideboard for the kitchen Northern Italy trip

Build a lap pool Apprentice with my carpenter Get Kathryn a scooter Spotlight our artwork Take a balloon ride Build a koi pond Build a wine cellar Digitize old photos and videos Take a trip through Montana Have a neighborhood party Learn Photoshop software capabilities Set up remote-server access at home Set up a not-for-profit foundation 很可能，你将在“将来某时/也许”的主清单下再设立附属清单，如： * 我需要的光盘 * 想租借的录像带 * 想要读的书 * 要品尝的葡萄酒 * 周末打算的外出旅行 * 要与孩子们一起做的事情 * 打算参加的研讨会 You'll probably have some subcategories in your master "Someday/Maybe" list, such as * CDs I might want * Videos to rent * Books to read * Wine to taste * Weekend trips to take * Things to do with the kids * Seminars to take 如果你打算收到良好的效果，你就必须定期地查阅这个清单。我建议在每周回顾的内容中添加一个一览表。 You must review this list periodically if you're going to get the most value from it. I suggest you include a scan of the contents in your Weekly Review (see page 46). “备忘录”文件夹在保存备查资料的工具中，堪称上品的当属“备忘录”文件夹。有时，也称之为“悬而未决”或者“有待继续跟踪”的文件夹。实际上，这个系统允许你在某一个指定的时间里把所有的信息投寄给你自己。 "Tickler" File The most elegant version of holding for review is the "tickler" file, sometimes also referred to as a "suspended" or "follow-on" file. This is a system that allows you to almost literally mail something to yourself, for receipt on some designated day in the future. 你的工作日程表也发挥着相同的功效。比如，日程安排在 3 月 1 5 日提醒你还有一个月就该交税了，或者在 9 月 1 2 日记录着芭蕾舞团将在市内剧院上演《天鹅湖》。 Your calendar can serve the same function. You might remind yourself on your calendar for March 15, for example, that your taxes are due in a month; or for September 12, that Swan Lake will be presented by the Bolshoi at the Civic Auditorium in six weeks.

在第 7 章，你将会看到更详尽的介绍。 For further details, refer to chapter 7. 参考资料 Reference Material 很多你遇到的情况并不要求你采取任何行动，但是它们都是具有重要价值的信息。你希望保存这些信息，并在需要时再次调用它们。你可以把这些信息以书面或者数字的形式加以保存。 Many things that come your way require no action but have intrinsic value as information. You will want to keep and be able to retrieve these as needed. They can be stored in paper-based or digital form. 书面形式的资料，可以是当地一家熟食外卖店的菜单，也可以是一项环境美化工程计划书、草图和销售报告，最好存储在一个伸手可及的便捷装置中。这些装置形式多种多样，你可以用一个活页夹中的几页纸来记录你所偏爱的一些饭馆的名字或者学校委员会成员的电话号码，也可以启用整个文件柜来存放公司合并的一切相关资料。 Paper-based material—anything from the menu for a local take-out deli to the plans, drawings, and vendor information for a landscape project—is best stored in efficient physical-retrieval systems. These can range from pages in a loose-leaf planner or notebook, for a list of favorite restaurants or the phone numbers of the members of a school committee, to whole file cabinets dedicated to the due-diligence paperwork for a corporate merger. 电子存储器的内容更是包罗万象，可以是从网络中获取的数据库资料，也可以是你联络软件中所保存的特殊参考资料和档案文件夹。 Electronic storage can include everything from networked database information to ad hoc reference and archive folders located in your communication software. 这里最值得注意的是，参考资料应该是那些在需要时能够毫不费力地查寻到的资料。一般情况下，参考资料系统有两种形式：（1）特定主题或者特定领域的存储器；（2 ）一般性参考资料文件夹。第一种通常是按照资料的内容进行分类保存的，比如，某一文件夹专门用来存放按日期顺序排列的合同文本；而另一个文件夹仅用于保留有关雇员赔偿问题的机密计划；或者有几个文件柜专门用于已经了结了的法律案件的存档，以便日后审判时查阅。 The most important thing to remember here is that reference should be exactly that—information that can be easily referred to when required. Reference systems generally take two forms: (1) topic- and area-specific storage, and (2) general-reference files. The first types usually define themselves in terms of how they are stored—for example, a file drawer dedicated to contracts, by date; a drawer containing only confidential employee-compensation information; or a series of cabinets for closed legal cases that might need to be consulted during future trials.

一般性参考资料的归档每个人都需要在触手可及的地方，常备几个文件夹用于收集那些没有预先指定类别的信息。你总是需要有一个地方来存放移动电话的使用说明手册，史密斯工程的会议记录，还有你上一次去东京旅行结束时没有来得及兑换的几个日元（下一次去时，还可以使用）。 General-Reference Filing The second type of reference system is one that everyone needs close at hand for storing ad hoc information that doesn't belong in some predesignated category. You need 52

somewhere to keep the instruction manual for your cell phone, the notes from the meeting about the Smith project, and those few yen that you didn't get to change at the end of your last trip to Tokyo (and that you'll use when you go back there). 在实施一个个人高效行动管理计划时，如果缺乏一个运行正常的一般性参考资料归档文件夹，那就如同遭遇到最严重的阻碍一般。如果归档的程序烦琐而缓慢（甚至枯燥乏味），那么，你很可能不是在进行归纳存档，而是一手造成事情堆积如山的局面。如果你没有给参考资料设定清晰可辨的界限，就无法区分哪些是可以采取行动的事件，哪些是暂时无法实施的工作。大脑在面对所有的工作时，会失去正常的反应能力，变得混沌麻木。因此，针对这一类资料建立起一个运行良好的系统，将是我们推行轻松高效行事的一个重要保障。我们将在第 7 章详细地阐述。 The lack of a good general-reference file can be one of the biggest bottlenecks in implementing an efficient personal action-management system. If filing isn't easy and fast (and even fun!), you'll tend to stack things instead of filing them. If your reference material doesn't have a nice clean edge to it, the line between actionable and nonactionable items will blur, visually and psychologically, and your mind will go numb to the whole business. Establishing a good working system for this category of material is critical to ensuring stress-free productivity; we will explore it in detail in chapter 7. 回顾 Review 在纸上记下来你需要牛奶是一件事情，而在商店里回想起这个需要就是另一件事了。同样地，把需要给一个房地产律师朋友打电话这件事记录下来，绝不等同于当你守候着一部电话无事可做的时候，就能够唤起对此事的回忆。 It's one thing to write down that you need milk; it's another to be at the store and remember it. Likewise, writing down that you need to call a friend for the name of an estate attorney is different from remembering it when you're at a phone and have some discretionary time. 你需要每隔一段时间，全面地回顾一下你自己的生活和工作的情况。对于大多数人而言，工作流程管理方法的神奇力量恰恰就是在不断地对过去进行回顾中体现出来的。就是说，每周你再次浏览一下那些未完善的工作和悬而未决的问题，我把这称之为万英尺高度。你应该把握住这个机会，快速地清理一下自己面临的行动和抉择，从而从根本上对某一时间需要处理的工作作出有效的选择。 You need to be able to review the whole picture of your life and work at appropriate intervals and appropriate levels. For most people the magic of workflow management is realized in the consistent use of the review phase. This is where you take a look at all your outstanding projects and open loops, at what I call the 10,000-foot level (see page 51), on a weekly basis. It's your chance to scan all the defined actions and options before you, thus radically increasing the efficacy of the choices you make about what you're doing at any point in time. 回顾的内容和时机 What to Review When 如果你按照我所推荐的方法建立起个人的组织管理系统，拥有一个“工作任务”清单、一个工作日历、“下一步行动”清单和一个“待处理”清单，你大概就别无他求了。 If you set up a personal organization system structured as I recommend, with a "Projects" list, a

calendar, "Next Actions" lists, and a "Waiting For" list, not much will be required to maintain that system. 这其中，你浏览最为频繁的大概要数日程表了。它会提醒你这一天里“紧要而艰巨的任务”。然而，这并不意味着这些白纸黑字写出来的就是那些最为重要的事情。其实，它们只不过需要我们切实地行动起来。在任何时候，如果你对需要处理的事情和动手的时机都了如指掌的话，你也就为随时随地地调整创造了有利条件。一旦你圆满完成了工作日历中的某一项工作（一个会议，一个电话和报告的定稿），接下来立即投入检查那些未尽的事宜将是一个极好的习惯。 The item you'll probably review most frequently is your calendar, which will remind you about the "hard landscape" for the day—that is, what things will die if you don't do them. This doesn't mean that the things written on there are the most "important" in some grand sense—only that they have to get done. At at any point in time, knowing what has to get done, and when, creates a terrain for maneuvering. It's a good habit, as soon as you conclude an action on your calendar (a meeting, a phone call, the final draft of a report), to check and see what else remains to be done. 完成对工作日程表的例行检查以后，你很可能去查看“下一步行动”清单。这类清单记载着一些已得到预先确定的工作的详细目录，一旦时间允许，就可以启动实施。如果你是按照地点对任务进行分类整理的（“在家”，“在计算机旁”，“与乔治会面时”），这样一来，这种安排只有在相应的环境中才会发挥效力。 After checking your calendar, you'll most often turn to your "Next Actions" lists. These hold the inventory of predefined actions that you can take if you have any discretionary time during the day. If you've organized them by context ("At Home," "At Computer," "In Meeting with George"), they'll come into play only when those contexts are available. 根据你的需要，经常地回顾你的清单，把它们赶出你的大脑。 Review your lists as often as you need to, to get them off your mind. “工作任务”、“等待处理”和“将来某时/也许”，这些清单应该根据你的具体需要经常查阅，避免它们给你造成工作中的混乱。 "Projects," "Waiting For," and "Someday/Maybe" lists need to be reviewed only as often as you think they have to be in order to stop you from wondering about them. 成功的关键因素：每周查阅 Critical Success Factor: The Weekly Review 一切需要采取行动的事情，都要求我们不断地关注它们，这样一来，我们的大脑不必再不辞劳苦地执行记忆和提醒的任务。我们无时无刻不在凭借我们的直觉对某些行动作出快速的判断。为了能够信赖我们这种判断力，我们必须立足于更高的起点俯看全景。根据我和成千上万人的经验，取得成功的关键所在就是：每周查阅。 Everything that might potentially require action must be reviewed on a frequent enough basis to keep your mind from taking back the job of remembering and reminding. In order to trust the rapid and intuitive judgment calls that you make about actions from moment to moment, you must consistently retrench at some more elevated level. In my experience (with thousands of people), that translates into a behavior critical for success: the Weekly Review.

你应该对所有悬而未决的问题、现行工作计划、“下一步行动”、 “日程安排”、“等待处理”，甚至“将来某时/也许”清单每周查阅一次。你自己也同时得到一次机会，确认大脑中无牵无挂，过去几天中的零星琐事已经统统被收集起来，得到了妥善的分类管理。 All of your open loops (i.e., projects), active project plans, and "Next Actions," "Agendas," "Waiting For," and even "Someday/Maybe" lists should be reviewed once a week. This also gives you an opportunity to ensure that your brain is clear and that all the loose strands of the past few days have been collected, processed, and organized. 如果你同大多数人一样，就会有这样的体验：总有几天你会忙得晕头转向、头脑发涨，事态似乎失去了控制。这没有什么值得大惊小怪的，因为你不会为了保证自己时时刻刻都井然有序、按部就班，就过多地打断手头上工作的进程。但是，为了能够信心十足，推动事情顺利地向前发展，恐怕你仍需要“一周清理一次房间”。 If you're like most people, you've found that things can get relatively out of control during the course of a few days of operational intensity. That's to be expected. You wouldn't want to distract yourself from too much of the work at hand in an effort to stay totally "squeaky clean" all the time. But in order to afford the luxury of "getting on a roll" with confidence, you'll probably need to clean house once a week.

生活中的事情涉及到大量的利益问题。一个人如果在考虑问题时不注意同其他人进行交流，那么，他就是一个空想家，对这个世界无从掌控。 —詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库珀（James Fenimore Cooper） The affairs of life embrace a multitude of interests, and he who reasons in any one of them, without consulting the rest, is a visionary unsuited to control the business of the world. —-James Fenimore Cooper 每周查阅也就是做下列事情： * 收集和加工处理所有的“材料”。 * 回顾和检查你的系统。 * 更新各类清单。 * 做到清洁、清楚、实时和完整。 The Weekly Review is the time to * Gather and process all your "stuff." * Review your system. * Update your lists. * Get clean, clear, current, and complete. 大多数人并没有真正拥有一个严丝合缝的完整系统，因此，他们也无法从中收获到实质性的回报，这是因为他们所回顾的事物老是支离破碎。他们总是抱有一种模模糊糊的认识：可能缺了点什么。如果真正切实地推行了这个管理计划，其效果至少可以呈几何数量级激增。你建立的系统越完备，你就越信赖它；你越信赖它，你就越发具有坚持运行这个系统的内在动力。而每周的回顾和查阅即是达到这个目标的关键所在。 Most people don't have a really complete system, and they get no real payoff from reviewing things for just that reason: their overview isn't total. They still have a vague sense that something may be missing. That's why the rewards to be gained from implementing this whole process are at

least geometric: the more complete the system is, the more you'll trust it. And the more you trust it, the more complete you'll be motivated to keep it. The Weekly Review is a master key to maintaining that standard. 大多数人在清理、了结、阐明了他们所有的协议，并与别人重新审议了这些协议后，都会感到心满意足、状态良好。注意周都要坚持这样做，而不是每年。 Most people feel best about their work when they've cleaned up, closed up, clarified, and renegotiated all their agreements with themselves and others. Do this weekly instead of yearly. 大多数人在临去度假的前一个星期里，感觉事事顺利、心情愉悦。但这并不是因为他们要去度假。你在远途出行之前的一周里会做些什么呢？你会彻底地清除整理一切琐碎事务，能了结的就了结掉，并且会重新协调所部署的一切安排。在这里，我只是建议你每周做一次这样的清理工作，而不是每年。 Most people feel best about their work the week before their vacation, but it's not because of the vacation itself. What do you do the last week before you leave on a big trip? You clean up, close up, clarify, and renegotiate all your agreements with yourself and others. I just suggest that you do this weekly instead of yearly. 行动 Do 这个工作流程管理计划的基本目的是，在任何时候为你作出正确的选择提供方便。星期一上午 1 0 点 3 3 分，你犹豫不决，是给桑迪打个电话呢？还是处理某一个提案，或是回复一个电子邮件呢？一切跟着感觉走。但是，如果事前进行了计划，你对自己的决定就会表现出十足的信心。你对行动所寄予的某种希望转而升华到无比的信任，由此大大地缩短了工作时间，提高了效率。 The basic purpose of this workflow-management process is to facilitate good choices about what you're doing at any point in time. At 10:33 A.M. Monday, deciding whether to call Sandy, finish the proposal, or process your e-mails will always be an intuitive call, but with the proper preplanning you can feel much more con-fident about your choices. You can move from hope to trust in your actions, immediately increasing your speed and effectiveness. 每一个行动决策都是凭直觉作出的。问题在于，如何从希望这个选择是正确的过渡到对它的正确性深信不疑。 Every decision to act is an intuitive one. The challenge is to migrate from hoping it's the right choice to trusting it's the right choice. 选择行动方案的三个范例 Three Models for Making Action Choices 让我们假设一下，出于安全考虑或者是怕耽搁工作，你对所有的“事情”向来都抱以来者不拒的态度。因此，在你面前总是摆放着一串串长长的工作清单，而你总是抽不出时间来处理。在这种情况下，你是如何决定做什么和不做什么的呢？你自己对此又作何感想呢？ Let's assume for a moment that you're not resisting any of your "stuff" out of insecurity or procrastination. There will always be a large list of actions that you are not doing at any given moment. So how will you decide what to do and what not to do, and feel good about both?

答案是：相信你自己的感觉。如果你已经收集了当前面临的所有工作、任务和事情，并且进行了加工、归纳以及经常地查阅和回顾，那么，你对于工作和价值观的思考是明智而且注重实效的，这无形中将大大地激发和强化你的感性判断。 The answer is, by trusting your intuition. If you have collected, processed, organized, and reviewed all your current commitments, you can galvanize your intuitive judgment with some intelligent and practical thinking about your work and values. 当你需要处理的事情远远地超越了你的应付能力，你需要做的便是相信自己的选择。 You have more to do than you can possibly do. You just need to feel good about your choices. 我已经逐步建立起三种模式，可以对你的决策过程有所帮助。它们不会直接告诉你答案：你是否应该给弗雷德里克打一个电话，是否需要给上学的儿子发一封电子邮件，或是去跟你的秘书进行一次非正式谈话。但是，他们将辅助你作出更加明智的决策。而这会令那种简单的时间管理法和重要事件管理法望尘莫及、自惭形秽。 I have developed three models that will be helpful for you to incorporate in your decision-making about what to do. They won't tell you answers—whether you call Frederick, e-mail your son at school, or just go have an informal "how are you?" conversation with your secretary—but they will assist you in framing your options more intelligently. And that's something that the simple time- and priority-management panaceas can't do. 1. 在某一时刻，决策行动的 4 个标准的模式 1. The Four-Criteria Model for Choosing Actions in the Moment 在星期三 3 点 2 2 分时，你如何选择下一步行动呢？你可以按照次序采用下面 4 个标准： 1. 环境 2. 有多少时间 3. 有多少精力 4. 重要性 At 3:22 on Wednesday, how do you choose what to do? There are four criteria you can apply, in this order: 1 Context 2 Time available 3 Energy available 4 Priority 环境有一些事情对地点没有什么特别的要求（像拿一支钢笔和一张纸就可起草有关一项工程的想法）。但是，大多数事情的处理需要某一个明确的地点（在家或办公室）或者要求某些辅助设备，如一部电话机、一台电脑。而这些因素首先限制了目前可能作出的选择。 Context A few actions can be done anywhere (like drafting ideas about a project with pen and paper), but most require a specific location (at home, at your office) or having some productivity tool at hand, such as a phone or a computer. These are the first factors that limit your choices about what you can do in the moment.

有多少时间在什么时候你必须去处理其他的事情呢？如果 5 分钟后你就必须去开会，你现在就不可能去解决许许多多耗时持久的事情。

Time Available When do you have to do something else} Having a meeting in five minutes would prevent doing many actions that require more time.

有多少精力你有多少精力呢？某些事情需要你精力旺盛、标新立异、富于创造力；而另一些则要求更加充沛的体力；还有一些事情对两者都无过分的苛求。 Energy Available How much energy do you have? Some actions you have to do require a reservoir of fresh, creative mental energy. Others need more physical horsepower. Some need very little of either.

重要性考虑到你目前的情况、可以支配的时间和现在的精神状况，选择哪一件事能够获取最高的回报呢？现在，你有 1 个小时的时间，你坐在办公室里守着电话和电脑，你的能量指数为 7 . 3（以 1 0 为单位）。你应该做些什么呢？给客户回一个电话？考虑一下新的提案？处理一下语音信箱里的留言和电子邮件？或者联系一下你的配偶，看看她/他这一天过得怎么样？ Priority Given your context, time, and energy available, what action will give you the highest payoff? You have an hour, you're in your office with a phone and a computer, and your energy is 7.3 on a scale of 10. Should you call the client back, work on the proposal, process your voice-mails and e-mails, or check in with your spouse to see how his or her day is going? 这时，你可以借助一下你的直觉，依赖一下此时此刻的判断力。为了近一步说明这个问题，我们再来讨论一下另外两种模式，看一看什么是你目前最重要的事情。 This is where you need to access your intution and begin to rely on your judgment call in the moment. To explore that concept further, let's examine two more models for deciding what's "most important" for you to be doing. 2. 评估每日工作的 3 种模式 2. The Threefold Model for Evaluating Daily Work 当你着手处理事务，也就是人们在一般情况下提到的“工作”时，你可能是在从事以下 3 种不同类型的活动： When you're getting things done, or "working" in the universal sense, there are three different kinds of activities you can be engaged in: * 处理事先安排好的工作 * 处理随时冒出来的事件 * 定义你自己的工作 * Doing predefined work * Doing work as it shows up * Defining your work

处理事先安排好的工作当你在处理事先安排好的工作时，实际上，你是按照“下一步行动”清单不断地向前推进着，落实那些你早已经确定了的行动，控制工作流程的运转。例如，你正在拨打需要打的电话，记录你灵机一动时冒出来的想法，或者准备同律师磋商的问题。 Doing Predefined Work When you're doing predefined work, you're working off your "Next

Actions" lists—completing tasks that you have previously determined need to be done, managing your workflow. You're making the calls you need to make, drafting ideas you want to brainstorm, or preparing a list of things to talk to your attorney about.

处理随时冒出来的事件通常，有一些事情会突如其来地钻出来，你不得不应付这些紧急情况，而有时你是主动选择去这样做的。例如，你的合作伙伴走进了你的办公室，希望同你谈一谈新产品发布的安排情况，结果你放下手头正在处理的工作同她聊了起来。每天你都会碰到一些突发的事件，为此你至少需要付出一定的时间和精力。当你这样做时，你想当然地认为这些事情要比你必须完成的那些工作更加重要。 Doing Work as It Shows Up Often things come up ad hoc—unsuspected, unforeseen—that you either have to or choose to respond to as they occur. For example, your partner walks into your office and wants to have a conversation about the new product launch, so you talk to her instead of doing all the other things you could be doing. Every day brings surprises—unplanned-for things that just show up, and you'll need to expend at least some time and energy on many of them. When you follow these leads, you're deciding by default that these things are more important than anything else you have to do.

定义你的工作明确你的工作，这包括清空你的工作篮，处理你的语音信箱和电子邮件，整理你的会议记录，并把一项项新的工作分解成为多项具体的、可以操作的步骤。当你加工这些输入的信息时，毫无疑问，你随手解决了那些用不了 2 分钟就可以搞定的事情，同时把其他数不胜数的事情分类归档（处理随时冒出来的工作的另一个版本）。在这个过程中，相当大的一部分工作是明确那些今后需要关注而目前又不需要立刻采取措施的事情。这样一来，随着你的工作不断地向前推进，清单上活动的数量也在持续不断地扩充着。 Defining Your Work Defining your work entails clearing up your in-basket, your e-mail, your voice-mail, and your meeting notes and breaking down new projects into actionable steps. As you process your inputs, you'll no doubt be taking care of some less-than-two-minute actions and tossing and filing numerous things (another version of doing work as it shows up). A good portion of this activity will consist of identifying things that need to get done sometime, but not right away. You'll be adding to all of your lists as you go along. 一旦所有的事情都得到了确定，此时，你有理由相信自己已经获得了一份完整的工作清单。因此，在适当的环境中，只要你还抽得出时间和精力，你就有事可做，而且还不止一个选择呢。我们最后需要考虑的是，你工作的实质到底是什么，你工作的目标和标准又是什么呢？ Once you have defined all your work, you can trust that your lists of things to do are complete. And your context, time, and energy available still allow you the option of more than one thing to do. The final thing to consider is the nature of your work, and its goals and standards. 3. 回顾和检查工作 6 个标准的模式 3. The Six-Level Model for Reviewing Your Own Work 事情的重要程度是促使你作出选择的原动力。但是，大多数用于决定事件重要性的模式，在实际工作中并非是最得心应手的工具。为了明确到底哪些工作才是最重要的，我们必须首先搞懂我们的工作到底是什么。至少可以从 6 个不同的角度加以衡量。我们可以高度的概念进行类比：

Priorities should drive your choices, but most models for determining them are not reliable tools for much of our real work activity. In order to know what your priorities are, you have to know what your work is. And there are at least six different perspectives from which to define that. To use an aerospace analogy, the conversation has a lot to do with the altitude. * 5 万英尺以上：生活 * 4 万英尺：3~5 年的展望 * 3 万英尺：1~2 年的目标 * 2 万英尺：责任范围 * 1 万英尺：当前的工作 * 跑道：目前的行动 * 50,000+ feet: Life * 40,000 feet: Three- to five-year vision * 30,000 feet: One- to two-year goals * 20,000 feet: Areas of responsibility * 10,000 feet: Current projects * Runway: Current actions 让我们由下至上入手。 Let's start from the bottom up:

跑道：目前的行动这是一份写得密密麻麻的工作清单，记录了你需要处理的一切事务：所有你需要打的电话，所有等待回复的电子邮件，所有要跑腿处理的事情，还有你打算向老板汇报的日程安排，以及希望同配偶交流的信息。即使你现在能够停止地球的运转，不再从你自己或其他人那里接收更多的信息，你大概也要忙碌 300~500 小时，才能把手头的事情一一解决。 Runway: Current Actions This is the accumulated list of all the actions you need to take—all the phone calls you have to make, the e-mails you have to respond to, the errands you've got to run, and the agendas you want to communicate to your boss and your spouse. You'd probably have three hundred to five hundred hours' worth of these things to do if you stopped the world right now and got no more input from yourself or anyone else. 1 万英尺：当前的工作目前你手中有 30~100 项工作亟待处理，这些都是你希望在相当短的时间内取得成效的事情。例如，在家里添置一台电脑，组织开一次销售会议，把公司总部迁往新址，去看牙医等。 10,000 Feet: Current Projects Creating many of the actions that you currently have in front of you are the thirty to one hundred projects on your plate. These are the relatively short-term outcomes you want to achieve, such as setting up a home computer, organizing a sales conference, moving to a new headquarters, and getting a dentist. 2 万英尺：责任范围自身承担的种种责任和义务，致使你承受了先前的大部分工作。对于大多数人而言，这些工作可以划分为 1 0 ~ 1 5 个范畴。在这些重点领域里，你希望取得成果或者保持现有的水准。你的工作性质也许涉及到某些责任，如战略计划、行政支持、员工培训、市场调研、客户服务或者资产管理。此外，你还需要关注个人生活中众多具有重要意义的方面：健康、家庭、财政收支、住宅环境、宗教信仰、娱乐休闲等。把所有这些责任和义

务一并诉诸文字，并经常回顾和自检，这将有助于你更加综合全面地对自己的任务清单进行分析和评估。 20,000 Feet: Areas of Responsibility You create or accept most of your projects because of your responsibilities, which for most people can be defined in ten to fifteen categories. These are the key areas within which you want to achieve results and maintain standards. Your job may entail at least implicit commitments for things like strategic planning, administrative support, staff development, market research, customer service, or asset management. And your personal life has an equal number of such focus arenas: health, family, finances, home environment, spirituality, recreation, etc. Listing and reviewing these responsibilities gives a more comprehensive framework for evaluating your inventory of projects. 3 万英尺：1~2 年的目标从现在起 1~2 年内，你希望在生活和工作的各个领域达到哪些目标，这为你定义工作又创造了一个崭新的领域。随着一些新的责任和义务的产生，你需要经常调整自己的工作重心，以完成所制定的目标。在个人生活的领域中，情况也大同小异，你希望使某些事情尽快到位，这将增强你生活中某些方面的重要性，同时弱化另一些方面的问题。 30,000 Feet: One- to Two-Year Goals What you want to be experiencing in the various areas of your life and work one to two years from now will add another dimension to defining your work. Often meeting the goals and objectives of your job will require a shift in emphasis of your job focus, with new areas of responsibility emerging. At this horizon personally, too, there probably are things you'd like to accomplish or have in place, which could add importance to certain aspects of your life and diminish others. 4 万英尺：3 ~ 5 年的展望展望未来 3 ~ 5 年的发展前景，你必定会从一个更加广阔的角度着眼：管理策略、周边环境发展的趋势、事业和生活转变的条件。内在的因素包括事业、家庭和财政方面的长期目标，外部世界的发展变化，包括技术进步、全球化进程、市场趋势及竞争等，势必影响到你的工作和组织管理方法。在这一层次的决策将会轻而易举地改变你其他各个阶段的工作内容。 40,000 Feet: Three- to Five-Year Vision Projecting three to five years into the future generates thinking about bigger categories: organization strategies, environmental trends, career and life-transition circumstances. Internal factors include longer-term career, family, and financial goals and considerations. Outerworld issues could involve changes affecting your job and organization, such as technology, globalization, market trends, and competition. Decisions at this altitude could easily change what your work might look like on many levels. 5 万英尺以上：生活这就是我们整个生活的全景。你的公司为什么会存在呢？你自己为什么会存在？任何事物的主要目标为我们提供了定义其性质的核心手段。这是对工作的最终描述，你制定的所有目标、前景展望、规划、任务及行动都来自于这个工作描述，同时也为其获得成功指明方向。 50, 000+ Feet Life This is the "big picture" view. Why does your company exist? Why do you exist? The primary purpose for anything provides the core definition of what its "work" really is. It is the ultimate job description. All the goals, visions, objectives, projects, and actions derive from this, and lead toward it.

以上这种在高度方面的类比多少有些主观臆断，在现实生活中，你对工作重心的决断，很难严丝合缝地套入上述某一个层次的具体状况。然而，这里所提出的基本框架将会提醒你，任何工作以及相关的义务和责任都具有多个层面的本质。 These altitude analogies are somewhat arbitrary, and in real life the important conversations you will have about your focus and your priorities may not fit exactly to one horizon or another. They can provide a useful framework, however, to remind you of the multilayered nature of your "job" and resulting commitments and tasks. 显而易见的是，如果你希望对工作的实质以及落实的时机作出恰如其分的判断和决策，那么，有很多因素必须纳入你的思考范畴。从传统意义上讲，“确立事务重要性的先后顺序” 主要聚焦于你的长远目标和价值取向上。尽管这一环节是一个极其必要的核心工作，但是，它对于我们日复一日接触到的、数量巨大的决策和任务而言，并不能提供一个具有现实指导意义的管理框架。从各个层面入手，全面地掌握你的工作流程，才能为你提供一个更加全面的、令人精神振奋的途径。 Obviously, many factors must be considered before you feel comfortable that you have made the best decision about what to do and when. "Setting priorities" in the traditional sense of focusing on your long-term goals and values, though obviously a necessary core focus, does not provide a practical framework for a vast majority of the decisions and tasks you must engage in day to day. Mastering the flow of your work at all the levels you experience that work provides a much more holistic way to get things done, and feel good about it. 本书的第二部分将提供一些具体的训练指导，帮助大家学习如何运用这 3 种模式来决定行动方案，以及如何发挥收集资料、加工信息、组织管理和回顾检查这几个环节的最佳功效，力求达到事业和生活的巅峰。 Part 2 of this book will provide specific coaching about how to use these three models for making action choices, and how the best practices for collecting, processing, planning, organizing, and reviewing all contribute to your greatest success with them.

第 3 章纵向管理：巧妙制定工作计划轻松自如地控制一切的主要因素是：（1）明确判定工作的预期结果以及下一步具体行动；（2 ）把一切尚待解决的工作的提示信息安置在一个安全可靠的系统中，并定期回顾和检查。这就是我所命名的横向工作重心。尽管看起来这种方法极其简单，但是，在实际操作中却将产生意义深远的效果。 THE KEY INGREDIENTS of relaxed control are (1) clearly defined outcomes (projects) and the next actions required to move them toward closure, and (2) reminders placed in a trusted system that is reviewed regularly. This is what I call horizontal focus. Although it may seem simple, the actual application of the process can create profound results.

当你着手处理平凡琐事的时候，必须着眼于大局，这样一来，所有的烦琐小事才能够沿着正确的方向发展。 —阿尔文·托夫勒（Alvin Toffler） You've got to think about the big things while you're doing small things,so that all the small things go inthe right direction.

—Alvin Toffler 强化“纵向”工作重心 Enhancing "Vertical" Focus 在大多数情况下和大部分时间里，你仅仅需要横向工作重心。然而，有时你也许需要更严格地控制某一项工作，找出解决方案，或者确保行动方案切实可行。这就是我们所说的纵向工作重心。了解如何运用“纵向”思维提高工作效率，以及如何把预期的成效融入你个人的管理体系之中，这就是知识工作所需要的第二套强有力的行为模式。 Horizontal focus is all you'll need in most situations, most of the time. Sometimes, however, you may need greater rigor and focus to get a project under control, to identify a solution, or to ensure that all the right steps have been determined. This is where vertical focus comes in. Knowing how to think productively in this more "vertical" way and how to integrate the results into your personal system is the second powerful behavior set needed for knowledge work. 我们的最终目标是把各种工作和情况赶出你的大脑，但不要丢弃任何具有潜在价值的想法。 The goal is to get projects and situations off your mind, but not to lose any potentially useful ideas. 这一类思考方式并不要求详尽周密。在大多数情况下，你非常随意地开始了对问题的思考，我把它称之为“在信封背面作计划”。也就是说，当你在咖啡馆里一边与同事仔细讨论你们的日程安排，准备一篇销售报告时，一边在信封的背面随手记录了几笔。根据我的经验，与你投入的精力相比，这种计划的输出方式效率最高。的确如此，每隔一段时间，你就可能需要制定一个更加正规的工作计划，以便理清事件的要素、结果或者重要程度。此外，为了应付更加复杂多变的情况，我们还有必要考虑进行详实的要点概括。比如，如果团队成员需要相互配合，共同处理各种工作，或者你需要起草一份令人信服的计划书，以便向投资者说明你对当前的工作进展胸有成竹。但是，一般来说，没有什么能够与一个信封和一支铅笔相媲美，更能帮助你启动浩瀚无边的创造力了。 This kind of thinking doesn't have to be elabo-rate. Most of the thinking you'll need to do is informal, what I call back-of-the-envelope planning—the kind of thing you do literally on the back of an envelope in a coffee shop with a colleague as you're hashing out the agenda and structure of a sales presentation. In my experience this tends to be the most productive kind of planning you can do in terms of your output relative to the energy you put into it. True, every once in a while you may need to develop a more formal structure or plan to clarify components, sequences, or priorities. And more detailed outlines will also be necessary to coordinate more complex situations—if teams need to collaborate about various project pieces, for example, or if business plans need to be drafted to convince an investor you know what you're doing. But as a general rule, you can be pretty creative with nothing more than an envelope and a pencil. 我注意到，在各行各业中，人们需要得最为迫切的并非是那些正规的行为模式。在通常情况下，某些人早已采用了这些常规方法，或者已经把它们纳入自己的学习计划或工作日程之中。相反地，我发现“剩余的这些人”所迫切需要的策划工作的模式才是目前最大的空白。无论这种思维方式多么的随心所欲和不正规，我们都要想方设法来证实和维护它。正式的讨论计划会议和大功率的用于制定规划的工具（例如工程软件）对人们当然大有裨益，但是，

参加会议讨论的人往往还需要开另一个会议—一个“信封背面”式的、查漏补缺的会议，在真正意义上充实这个工作计划、并将其置于控制之下。即使会议非常正规、组织有序，也往往遗漏一些关键性的问题。例如，正在实施的这个计划，其目的何在？或者在这些会议上，人们没有充裕的时间发表独创性的见解，而这些主意将会使这件工作趣味盎然，获利机会倍增。最后，这样的会议在针对整个计划的各个不同阶段决策下一步行动方案，以及确定具体的责任义务时，也丝毫不具备应有的严密性。 The greatest need I've seen in project thinking in the professional world is not for more formal models; usually the people who need those models already have them or can get them as part of an academic or professional curriculum. Instead, I've found the biggest gap to be the lack of a project-focusing model for "the rest of us." We need ways to validate and support our thinking, no matter how informal. Formal planning sessions and high-horsepower planning tools (such as project software) can certainly be useful, but too often the participants in a meeting will need to have another meeting—a back-of-the-envelope session—to actually get a piece of work fleshed out and under control. More formal and structured meetings also tend to skip over at least one critical issue, such as why the project is being done in the first place. Or they don't allow adequate time for brainstorming, the development of a bunch of ideas nobody's ever thought about that would make the project more interesting, more profitable, or just more fun. And finally, very few such meetings bring to bear sufficient rigor in determining action steps and accountabilities for the various aspects of a project plan. 有一种效果显著的思考方法，可以用于对付一切工作、形势和主题。这种方法只消耗最低程度的时间和精力，却能创造最高限度的价值。尽管它并非是我们熟知的那种常规的思维模式，但是，根据我的经验，人们计划做得越多，形式越随意自然，他们获得的效果就越理想，同时，还释放了大量的精神压力。它碰巧符合我们天生的思考和策划的习惯。 The good news is, there is a productive way to think about projects, situations, and topics that creates maximum value with minimal expenditure of time and effort. It happens to be the way we naturally think and plan, though not necessarily the way we normally plan when we consciously try to get a project under control. In my experience, when people do more planning, more informally and naturally, they relieve a great deal of stress and obtain better results. 自然式计划模式 The Natural Planning Model 世界上经验最丰富的计划家就是你的大脑。 The most experienced planner in the world is your brain. 对于世界上那个才华横溢、最具创造力的计划者，你早已经耳谙目熟了，这就是你的大脑。实际上，你自己就是一个生产计划的机器。当你穿衣，吃午饭，购物，或者仅仅是在与人侃侃而谈、高谈阔论时，你的大脑都在一刻不停地盘算着。尽管其过程可能毫无章法可言，但事实上在大脑闪现出任何一个具体的方案之前，一些相当复杂的步骤就已经抢先登场了。人的大脑只有经过 5 个步骤才能够完成任何一项任务： You're already familiar with the most brilliant and creative planner in the world: your brain. You yourself are actually a planning machine. You're planning when you get dressed, eat lunch, go to the store, or simply talk. Although the process may seem somewhat random, a quite complex series of steps in fact has to occur before your brain can make anything happen physically. Your

mind goes through five steps to accomplish virtually any task: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 1 2 3 4 5

定义目标和原则展望成果集思广益组织管理明确下一步的行动方案 Defining purpose and principles Outcome visioning Brainstorming Organizing Identifying next actions

一个简单的事例：计划出去吃饭 A Simple Example: Planning Dinner Out 你上一次出去吃饭时，最初的动机是什么？原因可能有很多：因为饥肠辘辘，或是朋友之间的社交活动，为了庆祝某一个特殊的日子，签订一笔生意的合同，或是为了谈情说爱。只要是出于上述的某一个原因，你就马上开始进行计划了。你的意愿就是你的目标，它自然而然地启动了你内心深处的计划过程。你的原则规定了你所作计划的界限。可能你自己并不一直注意到外出就餐的这些原则，但是你的思维却从来没有逾越这一边界：食物和服务的标准、支付能力、方便程度以及舒适度。无论如何，在制定计划时，你的目标和原则决定了你的动机和计划。 The last time you went out to dinner, what initially caused you to think about doing it? It could have been any number of things— the desire to satisfy hunger, socialize with friends, celebrate a special occasion, sign a business deal, or develop a romance. As soon as any of these turned into a real inclination that you wanted to move on, you started planning. Your intention was your purpose, and it automatically triggered your internal planning process. Your principles created the boundaries of your plan. You probably didn't consciously think about your principles regarding going out to dinner, but you thought within them: standards of food and service, affordability, convenience, and comfort all may have played a part. In any case, your purpose and principles were the defining impetus and boundaries of your planning. 一旦作出决定要实现这一目标，首先进入你脑海的实质性问题是什么呢？恐怕并不是 “计划，第二部分，第 1 点，第 3 小点”。你的第一批想法很可能是这样的事情，如“在餐厅吃意大利风味的晚餐”，或者“在比斯特罗咖啡馆街边的桌旁坐一坐”。你很可能还会想像出晚餐时的一些美好体验，或者设想一下晚餐的结局，也许你还想到了共同吃饭的人、气氛什么的，这就是你对结果的预期。当外出就餐的原因成为你的目的时，对晚餐进行的种种想像便成为你的展望。 Once you decided to fulfill your purpose, what were your first substantive thoughts? Probably not "point II.A.3.b. in plan." Your first ideas were more likely things like "Italian food at Giovanni's," or "Sitting at a sidewalk table at the Bistro Cafe." You probably also imagined some positive picture of what you might experience or how the evening would turn out—maybe the people involved, the atmosphere, and/or the outcome. That was your outcome visioning. Whereas your

purpose was the why of your going out to dinner, your vision was an image of the what—of the physical world's looking, sounding, and feeling the ways that best fulfilled your purpose. 一旦认同了这种展望，你的大脑便会自然而然地开始想些什么问题呢？我们应该几点出发？这家餐馆今天晚上营业吗？人会不会非常多？天气怎么样？是否应该换身衣服？汽油还够吗？现在饿不饿？这就是浮想联翩。一旦作出承诺要达到某一目标，在达到之前，你就会身不由己地向自己接二连三地发问。这些问题是这个创造性过程中的一个组成部分。当大脑意识到，在你设定的目标和你目前的状况之间存在着一定的差距，这时它会千方百计地弥补这一差距，以消除这种“认知不协调”，这就是自然式计划法中“如何……”这一阶段的起始点。但是，这种思考模式显示出一定的随意性。你会想到有关外出就餐方方面面的事情。当然，你不必把所有浮现在脑海里的事情逐一地写下来，但是，整个过程在你的大脑里却不断地重复着。① ( ① 如果你最要好的朋友最近取得了成功，而你负责为此举办一个庆祝活动，那么你头脑中可能浮现出的各种复杂烦琐的细节问题，至少会证明这种“信封背面”式思维的价值。) Once you'd identified with your vision, what did your mind naturally begin doing? What did it start to think about? "What time should we go?" "Is it open tonight?" "Will it be crowded?" "What's the weather like?" "Should we change clothes?" "Is there gas in the car?" "How hungry are we?" That was brainstorming. Those questions were part of the naturally creative process that happens once you commit to some outcome that hasn't happened yet. Your brain noticed a gap between what you were looking toward and where you actually were at the time, and it began to resolve that "cognitive dissonance" by trying to fill in the blanks. This is the beginning of the "how" phase of natural planning. But it did the thinking in a somewhat random and ad hoc fashion. Lots of different aspects of going to dinner just occurred to you. You almost certainly didn't need to actually write all of them down on a piece of paper, but you did a version of that process in your mind.* (*If, however, you were handling the celebration for your best friend's recent triumph, the complexity and detail that might accrue in your head should warrant at least the back of an envelope!) 一旦头脑里装满了大量的想法和细枝末节，你也就不由自主地开始了组织整理的工作。你会这样想，“首先，我们需要弄清楚那家餐厅是否开门营业”，或者“我们给安德森一家打个电话，看一看他们是否愿意同我们一同出去吃晚饭”。一旦你对相关的结果产生了各式各样的想法，大脑将自动地根据事情的组成要素、重要程度和事件发展的先后顺序，分门别类地进行归纳整理。组成要素是指“我们要考虑逻辑性问题、人员和地点方面的事宜”，重要程度是指“搞清楚大家是否愿意外出就餐是非常关键的”，先后顺序是指“首先，我们需要确认那家餐厅是否营业，然后给安德森一家打电话，接着更衣准备外出”。 Once you had generated a sufficient number of ideas and details, you couldn't help but start to organize them. You may have thought or said, "First we need to find out if the restaurant is open", or "Let's call the Andersons and see if they'd like to go out with us." Once you've generated various thoughts relevant to the outcome, your mind will automatically begin to sort them by components (subprojects), priorities, and/or sequences of events. Components would be: "We need to handle logistics, people, and location." Priorities would be: "It's critical to find out if the client really would like to go to dinner." Sequences would be: "First we need to check whether the restaurant is open, then call the Andersons, then get dressed."

最后，为了促使第一要素的顺利实现，你主要集中在下一步具体的行动方案上。“给苏珊娜餐厅打个电话，问问那里是否开门，然后预订一下座位。” Finally (assuming that you're really committed to the project—in this case, going out to dinner), you focus on the next action that you need to take to make the first component actually happen. "Call Suzanne's to see if it's open, and make the reservation." 每天你无论做什么事情，都会顺理成章地遇到工作计划中这 5 个不同的阶段。这就是你创造事物的途径……晚餐，一个轻松愉快的夜晚，一件新产品，或者一家新公司。你的内心里充满着促成某一件事情的冲动；你设想着可能的结局；你冒出一个又一个可能的想法；你把它们分析归纳整理，并纳入一个系统中去；你确定了一个具体的行动方案，着手把这个想法变为现实。你的一切举动自然而然地发生了，并没有给予过多的考虑。 These five phases of project planning occur naturally for everything you accomplish during the day. It's how you create things—dinner, a relaxing evening, a new product, or a new company. You have an urge to make something happen; you image the outcome; you generate ideas that might be relevant; you sort those into a structure; and you define a physical activity that would begin to make it a reality. And you do all of that naturally, without giving it much thought. 自然式计划法不一定就是常规做法 Natural Planning Is Not Necessarily Normal 但是，上面所描述的那种过程是否就是你的委员会策划教堂聆讯会的模式？你的团队是不是正在以这种方式动手安装一个新的系统？你是不是正遵循这个原则安排布置一个结婚典礼的？或者考虑可能出现的公司合并的问题呢？ But is the process described above the way your committee is planning the church retreat? Is it how your IT team is approaching the new system installation? Is it how you're organizing the wedding or thinking through the potential merger? 你是否已经详细地阐明了这项工作的主要意图？是否已经向每一个应该了解内情的人通报了情况？你们是否已经对即将采取的标准和行为达成了共识？遵循这些标准和行为将是计划成功的保障。 Have you clarified the primary purpose of the project and communicated it to everyone who ought to know it? And have you agreed on the standards and behaviors you'll need to adhere to to make it successful? 你最近是否预见到辉煌的胜利了？ Have you envisioned wild success lately? 你是否已经展望了成功的前景？是否已经考虑到了，如果目标实现将会带来什么样的变革？ Have you envisioned success and considered all the innovative things that might result if youachieved it? 你是否已经把所有的想法全都明明白白地摆在桌面上了—所有那些有可能影响到预期后果，而你又必须加以考虑的情况。

Have you gotten all possible ideas out on the table—everything you need to take into consideration that might affect the outcome? 你是否已经确定了所有至关重要的构成要素、重大事件和结果？你是否已经定义了那些目前可以开始投入运作的方方面面的事情了呢？每一方面的下一步行动是什么？具体由谁负责各个部分的环节呢？ Have you defined all the aspects of the project that could be moved on right now, what the next action is for each part, and who's responsible for what? 如果你如同我做教练或者咨询顾问时所接触到的大部分人一样，那么，你们共同的回答是：大概不能。在这种情况下，很有可能，你遗漏了自然式计划法中的某一些组成要素。 If you're like most people I interact with in a coaching or consulting capacity, the collective answer to these questions is, probably not. There are likely to be at least some components of the natural planning model that you haven't implemented. 在我所组织的几次学术研讨会上，我要求与会者运用这个计划模式进行实际操作：为目前的一项重要工作制定计划。他们仅花了几分钟的时间就完成了所有 5 个阶段的程序。与过去一直作出的艰苦努力相比，他们对目前取得的成绩深感震惊。后来，一位男士走过来告诉我：“我不知道我应该感谢你呢，还是应该感到气愤？我刚刚制定了一项商业计划，过去我一直告诉自己：这项工作至少要花上几个月的时间才能够完成，而现在我再也找不到借口逃避这件事了！” In some of my seminars I get participants to actually plan a current strategic project that uses this model. In only a few minutes they walk themselves through all five phases, and usually end up being amazed at how much progress they've made compared with what they have tried to do in the past. One gentleman came up afterward and told me, "I don't know whether I should thank you or be angry. I just finished a business plan I've been telling myself would take months, and now I have no excuses for not doing it!" 如果你愿意，现在就可以试一试。选择一项新任务，或者一项使你进退维谷的工作。考虑一下你的目的，想一想你希望得到的结果是什么：你将在物质、金钱、名望或者其他方面获取怎样的收益呢？动动脑筋，看看有什么可行的操作步骤。归纳你的想法，决定下一步的行动方案。到目前为止，你是否对你的目标以及如何达到这些目标更加心中有数了呢？ You can try it for yourself right now if you like. Choose one project that is new or stuck or that could simply use some improvement. Think of your purpose. Think of what a successful outcome would look like: where would you be physically, financially, in terms of reputation, or whatever? Brainstorm potential steps. Organize your ideas. Decide on the next actions. Are you any clearer about where you want to go and how to get there?

非自然式计划模式. The Unnatural Planning Model 为了突出自然式计划法在解决各种更加复杂的情况时所起到的重要作用，我们把它同一个更加“自然”的方式进行对比，后者更加广泛地为人们所采用，我称之为非自然式计划法。 To emphasize the importance of utilizing the natural planning model for the more complex things we're involved with, let's contrast it with the more "normal" model used in most

environments—what I call unnatural planning. 当“好主意”变成了一个坏主意时 When the "Good Idea" Is a Bad Idea 你是否听说过，一位经理在一次会议上满怀善意地发问道： “那么，谁能够想一个好办法解决这个问题呢？” Have you ever heard a well-intentioned manager start a meeting with the question, "OK, so who's got a good idea about this?" 这个假设是什么？在我们考虑对“好主意”的评估标准是否可以完全信赖之前，首先，我们必须明确这个提议的目的，清楚地勾勒出前景的轮廓，并收集（集思广益）和分析（组织管理）所有的相关资料。“什么是一个好主意呢？”本身就是一个绝妙的问题，但是，这是以你思考的程度达到 8 0 %时为前提的！而一开始就提出这个问题，很可能会扼杀任何人的创造力。 What is the assumption here? Before any evaluation of what's a "good idea" can be trusted, the purpose must be clear, the vision must be well defined, and all the relevant data must have been collected (brain-stormed) and analyzed (organized). "What's a good idea?" is a good question, but only when you're about 80 percent of the way through your thinking! Starting there would probably blow anyone's creative mental fuses. 如果你在产生任何想法之前，一直等待着冒出一个好主意来，那么，你就不会拥有许多想法了。 If you're waiting to have a good idea before you have any ideas, you won't have many ideas. 如果当你试图处理某一情况时，并不遵循大脑运作的自然规律，问题就不那么容易解决了。人们总是一直忙碌于处理各种各样的问题，但总是造成混乱不清、压力平添的局面。在与他人交流时，这往往导致为自负、偏见大开方便之门，使其最终取代了友好的讨论。如果你打算在定义目标、展望前景、网罗愚蠢想法之前就梦想得到一个“好主意”的话，那么，这往往只会阻碍你启动创造性的思维。 Trying to approach any situation from a perspective that is not the natural way your mind operates will be difficult. People do it all the time, but it almost always engenders a lack of clarity and increased stress. In interactions with others, it opens the door for egos, politics, and hidden agendas to take over the discussion (generally speaking, the most verbally aggressive will run the show). And if it's just you, attempting to come up with a "good idea" before defining your purpose, creating a vision, and collecting lots of initial bad ideas is likely to give you a case of creative constipation. 让我们把这一切都归罪于威廉斯夫人 Let's Blame Mrs. Williams 如果你同我们这个社会中大多数人的情况类似，你所接受过的有关计划和组织管理方面的正规训练也就是上小学 4 年级或者年级的时候。即使这并不是在这一领域中你所接受的惟一的教育，恐怕也算得上是最令人精神紧张的了（意思是对你打下计划和管理的基础产生最为深刻的影响）。

If you're like most people in our culture, the only formal training you've ever had in planning and organizing proactively was in the fourth or fifth grade. And even if that wasn't the only education you've had in this area, it was probably the most emotionally intense (meaning it sank in the deepest). 我 4 年级时的老师威廉斯夫人教授我们如何归纳组织我们的思想（这个内容属于她的教学计划范畴）。当时，我们学习如何写报告。为了写出一篇结构清晰的好报告，我们第一步必须怎么做呢？对了—起草一个提纲。 Mrs. Williams, my fourth-grade teacher, had to teach us about organizing our thinking (it was in her lesson plans). We were going to learn to write reports. But in order to write a well-organized, successful report, what did we have to write first? That's right— an outline! 只要你首先完成了报告，提纲当然就容易写出来了。 Outlines were easy, as long as you wrote the report first. 你是否也曾经必须这样做，首先草拟一个内容提纲呢？你是否也曾经一边愣愣地盯着你稿纸顶部的罗马数字冥思苦想，一边在心里盘算着：提前决定文章的结构和要点，这根本就应该是另一类人应该做的事情，而绝不是你。也许是这样吧？ Did you ever have to do that, create an outline to begin with? Did you ever stare at a Roman numeral I at the top of your page for a torturous period of time and decide that planning and organizing ahead of time were for people very different from you? Probably. 最终，我还是学会了写提纲。只不过是先完成报告，然后根据报告内容再编纂出一个提纲。 In the end, I did learn to write outlines. I just wrote the report first, then made up an outline from the report, after the fact. 这就是我们大多数人从现行的教育体制中学到的有关计划的知识。而且现在我仍然能够看到先出文章后出提纲的做法，这仅仅是为了讨好我们的上级。在商业圈里，这些提纲往往冠以“目标”和“目的”的称谓。但是，它们却同人们目前的所作所为毫无瓜葛。这些文件安静地躺在抽屉里和电子邮箱的某个角落里，对人们的现实生活和工作毫无影响。 That's what most people learned about planning from our educational system. And I still see outlines done after the fact, just to please the authorities. In the business world, they're often headed "Goals" and "Objectives." But they still have very little to do with what people are doing or what they're inspired about. These documents are sitting in drawers and in e-mails somewhere, bearing little relationship to operational reality.

反应式计划模式 The Reactive Planning Model 大多数人认为，非自然式计划方法才算得上是“计划”。并且由于这种方法往往不是遵循自然规律产生的，对实际工作的指导意义不大，因此，人们干脆放弃任何计划，至少不是在事情发展的前期进行的：人们往往等到会议、演讲和重大操作前的最后一分钟才开始慌里慌张地动手策划。

The unnatural planning model is what most people consciously think of as "planning," and because it's so often artificial and irrelevant to real work, people just don't plan. At least not on the front end: they resist planning meetings, presentations, and strategic operations until the last minute. 但是，如果你不是在事前进行考虑，结果又会是怎么样呢？在很多情况下，这将引发危机！（“你不是已经拿到票了吗？我以为你会处理那件事的！”）接着，当你陷入最后一分钟的紧急状态时，反应式计划模式就应运而生，不请自到了。行动！再加把劲！加班！更多的人手！忙晕了！这一局面令众多压力过重的人们不知所措。 But what happens if you don't plan ahead of time? In many cases, crisis! ("Didn't you get the tickets? I thought you were going to do that?!") Then, when the urgency of the last minute is upon you, the reactive planning model ensues. What's the first level of focus when the stuff hits the fan? Action! Work harder! Overtime! More people! Get busier! And a lot of stressed-out people are thrown at the situation.

当你发现自己身陷一个黑洞时，立刻停手，不要再继续挖了。 —威尔·罗杰斯（Will Rogers） When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. —Will Rogers 当这么多的人忙得昏天黑地却根本解决不了问题时，有人悟出了一点门道，说：“我们应该组织计划一下！”（现在明白了吗？）然后，人们在问题上勾勾画画地做标记；或者重新勾出问题，标记重点。 Then, when having a lot of busy people banging into each other doesn't resolve the situation, someone gets more sophisticated and says, "We need to get organized!" (Catching on now?) Then people draw boxes around the problem and label them. Or redraw the boxes and relabel them. 过了一阵儿，人们又意识到，仅仅重新勾勾圈划划线，实际上并无助于问题的解决。这时，更老练一些的人提议，我们需要更多的创新：“让我们一起开动脑筋，想想办法吧！” 于是趁大家都在房间里，老板发问了：“谁想出好主意了？”（谢谢你，威廉斯夫人。） At some point they realize that just redrawing boxes isn't really doing much to solve the problem. Now someone (much more sophisticated) suggests that more creativity is needed. "Let's brainstorm!" With everyone in the room, the boss asks, "So, who's got a good idea here?" (Thank you, Mrs. Williams.)

不要仅仅忙于做事情。站在那里想一想。 —罗谢尔·迈尔（Rochelle Myer ） Don't just do something. Stand there. —Rochelle Myer 当没有什么人开口作答时，老板又推测了：我的雇员们多半是黔驴技穷了，是该聘请一名顾问咨询一下的时候了！当然，如果这位顾问果真能力不凡的话，恐怕他迟早会提出这个最重要的问题：“那么，你们现在到底要做什么呢？”（前景和目标）。 When not much happens, the boss may surmise that his staff has used up most of its internal creativity. Time to hire a consultant! Of course, if the consultant is worth his salt, at some point he

is probably going to ask the big question: "So, what are you really trying to do here, anyway?" (vision,purpose). 反应式计划方法与自然式恰好相反，它总是能够回到自上而下的工作轨道上来的。这不是应不应该执行自然式计划方法的问题，而是什么时候执行，付出何种代价。 The reactive style is the reverse of the natural model. It will always come back to a top-down focus. It's not a matter of whether the natural planning will be done—just when, and at what cost.

自然式计划法的技巧：5 个阶段 Natural Planning Techniques: The Five Phases 虽然这是不言而喻的，但是在这里，还是需要重申一下：有效地推敲各项工作任务和形势，将能够推动事情的发展进程，并取得更佳的成效。因此，如果我们的大脑总是处于自然流畅的策划过程中，我们可以从中获得什么样的启示呢？我们如何才能够利用这种自然计划模式促使我们的思考过程结出更加丰硕的果实呢？ It goes without saying, but still it must be said again: thinking in more effective ways about projects and situations can make things happen sooner, better, and more successfully. So if our minds plan naturally anyway, what can we learn from that? How can we use that model to facilitate getting more and better results in our thinking? 让我们一起来研究一下自然式计划法的 5 个阶段，看看我们能够如何充分地利用它们。 Let's examine each of the five phases of natural planning and see how we can leverage these contexts. 目的 Purpose 问一问“为什么”这个问题你永远都不会受到任何损失的。如果你目前从事的所有事情在初始阶段都经过了细致周密的安排，那么它们都有机会进一步改进，甚至获得某种激励。你为什么打算参加下一次会议呢？你工作的中心意图是什么呢？你为什么请朋友们在你家的后院里烧烤聚餐呢？你为什么雇佣了一位市场营销经理呢？你为什么设立自己的预算呢？ It never hurts to ask the "why?" question. Almost anything you're currently doing can be enhanced and even galvanized by more scrutiny at this top level of focus. Why are you going to your next meeting? What's the purpose of your task? Why are you having friends over for a barbeque in the backyard? Why are you hiring a marketing director? Why do you have a budget?

当你已经忘却了自己的目标，却还一再加倍付出，这就叫做狂热。 -George Santayana Fanaticism consists of redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim. —George Santayana 我承认：这只不过是更高级些的基本常识。预先了解和掌握任何行为的目的，这将对理智清晰地分析问题，富于创造性地推动事情的发展，以及人们互相之间的通力协作具有重要的指导价值。然而，尽管道理众所周知，这种做法却没有为人们广泛地采用。这仅仅是因为创造新事物对于我们来说是一件轻而易举的事情，而且我们也同样轻而易举地就陷入自己所创造出的事物中难以自拔，致使我们真正的重要意图最终落空。 I admit it: this is nothing but advanced common sense. To know and to be clear about the purpose

of any activity are prime directives for clarity, creative development, and cooperation. But it's common sense that's not commonly practiced, simply because it's so easy for us to create things, get caught up in the form of what we've created, and let our connection with our real and primary intentions slip. 经过与众多经验丰富的人在其办公室共同度过了成千上万个小时后，我知道，我们决不能再对“为什么”这个问题等闲视之了。当我听到人们不断地报怨，要参加的会议实在太多，令人难以招架时，我必须亮出这个问题：“这些会议的目的是什么？”当他发问：“我应该邀请谁来参加安排计划呢？”我必须重申这个问题：“这些计划会议的目的是什么呢？”直到人们能够首先给我一个圆满的答复，否则，他们就无法针对自己的问题找出恰如其分的答案来。 I know, based upon thousands of hours spent in many offices with many sophisticated people, that the "why?" question cannot be ignored. When people complain to me about having too many meetings, I have to ask, "What is the purpose of the meetings?" When they ask, "Who should I invite to the planning session?" I have to ask, "What's the purpose of the planning session?" Until we have the answer to my questions, there's no possible way to come up with an appropriate response to theirs. 思考“为什么”这个问题的价值

The Value of Thinking About "Why"

下面仅仅是思考这个问题的某些好处： Here are just some of the benefits of asking "why?": * 界定成功 * 创造了决策标准 * 集结资源 * 激发动机 * 阐明重点 * 拓宽选择 * It defines success. * It creates decision-making criteria. * It aligns resources. * It motivates. * It clarifies focus. * It expands options. 人们喜欢赢。但如果你对你的行动目标不是一清二楚的话，你就失去了取胜的机会。 People love to win. If you're not totally clear about the purpose of what you're doing, you have no chance of winning. 现在，我们一项一项仔细地探讨一下。 Let's take a closer look at each of these in turn.

界定成功近一段时间以来，人们极度渴望“获胜”。我们热中于竞赛，而且渴望成功，或者至少处于有可能获胜的境地。如果你对自己做事的目标还不是一清二楚、心中有数的话，那你根本就没有获得成功的机会。目标界定了成功，这是你决定投入多少时间和精力时的一个

最为重要的参照点，无论是参加竞选某一个职位，还是设计某一种表格均是如此。 It Defines Success People are starved for "wins" these days. We love to play games, and we like to win, or at least be in a position where we could win. And if you're not totally clear about the purpose of what you're doing, you have no chance of winning. Purpose defines success. It's the primal reference point for any investment of time and energy, from deciding to run for elective office to designing a form.

庆祝自己取得的任何一点进步。而不要等待一切都变得完美无缺的时刻。 —安·麦吉·库珀（Ann McGee Cooper） Celebrate any progress. Don't *wait to get perfect. —Ann McGee Cooper 最终，除非你对一个员工会议的主题了如指掌，否则，你是无法感到轻松自如的。如果你解雇了市场的副经理，或聘用了一个炙手可热的工商管理硕士来担任你的总监，那么，你最好仔细考虑一下这样做的理由，以便应付董事会的提问。否则，你就休想睡一个安稳觉了。此外，你也不能够真正地确定你的商务计划是否切实可行，除非你把它与你所制定的成功标准进行了对比。而你这个成功标准的依据就是回答这个问题：“为什么我们需要这个商务计划呢？” Ultimately you can't feel good about a staff meeting unless you know what the purpose of the meeting was. And if you want to sleep well, you'd better have a good answer when your board asks why you fired your V.P. of marketing or hired that hotshot M.B.A. as your new finance director. You won't really know whether or not your business plan is any good until you hold it up against the success criterion that you define by answering the question "Why do we need a business plan?"

创造了决策标准当你面对这样的问题时，你是如何决策的呢？是多花一些钱印刷包含 5 种颜色的色彩艳丽的产品宣传小册子呢？还是凑合着用 2 种颜色的呢？是否值得雇佣一家规模较大的网络设计公司来负责你新开立的网站的设计工作呢？ It Creates Decision-Making Criteria How do you decide whether to spend the money for a five-color brochure or just go with a two-color? How do you know whether it's worth hiring a major Web design firm to handle your new Web site? 所有的一切最终都归结到目的上来。鉴于你试图达到的目标，这些资源投入是否是必不可少的？如果是，选择在哪几方面进行投资呢？如果目标尚未明确，后面的一切便不得而知了。 It all comes down to purpose. Given what you're trying to accomplish, are these resource investments required, and if so, which ones? There's no way to know until the purpose is clarified. 通常，作出一个艰难决策的惟一途径就是，回到目的上来。 Often the only way to make a hard decision is to come back to the purpose.

集结资源在公司预算中，我们应该如何支付安置员工的费用呢？目前，我们如何才能够最有效地周转现金以期在明年最大限度地稳固我们零售商的地位呢？我们是否应该在午餐上增加投入，或者把钱花在每月支付协会例会邀请演讲者的费用上呢？ It Aligns Resources How should we spend our staffing allocation in the corporate budget? How do

we best use the cash flow right now to maximize our viability as a retailer over the next year? Should we spend more money on the luncheon or the speakers for the monthly association meeting? 无论哪一种情况，对于问题的回答，都将视我们希望达到的目标而定，即：为什么。 In each case, the answer depends on what we're really trying to accomplish—the why.

激发动机事实上，如果提不出做某种事情的充分理由，那么它就根本不值得去做。但常常令我目瞪口呆的是：有很多人居然忘记了自己为什么要处理手头上的工作。其实，一个简单快捷的问题，如“你为什么这样做呢？”就可以把他们拉回到正确的轨道上来。 It Motivates Let's face it: if there's no good reason to be doing something, it's not worth doing. I'm often stunned by how many people have forgotten why they're doing what they're doing—and by how quickly a simple question like "Why are you doing that?" can get them back on track.

阐明重点当你紧紧抓住了你工作的真正目标时，一切就变得一目了然了。你只需花上 2 分钟时间写下你工作的主要原因，那么，你心目中希望创造的前景就会陡然清晰起来，就像用一架望远镜来聚集一般。那些日益变得零散而模糊不清的工作和形势，一经回答这一问题“我们到底希望达到什么样的目标呢”，又都立刻被拖回到正轨上来了。 It Clarifies Focus When you land on the real purpose for anything you're doing, it makes things clearer. Just taking two minutes and writing out your primary reason for doing something invariably creates an increased sharpness of vision, much like bringing a telescope into focus. Frequently, projects and situations that have begun to feel scattered and blurred grow clearer when someone brings it back home by asking, "What are we really trying to accomplish here?"

拓宽选择这似乎是自相矛盾的：当目标精确地定位了工作重心时，与此同时，它也开启了人们创造性思维的大门，来探寻更加广阔的可能性。当你确实了解到潜在的“为什么”时：为什么要开这个会议，为什么要组织员工聚会，为什么要取消这一层管理，或者为什么要进行合并，它便拓宽了你针对实现预期目标的思考范围。当人们在我组织的研讨会上描绘出某一项工作的目的时，他们通常这样写道：就像脑海中吹过了一阵清新的微风，工作的前景清晰地浮现在眼前。 It Expands Options Paradoxically, even as purpose brings things into pinpoint focus, it opens up creative thinking about wider possibilities. When you really know the underlying "why"—for the conference, for the staff party, for the elimination of the management position, or for the merger—it expands your thinking about how to make the desired result happen. When people write out their purpose for a project in my seminars, they often claim it's like a fresh breeze blowing through their mind, clarifying their vision of what they're doing. 如果你对自己的行动缺乏十足的把握，你就不可能尽力而为。 If you're not sure why you're doing something, you can never do enough of it. 你的目标是否清晰而具体呢？如果你切切实实地体验到了聚焦工作重心所带来的种种益处：动机充足、决策标准、资源集结和富于创造力，那么，你的目标就称得上足够详细而精确。然而，许多“目的陈述”往往含糊不清，无法产生理想的效果。比如， “建立一个运转良好的部门”这样的目标未免过于空泛。毕竟，什么才算是“一个运转良好的部门”呢？是指

一个人人干劲十足、合作有佳、积极主动的群体呢？还是指一个被纳入了预算的部门呢？换言之，如果你不能真正地认识到什么时候你已经达到了预期目标，什么时候你又偏离了正轨，你就不能拥有一个切实可行的行动向导。 Is your purpose clear and specific enough? If you're truly experiencing the benefits of a purpose focus—motivation, clarity, decision-making criteria, alignment, and creativity—then your purpose probably is specific enough. But many "purpose statements" are too vague to produce such results. "To have a good department," for example, might be too broad a goal. After all, what constitutes a "good department"? Is it a group of people who are highly motivated, collaborating in healthy ways, and taking initiative? Or is it a department that comes in under budget? In other words, if you don't really know when you've met your purpose or when you're off track, you don't have a viable directive. The question "How will I know when this is off-purpose?" must have a clear answer. 原则 Principles 你所遵循的标准和价值观，如同上述阐明的推动和指导工作发展进程的主要标准一样，具有同样的价值。尽管人们很少意识到这一点，也绝对无法动摇它们的存在。如果人们与自己所信奉的标准和观念背道而驰，其结果势必是劳而无功，而且令人心烦意乱、压力倍增。 Of equal value as prime criteria for driving and directing a project are the standards and values you hold. Although people seldom think about these consciously, they are always there. And if they are violated, the result will inevitably be unproductive distraction and stress. 你的原则是什么呢？完成下面这句话，你就找到了最佳答案：“我可以完全放手让别人去处理这件事情，只要他们……”—什么？哪些法纪或者原则可以适用于人们的行动呢？只要他们的费用不超过预算？让客户满意？保证建立起一个团结协作的团队？促进改善企业的形象？ A great way to think about what your principles are is to complete this sentence: "I would give others totally free rein to do this as long as they. . ."—what? What policies, stated or unstated, will apply to your group's activities? "As long as they stayed within budget"? "satisfied the client"? "ensured a healthy team"? "promoted a positive image"?

简单清楚的目标和原则可以激发复杂而机智的行动。复杂烦琐的规则和条例将导致简单而愚昧的行动。 —迪伊·霍克（Dee Hock ） Simple, clear purpose and principles give rise to complex and intelligent behavior. Complex rules and regulations give rise to simple and stupid behavior. —Dee Hock 如果别人的行为超越了你设立的标准，或者容忍这样的行为存在，那么，这就是产生重重压力的一个主要原因了。如果你从来不需要为这类事情操心，那你真是得到了上天恩典。如果你需要面对和处理这类情况，那么，主动与别人交流沟通，和澄清这些原则将有助于集聚力量，防止不必要的抵触和冲突。你很可能以问自己这样一个问题作为起步：“是什么行为阻碍了我正在进行的工作呢？我怎样才能防止这类情况的出现呢？”这个问题是帮助你界定即将设立的标准的一个良好起点。

It can be a major source of stress when others engage in or allow behavior that's outside your standards. If you never have to deal with this issue, you're truly graced. If you do, some constructive conversation about and clarification of principles could align the energy and prevent unnecessary conflict. You may want to begin by asking yourself, "What behavior might undermine what I'm doing, and how can I prevent it?" That will give you a good starting point for defining your standards. 重视原则的另一个重要原因是：它们明确了积极有效行为的含义，并为此提供了参照点。你希望或者需要如何同别人携手合作才能够保障获取成功呢？当你付诸行动时，自己是否正处于最佳状态呢？ Another great reason for focusing on principles is the clarity and reference point they provide for positive conduct. How do you want or need to work with others on this project to ensure its success? You yourself are at your best when you're acting how? 当目标赋予我们十足的干劲和导向时，原则界定了我们行动的限制因素，以及成功的标准。 Whereas purpose provides the juice and the direction, principles define the parameters of action and the criteria for excellence of behavior. 前景/结果 Vision/Outcome 为了能够最富有成效地利用你可以获取的资源，无论是那些你已经意识到了的资源，还是尚未认知的，在你的大脑里都必须清楚地勾勒出一幅成功的蓝图：成功将是一番什么样的景象？听上去会怎样？有什么的感觉呢？目标和原则提供了动机和监控手段，而前景则是描绘最终成果的一个现实的蓝图。这就是一个“什么”的问题，而不是“为什么”的问题。当这项工作或者形势成功地呈现在这个真实的世界上时，到底会是怎样一番景象？ In order most productively to access the conscious and unconscious resources available to you, you must have a clear picture in your mind of what success would look, sound, and feel like. Purpose and principles furnish the impetus and the monitoring, but vision provides the actual blueprint of the final result. This is the "what?" instead of the "why?" What will this project or situation really be like when it successfully appears in the world? 例如，研修班的学员毕业后，将在实际工作中灵活地运用所学技能。比如，在上一个财政年度中，东北区域内市场份额占有率增加了 2 个百分点。又比方，你的女儿已经十分清楚你针对她大学第一个学期中的方方面面所提供的指导和帮助。这些都是明白成功所指的范例。 For example, graduates of your seminar are demonstrating consistently applied knowledge of the subject matter. Market share has increased 2 percent within the northeastern region over the last fiscal year. Your daughter is clear about your guidelines and support for her first semester in college. 聚焦的力量 The Power of Focus 自从 2 0 世纪 6 0 年代以来，成千上万的书籍详尽地论述了恰当地创造积极的竞争和集

中精力的重要价值。展望前景式的聚焦甚至还成为了奥林匹克运动会这一级别训练中的一个关键性要素。运动员们不断地想像着艰苦的努力、充沛的精力以及获取的胜利，以确保他们能够获得最大的精神动力，将水平发挥得淋漓尽致。 Since the 1960s thousands of books have expounded on the value of appropriate positive imagery and focus. Forward-looking focus has even been a key element in Olympic-level sports training, with athletes imagining the physical effort, the positive energy, and the successful result to ensure the highest level of unconscious support for their performance. 我们明白，我们头脑中所坚持不懈地遵循的信念，能够影响我们观察到的事物以及我们的具体表现。这一点无论是在高尔夫球场上还是在员工会议上，或者是当你同配偶进行一次严肃的谈话时，都得到了实践的验证。我的兴趣在于，提供一种具有实用价值的集中精力的模式，特别是在考虑工作时。 We know that the focus we hold in our minds affects what we perceive and how we perform. This is as true on the golf course as it is in a staff meeting or during a serious conversation with a spouse. My interest lies in providing a model for focus that is dynamic in a practical way, especially in project thinking.

想像力比知识更重要。 —阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦 Imagination is more important than knowledge. —Albert Einstein 当你把精力聚焦于某一件事情上时：你打算去度假，你正要去参加一个会议，或者正在紧锣密鼓地筹备新产品的发布，这种精力集中即刻便产生了灵感和思维模式，而这是你利用其他方式所无法达到的效果。甚至在你的大脑中，也会对这一景象产生反应，误以为这些就是事实。 When you focus on something—the vacation you're going to take, the meeting you're about to go into, the product you want to launch—that focus instantly creates ideas and thought patterns you wouldn't have had otherwise. Even your physiology will respond to an image in your head as if it were reality.

复杂的激活体系 1957 年 5 月出版的《科学美国人》（Scientific A m e r i c a n ）杂志中刊登了一篇文章，介绍人类发现在大脑基层中有一种网状组织。这种网状组织实际上就是连通你自身意识的途径，如同电源开关一般，启动着你对思想和数据的感知活动。这种组织既可以使你在悠扬悦耳的旋律中昏然入睡，又可以让隔壁房间婴儿的啼哭声把你再度唤醒。 The Reticular Activating System The May 1957 issue of Scientific American contained an article describing the discovery of the reticular formation at the base of the brain. The reticular formation is basically the gateway to your conscious awareness; it's the switch that turns on your perception of ideas and data, the thing that keeps you asleep even when music's playing but wakes you if a special little baby cries in another room. 你的大脑就像一台电脑，拥有搜索的功能，但是，它又比电脑的效率更高。我们冥思苦想的事物，特别是那些我们认同的情况，似乎都已经被编成了程序，输入了大脑之中。一般来说，我们只会注意到那些符合我们自身的内在信仰体系及兴趣点的事物。比如，如果你是

一名验光师，你往往对那些戴着眼镜穿过拥挤不堪房间的人格外留意；如果你是一名建筑承包商，你很可能更关心房间构造的细节；如果你现在专注于红颜色的研究，那么，环视一圈你周围的环境，如果存在着红色的话，即使是微乎其微的一点点，也逃不出你的眼睛。 Just like a computer, your brain has a search function—but it's even more phenomenal than a computer's. It seems to be programmed by what we focus on and, more primarily, what we identify with. It's the seat of what many people have referred to as the paradigms we maintain. We notice only what matches our internal belief systems and identified contexts. If you're an optometrist, for example, you'll tend to notice people wearing eyeglasses across a crowded room; if you're a building contractor, you may notice the room's physical details. If you focus on the color red right now and then just glance around your environment, if there is any red at all, you'll see even the tiniest bits of it. 这种过滤功效的内在意义—如何使我们在无意识中认识到这些信息，足足可以开上一个星期的研讨会来进行探讨。需要说明的是：当你的大脑中产生了一个清晰的映像，描绘出你所渴求的事物，并且专注于这个事物时，这就能够自然而然地在你的头脑中产生一种奇特的力量。 The implications of how this filtering works—how we are unconsciously made conscious of information—could fill a weeklong seminar. Suffice it to say that something automatic and extraordinary happens in your mind when you create and focus on a clear picture of what you want.

自发的创造机制是以目的论为根据的。它是遵循着目标和成果而运作的。一旦你为它设立了明确的目标，你就可以依赖它的自助导航系统引导你达到这个目标。这要比你完全凭借自己的意识思维效果好得多。“你”通过思考最终结果为它提供一个目标。那么，你的自动系统凭借什么来提供手段呢？ —麦克斯韦·莫尔茨（Maxwell Maltz） Your automatic creative mechanism is teleological. That is, it operates in terms of goals and end results. Once you give it a definite goal to achieve, you can depend upon its automatic guidance system to take you to that goal much better than "you" ever could by conscious thought. "You" supply the goal by thinking in terms of end results. Your automatic mechanism then supplies the means whereby. —Maxwell Maltz 阐明结果 Clarifying Outcomes 你那富有感知力的过滤装置是如何运转的呢？认识到这一点，你将从中发现一个简朴却意义深远的原理：直到亲眼看到自己做这件事，你才能够对其运作方法有所了解。 There is a simple but profound principle that emerges from understanding the way your perceptive filters work: you won't see how to do it until you see yourself doing it. 如果某种情况曾经发生过，或者你曾经有过这种成功的体验，那么，预测再次出现类似的情景将不会是十分困难的。然而，如果这意味着一个全新而陌生的领域，设想自己融入这样一种成功的画面中，就可能会是一个极大的挑战。也就是说，对于某一事物的实际情况在你手中并没有掌握着一些可靠的参照点，同时，对于自己是否有能力促成这一事件也毫无经验可谈。

It's easy to envision something happening if it has happened before or you have had experience with similar successes. It can be quite a challenge, however, to identify with images of success if they represent new and foreign territory— that is, if you have few reference points about what an event might actually look like and little experience of your own ability to make it happen. 通常，在你促使事物在现实生活中发生以前，你需要首先在大脑中进行构思。 You often need to make it up in your mind before you can make it happen in your life. 我们当中有许多人都畏缩不前，根本不去设想我们渴望达到的结果，除非有人能够告诉我们应该怎样去做。令人遗憾的是，这就意味着，我们在运用大脑认知力和创造解决问题的方法方面仍然处于滞后状态。 Many of us hold ourselves back from imaging a desired outcome unless someone can show us how to get there. Unfortunately, that's backward in terms of how our minds work to generate and recognize solutions and methods. 在知识工作的领域中，最有效的技能之一就是创造出清晰可见的结果，这也是我们需要进行艰苦磨练的重要技能之一。这一点并非听上去那样简单。我们需要在各个不同的层面上不断地对我们试图达到的目标加以界定，此外，还要持之以恒地对可以获取的资源进行重新划分，以期以最高的效率完成这些工作。 One of the most powerful skills in the world of knowledge work, and one of the most important to hone and develop, is creating clear outcomes. This is not as self-evident as it may sound. We need to constantly define (and redefine) what we're trying to accomplish on many different levels, and consistently reallocate resources toward getting these tasks completed as effectively and efficiently as possible.

我总是希望成为一个名人。我应该更加明确自己的目标。 —莉莉·汤姆林（Lily Tomlin） I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific. —Lily Tomlin 当目标实现了之后，又是怎样的一番景象呢？你希望客户在听了你的报告之后有什么样的感受？你希望他了解到哪些情况采取哪些行动？从现在算起，3 年后，你的事业将有何发展？一个财政部门理想的副经理将会把工作进行到何种程度？你的网站目前到底是何种尊容？如果它达到了你心目中确立的目标，那又应该拥有什么样的实际功效呢？ What will this project look like when it's done? How do you want the client to feel, and what do you want him to know and do, after the presentation? Where will you be in your career three years from now? How would the ideal V.P. of finance do his job? What would your Web site really look like and have as capabilities if it could be the way you wanted it? 对结果和前景的展望可能以各种形式呈现出来。它可能是对某一项工作的一句简单的描述，如“落实安排计算机系统”，也可能是一部电影脚本，描述了未来的某一场景，辞藻华丽，内容翔实。下面是展望前景的 3 个基本步骤： Outcome/vision can range from a simple statement of the project, such as "Finalize computer-system implementation," to a completely scripted movie depicting the future scene in all

its glorious detail. Here are three basic steps for developing a vision: 1.在限定的期限之前，考虑这项工作。 2.想像“大获全胜”的景象。（暂时中止 “是的，但是……”） 3.捕捉你想像中应该到位的各种特点、各个方面和品质。 1 View the project from beyond the completion date. 2 Envision "WILD SUCCESS"! (Suspend "Yeah, but. . .") 3 Capture features, aspects, qualities you imagine in place. 当我要求人们全身心地设想一下工作取得进展后的成功情景时，在通常情况下，他们都感到高度兴奋、热情洋溢，同时突发一些奇妙的想法，这些都是他们以前从未感受到的。 “如果……那不是太棒了吗？”这个问题似乎是启动思考某一情况的一种良好开端，至少，坚持这个问题一段时间后，它可以有助于你获得一个答案。 When I get people to focus on a successful scenario of their project, they usually experience heightened enthusiasm and think of something unique and positive about it that hadn't occurred to them before. "Wouldn't it be great if. . ." is not a bad way to start thinking about a situation, at least for long enough to have the option of getting an answer. 集思广益 Brainstorming 一旦你知道你希望发生的情况及其原因，“如何实现”这一无意识的生理连贯反应便开始发挥其作用了。当你对头脑中浮现出的、不同于你目前现状的设想表示认同时，你就会情不自禁地开始弥补这一差距，或者开动脑筋。这时，一些想法便会跌跌撞撞地窜入你的头脑中，毫无章法可循—琐碎的、重要的、普通的或是绝妙的。对于大多数人来说，当他们处理大部分事情时，在他们的内心深处往往不断地上演着这一幕，而这也就绰绰有余了。例如，当你下楼准备到大厅里向老板汇报时，你一边走着，一边盘算着自己该说些什么。但是，还存在着另外一些情况。当你把这些信息记录下来，或者以某种外在的形式捕捉住它们，这势必将极大地提高工作效率，启发你的思维。 Once you know what you want to have happen, and why, the "how" mechanism is brought into play. When you identify with some picture in your mind that is different from your current reality, you automatically start filling in the gaps, or brainstorming. Ideas begin to pop into your head in somewhat random order—little ones, big ones, not-so-good ones, good ones. This process usually goes on internally for most people about most things, and that's often sufficient. For example, you think about what you want to say to your boss as you're walking down the hall to speak to her. But there are many other instances when writing things down, or capturing them in some external way, can give a tremendous boost to productive output and thinking.

获得一个好主意的最佳途径是拥有许多的想法。 —莱纳斯·波林（Linus Pauling） The best way to get a good idea is to get lots of ideas. —Linus Pauling 你的大脑希望填补存在于这里和那里之间的空白，不过其行动毫无顺序可言。 Your mind wants to fill in the blanks between here and there, but in somewhat random order.

捕捉住你的想法 Capturing Your Ideas 在过去的几十年里，人们运用图形启发思维的技巧，帮助人们针对某些工作和主题进行创造性思维。这些技巧包括心智计划法（m i n d - m a p p i n g ）、集结法（c l u s t e r i n g）、仿制法（p a t t e r n i n g ）、结网法（w e b b i n g ）以及鱼骨法（f i s h b o n i n g）。尽管这些方法的创始者都把自己的模式描绘得与众不同，但是，对于大多数最终用户而言，他们的基本前提都是大同小异的，即允许自己捕捉到并表达任何一个念头，稍后再去考虑是否符合需要及如何操作。如果没有别的什么办法，这一做法可以显著地提高工作效率。当你的心头涌上一个念头时，你就紧紧地抓住不放，这就意味着你不必再去冥思苦想地搜罗“主意” 了。 Over the last few decades, a number of graphics-oriented brainstorming techniques have been introduced to help develop creative thinking about projects and topics. They've been called things like mind-mapping, clustering, patterning, webbing, and fish-boning. Although the authors of these various processes may portray them as being different from one another, for most of us end-users the basic premise remains the same: give yourself permission to capture and express any idea, and then later on figure out how it fits in and what to do with it. If nothing else (and there is plenty of "else"), this practice adds to your efficiency—when you have the idea, you grab it, which means you won't have to go "have the idea" again. 在这些技巧中，使用最为普遍的一种是“心智计划法”。这个名字是由英国一位专门从事大脑功能方面研究的学者托尼·布赞（Tony Buzan）发明的。他把大脑突发奇想的这一过程归纳为图解形式。运用心智计划法时，往往把核心想法放置于中心位置，而由此产生的各种相关的想法和念头则随意、不拘形式地任意散落在其周围。比如，如果我决定搬迁办公室，我很可能考虑到我的电脑，要更换名片，所有需要调整的电路，购买新的办公家具，办理电话转移，做一次全面的大扫除，物品打包装箱等。如果我用图形的方法来表示这些想法，大概会是下面的这个样子： The most popular of these techniques is called mind-mapping, a name coined by Tony Buzan, a British researcher in brain functioning, to label this process of brainstorming ideas onto a graphic format. In mind-mapping, the core idea is presented in the center, with associated ideas growing out in a somewhat free-form fashion around it. For instance, if I found out that I had to move my office, I might think about computers, changing my business cards, all the connections I'd have to change, new furniture, moving the phones, purging and packing, and so on. If I captured these thoughts graphically it might start to look something like this:

你可以把这种心智计划记在即时贴上、再贴在白板上，或者输入文字处理软件中，或者干脆在电脑中勾勒出整个的计划。 You could do this kind of mind-mapping on Post-its that could be stuck on a whiteboard, or you could input ideas into a word processor or outlining program on the computer. 认知分布 Distributed Cognition 有关外部集思广益的最大优点在于，它不仅能够捕捉到新颖独特、富于创意的想法，还能够启发你产生一些更多的好主意。如果你缺乏这样的一个系统来辅助你保存和回顾这些想法，很有可能你的新思维就烟消云散了。这就如同你的大脑在说：“喂，我可以给你提供许多的好主意，但前提是你自己有能力对它们加以有效利用。如果你找不到一个安全可靠的地方来存放它们，那我就不会给你提供那么多的主意了。但是，如果你确确实实在应用这些想法，即使是暂时记录下来以备日后评估，那么，我也先给你一批！好极了！噢！这让我又想起了一个，又想起了另外一个。” The great thing about external brainstorming is that in addition to capturing your original ideas, it can help generate many new ones that might not have occurred to you if you didn't have a mechanism to hold your thoughts and continually reflect them back to you. It's as if your mind were to say, "Look, I'm only going to give you as many ideas as you feel you can effectively use. If you're not collecting them in some trusted way, I won't give you that many. But if you're actually doing something with the ideas—even if it's just recording them for later evaluation—then here, have a bunch! And, oh wow! That reminds me of another one, and another," etc.

没有什么比你只拥有一个想法更危险的事情了。 —埃米尔·查特（Emile Chartier） Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it is the only one you have. —Emile Chartier

心理学家把这个过程以及类似的过程归纳为“认知分布”。它把信息从你的大脑中清理出去，放进一个客观的并且可以经常回顾的模板之中。然而，我中学的英语教师虽然不了解这个理论，但是他仍然指出了关键所在。“戴维，”他说，“你今后要读大学，要写文章。把所有的笔记和摘录分别写在不同的小卡片上。然后，当你准备开始组织你的思想时，就把这些卡片摊在地板上，分析它们的结构，检查自己缺少了什么内容。”埃德蒙森先生教给了我自然式计划模式的主要内容！ Psychologists are beginning to label this and similar processes "distributed cognition." It's getting things out of your head and into objective, reviewable formats. But my English teacher in high school didn't have to know about the theory to give me the key: "David," he said, "you're going to college, and you're going to be writing papers. Write all your notes and quotes on separate three-by-five cards. Then, when you get ready to organize your thinking, just spread them all out on the floor, see the structure, and figure out what you're missing." Mr. Edmundson was teaching me a major piece of the natural planning model! 如果缺少一些客观的系统和工具，几乎没有人能够较长时间地把精力集中在某一个主题上，超不过几分钟。现在，你可以选择一个重要的工作尝试一下，是否在 6 0 秒钟以后，你还能够聚精会神地考虑这个问题，而不产生其他任何的私心杂念呢？实际上，这是相当困难的。除非你手里拿着笔和纸，把它们作为“人工的认知工具”来理清你的思路。接着，这种状态可以持续数个小时。这也就说明了，为什么当你在电脑上处理某一项工作的文件时，会自然地引发一些奇思妙想。当你把头脑中的构思随手记在一个方方正正的小记事本上，或是一家时髦餐厅的桌布上，或者仅仅当你是在房间里与其他人共同讨论这一主题，手中拿着工具时（一个白板上和一支好用的标记笔也管用），也会诞生一些奇妙绝伦的好主意。 Few people can hold their focus on a topic for more than a couple of minutes, without some objective structure and tool or trigger to help them. Pick a big project you have going right now and just try to think of nothing else for more than sixty seconds. This is pretty hard to do unless you have a pen and paper in hand and use those "cognitive artifacts" as the anchor for your ideas. Then you can stay with it for hours. That's why good thinking can happen while you're working on a computer document about a project, mind-mapping it on a legal pad of on a paper tablecloth in a hip restaurant, or just having a meeting about it with other people in a room that allows you to hold the context (a whiteboard with nice wet markers really helps there, too).

只有那些轻松自如地对付自己想法的人，才能够驾驭这些想法。只有能够驾驭自己观点的人，才不会沦落为观点的奴隶。 —林语堂 Only he who handles his ideas lightly is master of his ideas, and only he who is master of his ideas is not enslaved by them. —Lin Yutang 开动脑筋的关键技巧 Brainstorming Keys 有许多技巧都可以用来启动思维，强化打破常规的思考模式。这些基本原则可以归纳为以下 3 点： * 不判断，不质疑，不评估，不批判。

* 追求数量，不求质量。 * 把分析组织工作置于次要的位置上。 Many techniques can be used to facilitate brainstorming and out of-the-box thinking. The basics principles, however, can be summed up as follows: * Don't judge, challenge, evaluate, or criticize. * Go for quantity, not quality. * Put analysis and organization in the background.

不判断，不质疑，不评估，不批判非自然式计划模式很可能在你开动脑筋时抬头作怪，令人们立即产生不成熟的评判，萌生否决的念头。即使你心里对某一个批评家的观点留有一点点余地的话，你也会在搜寻恰当的辞令时对自己百般地挑剔责难。在集思广益的同时，注意使其不脱离主题，这与压制创造力之间还是有区别的。把开动脑筋纳入整个计划过程的大框架之中也同样具有重要性。若是为了开动脑筋而开动脑筋，似乎过于迂腐。如果你能够领会目前行动的实质，一段时间以后，一定会为自己恰如其分的处理而感到欣慰不已。 Don't Judge, Challenge, Evaluate, or Criticize It's easy for the unnatural planning model to rear its ugly head in brainstorming, making people jump to premature evaluations and critiques of ideas. If you care even slightly about what a critic thinks, you'll censure your expressive process as you look for the "right" thing to say. There's a very subtle distinction between keeping brainstorming on target with the topic and stifling the creative process. It's also important that brainstorming be put into the overall context of the planning process, because if you think you're doing it just for its own sake, it can seem trite and inappropriately off course. If you can understand it instead as something you're doing right now, for a certain period, before you move toward a resolution at the end, you'll feel more comfortable giving this part of the process its due. 了解事物本质的一个出色的方法就是排除其他可能的情况。 A good way to find out what something might be is to uncover ail the things it's probably not. 这并不是鼓励你把批评意见拒之于千里之外，尽管在这个阶段，一切都应该是公正合理的。而这样做只不过是更明智一些：了解你现在拥有的各种想法，并把它们最大限度地妥善保管起来，以备不时之需。因此，最重要的标准一定是扩展，而不是压缩。 This is not to suggest that you should shut off critical thinking, though—everything ought to be fair game at this stage. It's just wise to understand what kinds of thoughts you're having and to park them for use in the most appropriate way. The primary criterion must be expansion, not contraction.

追求数量，不求质量追求数量可以促使你的思维不断地延展、扩充。在通常情况下，你并不明白什么才算得上是奇妙的想法，除非你已经找到一个。有时，你是在过了一段时间之后，才可能意识到这是一个适当可行的计划，或者仅仅是计划的雏形。就像在一家大商场购物时，货品琳琅满目、百里挑一的感觉实在是太美妙了。这对于制定工作计划也同样适用。你手头拥有的想法越多，也就为选择创造了更加广阔的空间，你也就会更加信赖自己所作出的选择。 Go for Quantity, Not Quality Going for quantity keeps your thinking expansive. Often you won't know what's a good idea until you have it. And sometimes you'll realize it's a good idea, or the germ of one, only later on. You know how shopping at a big store with lots of options lets you feel comfortable about your choice? The same holds true for project thinking. The greater the volume of thoughts you have to work with, the better the context you can create for developing options

and trusting your choices.

把分析组织工作置于次要的位置上分析、组织管理和评估各式各样的想法，应该如同打破常规的创造性思维一样，获得最大限度的自由。我的意思是在开动脑筋、集思广益的阶段，批评责难绝不值得提倡。 Put Analysis and Organization in the Background Analysis and evaluation and organization of your thoughts should be given as free a rein as creative out-of-the-box thinking. But in the brainstorming phase, this critical activity should not be the driver. 开列一张清单也可以是一种富有创造力的活动—考虑如何选择你工作团队中的队员，用户对软件有何种要求，或者商业计划的组成要素等。记住，你一定要确保紧紧抓住了这一切，直到你步入下一个阶段，即取其精华、去其糟粕，组织管理工作的重心。 Making a list can be a creative thing to do, a way to consider the people who should be on your team, the customer requirements for the software, or the components of the business plan. Just make sure to grab all that and keep going until you get into the weeding and organizing of focus that make up the next stage. 组织协调 Organizing 如果你已经彻底清空了在开动脑筋阶段存储在大脑中的一切内容，一个组织管理的过程就此水到渠成了。如同我中学英语老师建议的那样，一旦你把头脑中的一切想法清除出去，一目了然地全部摆在你面前，你将自然而然地发现它们之间存在的联系和结构。这也就是当大多数人谈论“工作计划”时所经常提到的情况。 If you've done a thorough job of emptying your head of all the things that came up in the brainstorming phase, you'll notice that a natural organization is emerging. As my high school English teacher suggested, once you get all the ideas out of your head and in front of your eyes, you'll automatically notice natural relationships and structure. This is what most people are referring to when they talk about "project plans." 通常情况下，当你明确了主要和次要因素、先后次序以及事物的重要程度时，组织管理便不请自到了。哪些事情必须到位之后才能够获取最终的结果？它们必须按照什么样的次序发生呢？确保工作顺利实现的最重要的因素是什么呢？ Organizing usually happens when you identify components and subcomponents, sequences or events, and/or priorities. What are the things that must occur to create the final result? In what order must they occur? What is the most important element to ensure the success of the project? 在这一阶段，你可以充分利用各式各样的工具，可以是在信封背面简单随意地画上一些加重点符号，也可以是某些工作计划软件，如微软的 P r o j e c t 。当某一项工作需要得到实际、客观的控制时，你需要一个标明了主要和次要因素的、层次分明的工作大纲，以及一个甘特式设计图表（G A N T T-type chart）。随着时间的推移，在上面注明工作的发展进程，以及一些相对独立的或与之相关的事件，并明确它们与整个计划之间的相互关系。 This is the stage in which you can make good use of structuring tools ranging from informal bullet points, scribbled literally on the back of an envelope, to project-planning software like Microsoft Project. When a project calls for substantial objective control, you'll need some type of hierarchical outline with components and subcomponents, and/or a GANTT-type chart showing

stages of the project laid out over time, with independent and dependent parts and milestones identified in relationship to the whole. 一个“工作计划”确认了更细微的成果，紧接着这些成果又自然而然地得到了安排。 A "project plan" identifies the smaller outcomes, which can then be naturally planned. 创造性思维并非到此就结束了，它仅仅是转换成了另一种形式。一旦对某一个基础的结构问题有所察觉，你的大脑就会跃跃欲试去“填补这一差距”。举一个例子，在处理某一项工作时，如果你发现 3 个主要问题，很可能，你又会接连不断地挖掘出一个又一个的问题，在你面前排成一串。 Creative thinking doesn't stop here; it just takes another form. Once you perceive a basic structure, your mind will start trying to "fill in the blanks." Identifying three key things that you need to handle on the project, for example, may cause you to think of a fourth and a fifth when you see them all lined up. 组织管理的基本要素 The Basics of Organizing 关键步骤如下： 1. 明确意义重大的事件 2. 按照（下面一个或多个标准）排序 * 构成因素 * 先后顺序 * 重要程度 3. 必要程度的详述 The key steps here are: * Identify the significant pieces. * Sort by (one or more): * components * sequences * priorities * Detail to the required degree. 我从未见到过任何两项工作需要完全相同的管理模式。但是，几乎所有的工作都可以发挥左侧大脑中的某种创造能力，并提出这一问题—“计划到底是什么？” I have never seen any two projects that needed to have exactly the same amount of structure and detail developed in order to get things off people's minds and moving successfully. But almost all projects can use some form of creative thinking from the left side of the brain, along the lines of "What's the plan?" 下一步行动 Next Actions 计划工作的最后一个阶段，归根到底就是决定如何分配和再分配自然资源，以便真正地推动工作的发展进程。这里提出的问题是“下一步做什么”。 The final stage of planning comes down to decisions about the allocation and reallocation of

physical resources to actually get the project moving. The question to ask here is, "What's the next action?" 我们在前面一章已经注意到了，这种思维方式建立在实事求是的基础上，阐明预期达到的目的。它是构成“知识工作”的关键性因素。根据我以往的经验，所谓工作计划，其内容的 9 0 %是指开列出一个清单，标明你真正的工作，并且坚持不懈地控制每一项任务所需要采取的下一步行动。这种“跑道水平”的处理方法将促使你“真城坦率”地面对一切：你是否真心实意地打算要处理这件事？由谁负责？你把问题都彻底考虑清楚了吗？ As we noted in the previous chapter, this kind of grounded, reality-based thinking, combined with clarification of the desired outcome, forms the critical component of knowledge work. In my experience, creating a list of what your real projects are and consistently managing your next action for each one will constitute 90 percent of what is generally thought of as project planning. This "runway level" approach will make you "honest" about all kinds of things: Are you really serious about doing this? Who's responsible? Have you thought things through enough? 在某种情况下，如果一项工作具有可操作性，其下一步行动方案就必须予以落实。如果你感到无事可做时，干脆问你自己这样一个问题：对于这件事情，你打算具体做些什么呢？你的回答可以检验你对于这项工作是否已经深思熟虑了。如果你现在还无法作答，这表明你在自然式计划法某一个前期阶段的工作还有待进一步的充实和提高。 At some point, if the project is an actionable one, this next action decision must be made.(You can also plan nonactionable projects and not need a next action—for example, designing your dream house. The lack of a next action by default makes it a "someday/maybe" project. . . and that's fine for anything of that nature.) Answering the question about what specifically you would do about something physically if you had nothing else to do will test the maturity of your thinking about the project. If you're not yet ready to answer that question, you have more to flesh out at some prior level in the natural planning sequence. 基本要素

The Basics

* 针对当前这项工作的每一个行进中的环节，决策下一步的行动。 * 如果有必要的话，在计划过程中就决定下一步的行动方案。 * Decide on next actions for each of the current moving parts of the project. * Decide on the next action in the planning process, if necessary.

激活“运行中的环节” 如果人们在前期阶段判定每一项行动步骤时，这些步骤都是切实可行的，不会莫明其妙地冒出另一个必须先行处理的事件，这样一来，这就是一个完整、充实、详尽的计划。如果这一项工作含有若干个组织部分，我们就应该针对每个部分都进行适当的评定。可以问这样一个问题：“现在，我们能够对这件事再做点什么呢？”比如，你可能一边协调参加大会的各个发言人的情况，同时又忙于落实会议的场所。 Activating the "Moving Parts" A project is sufficiently planned for implementation when every next-action step has been decided on every front that can actually be moved on without some other component's having to be completed first. If the project has multiple components, each of them should be assessed appropriately by asking, "Is there something that anyone could be doing on this right now?" You could be coordinating speakers for the conference, for instance, at the same time

that you're finding the appropriate site. 在某些情况下，可能只有某一个方面的工作可以先行运转起来，而其他的一切事物则要视其结果才能够决定。因此，这时恐怕只有一个行动可以实施，而它最终将成为决定一切问题的关键因素。 In some cases there will be only one aspect that can be activated, and everything else will depend on the results of that. So there may be only one next action, which will be the linchpin for all the rest.

需要更多的计划吗？如果你认为在进入到下一个行动之前，还需要制定一些计划才能够令你感觉放松，那又是怎么一回事呢？还需要一步行动—这仅仅是一个过程行动。在计划延续的过程中，下一步该做些什么呢？是启发更多的想法？给安娜·玛丽娅和肖恩发个电子邮件，看看他们有什么好主意？告诉你的秘书，让她与产品部门约定一个计划会议？ More to Plan? What if there's still more planning to be done before you can feel comfortable with what's next? There's still an action step—it is just a process action. What's the next step in the continuation of planning? Drafting more ideas. E-mailing Ana Maria and Sean to get their input. Telling your assistant to set up a planning meeting with the product team. 不论在什么情况下，在处理任何工作时，时时不要忘记明确下一步的行动。养成这一好习惯，是确保你轻松自如地控制局面 The habit of clarifying the next action on projects, no matter what the situation, is fundamental to you staying in relaxed control.

当下一步行动需要由别人完成时如果下一步行动不属于你的工作范畴，这时你必须做到：明确它的负责人（这也就是“等待”行动清单的主要用途）。如果是在小组的范围商讨制定计划，你就大可不必向每一个成员解释每一个工作环节的下一步措施了。通常情况下，把工作划分到每一个人的头上，然后由他们自己去明确分内工作的具体步骤。 When the Next Action Is Someone Else's ... If the next action is not yours, you must nevertheless clarify whose it is (this is a primary use of the "Waiting For" action list). In a group-planning situation, it isn't necessary for everyone to know what the next step is on every part of the project. Often all that's required is to allocate responsibility for parts of the project to the appropriate persons and leave it up to them to identify next actions on their particular pieces. 这种关于下一步行动方案的讨论强调机构内部的透明度。问题和细节都是在人们不得不火烧眉毛般地讨论如何分配资源的时候，才一下子冒了出来。这是一种简单而实用的讨论，它有助于人们总览全局，找出其中的薄弱环节。 This next-action conversation forces organizational clarity. Issues and details emerge that don't show up until someone holds everyone's "feet to the fire" about the physical-level reality of resource allocation. It's a simple, practical discussion to foster, and one that can significantly stir the pot and identify weak links. 你到底需要制定多少计划呢？How Much Planning Do You Really Need to Do? 你到底需要多少翔实的计划呢？需要详细到什么程度呢？一个简单的回答就是，只要

能够让它摆脱对你大脑的纠缠就足够了。 How much of this planning model do you really need to flesh out, and to what degree of detail? The simple answer is, as much as you need to get the project off your mind. 一般来说，一些事件总是沉重地压在你的心头，是因为你没有恰如其分地界定这些工作的预期效果、下一步的具体措施，或者是由于你没有把相关的提示信息安置在一个能够随时查阅的可靠系统之中。除此之外，你也许并未充分地构思在实施过程中的一些具体细节、观点和解决方案。因此，你会对所描绘出的蓝图的实用价值满腹狐疑。 In general, the reason things are on your mind is that the outcome and the action step(s) have not been appropriately defined, and/or reminders of them have not been put in places where you can be trusted to look for them appropriately. Additionally, you may not have developed the details, perspectives, and solutions sufficiently to trust the efficacy of your blueprint. 按照我的定义，许多工作是指那些需要一个以上的步骤才能够顺利完成的工作。事实上，它们仅仅需要我们开列出一个清单，概括出预期的效果以及各阶段的行动步骤，就足以解放我们的头脑了。你是否打算更换一位新的股票经纪人呢？只需打一个电话，让朋友们推荐一个就行了。你是否希望在家里装一台打印机呢？只要上网浏览一下不同的品牌和价格就可以搞定了。我估算了一下，大约 8 0 %的工作属于这一范畴。这些事情的计划工作只需在你的大脑中进行，而且仅仅需要搞清下面的每一个具体步骤就足够了。 Most projects, given my definition of a project as an outcome requiring more than one action, need no more than a listing of their outcome and next action for you to get them off your mind. You need a new stockbroker? You just have to call a friend for a recommendation. You want to set up a printer at home? You just need to surf the Web to check out different models and prices. I estimate that 80 percent of projects are of that nature. You'll still be doing the full planning model on all of them, but only in your head, and just enough to figure out next actions and keep them going until they're complete. 如果一项工作还徘徊在你的大脑中，你就需要进行更多的策划和构思。 If the project is still on your mind, there's more planning to do. 另外大约有 1 5 %左右的工作，至少要求辅助性地运用某一种外在的集思广益的模式，也许是心智计划法，或者采用某种文字处理软件或 Power Point 来记录一些信息。这些对于应付一个会议的日程安排、一次外出度假计划，或者为参加商务会议准备一个发言稿来说，简直是绰绰有余了。 Another 15 percent or so of projects might require at least some external form of brainstorming—maybe a mind-map or a few notes in a word processor or PowerPoint file. That might be sufficient for planning meeting agendas, your vacation, or a speech to the local chamber of commerce. 关于最后的那 5 % 的工作内容，你必须认真权衡，仔细考虑，审慎地实施自然式计划法中的 5 个阶段，至少是 1 个阶段。这种计划模式帮助我们对各项工作加以分割，它为彻底根除问题和推动工作发展提供了一个具有实用价值的指导。在通常情况下，采用这种计划模式往往是在工作上获得显著进展的关键性因素。 A final 5 percent of projects might need the deliberate application of one or more of the five

phases of the natural planning model. The model provides a practical recipe for unsticking things, resolving them, and moving them forward productively. Are you aware of a need for greater clarity, or greater action, on any of your projects? If so, using the model can often be the key to making effective progress. 需要进一步地阐明问题吗？Need More Clarity? 如果增强问题的透明度是你目前的首选，那么，你可以沿着自然式计划法的阶梯循序渐进。如果在计划这一阶段上缺乏清晰和条理，人们就必须开动脑筋、集思广益，挖掘出充足的想法和主意。如果在动脑筋、挖点子这一阶段思路模糊不清、混乱不堪，就有必要重新回顾一下既定的预期效果了。倘若预期效果或者前景含糊不明确，你必须回过头来，重新分析一下你当前工作的目的何在。 If greater clarity is what you need, shift your thinking up the natural planning scale. People are often very busy {action) but nonetheless experience confusion and a lack of clear direction. They need to pull out their plan, or create one {organize). If there's a lack of clarity at the planning level, there's probably a need for more brainstorming to generate a sufficient inventory of ideas to create trust in the plan. If the brainstorming session gets bogged down with fuzzy thinking, the focus should shift back to the vision of the outcome, ensuring that the reticular filter in the brain will open up to deliver the best how-to thinking. If the outcome / vision is unclear, you must return to a clean analysis of why you're engaged in the situation in the first place {purpose). 需要采取更多的行动吗？Need More to Be Happening? 如果你所需要的是落实更多的行动，就必须遵循自然式计划模式继续向前推进。也许这项工作的目标令人为之振奋，你也可能产生抵触情绪，不愿意脚踏实地地想像一下在现实生活中，实现这一前景的真实情况会是怎样。这段日子以来，经理们的脑海里也许会显示出 “提高工作中生活质量”这一任务，但是，他们往往还没有对预期的结果下一个明确的定义。因此，思路必须集中到关于前景的具体细节上来。再问你自己一次：“预期的后果是什么呢？” If more action is what's needed, you need to move down the model. There may be enthusiasm about the purpose of a project but at the same time some resistance to actually fleshing out what fulfilling it in the real world might look like. These days, the task of "improving quality of work life" may be on the radar for a manager, but often he won't yet have defined a clear picture of the desired result. The thinking must go to the specifics of the vision. Again, ask yourself, "What would the outcome look like?"

计划把你卷入到工作之中，但是你必须自己想方设法冲出来。 —威尔·罗杰斯（Will Rogers） Plans get you into things but you've got to work your way out. —WillRogers 如果你已经明确地回答了这个问题，但事情仍然毫无成效，恐怕你应该把注意力放在具体的操作细节以及视角上来。我经常遇到一些这样的客户：他们接受了一项表述得相对比较清楚的工作，如“实施一项新的业绩评审制度”，然而他们却难以开展这项工作。原因在于，他们没有能够抽出几分钟时间来清理出一些可能隐含其中的具体想法。

If you've formulated an answer to that question, but things are still stuck, it's probably time for you to grapple with some of the "how" issues and the operational details and perspectives {brainstorming). I often have clients who have inherited a relatively clearly articulated project, like "Implement the new performance-review system," but who aren't moving forward because they haven't yet taken a few minutes to dump some ideas out about what that might entail. 如果集思广益的过程受到了阻挠，你必须采取严格而果断的措施进行评估，并判定需要对付（管理）的关键性预测结果。有时会出现这样的情况：当某些人在一个非正式的会议上反复讨论某个问题时，虽然提出了大量的想法和主意，但当会议结束时，却并不能够达成任何可以付诸实施的决策。 If brainstorming gets hung up (and very often it does formore "blue sky" types), rigor may be required to do some evaluation of and decision-making about mission-critical deliverables that have to be handled {organizing). This is sometimes the case when an informal back-and-forth meeting that has generated lots of ideas ends without producing any decision about what actually needs to happen next on the project. 如果制定了一个计划，但是在实践中却收不到应有的成效，必须有人对每一个因素再次进行评估，重点放在“下一步行动是什么，由谁负责”上。有一位经理接受了一项工作：组织筹备几个月后即将召开的一个重要年会。她向我咨询，如何才能够避免去年她遭遇到的那种危机。那一次，临近开会前夕，她所负责的小组的全体人员还在通宵达旦、加班加点。当她概括出她所承担的这项工作中各个环节的要点时，我发问了：“哪些事情是现在就能够着手运作的呢？”我们找出了 6 项内容，又分别确定了他们的下一步工作程序，现在它们已经投入运转了。 And if there is a plan, but the rubber still isn't hitting the road like it should, someone needs to assess each component with the focus of "What's the next action, and who's got it?" One manager, who had taken over responsibility many months in advance for organizing a major annual conference, asked me how to prevent the crisis all-nighters her team had experienced near the deadline the previous year. When she produced an outline of the various pieces of the project she'd inherited, I asked, "Which pieces could actually be moved on right now?" After identifying half a dozen, we clarified the next action on each one. It was off and running. 在前面的两章中，我概括了一些基本模式，介绍了如何才能够在我们的生活和工作这两个最基础的方面，付出最小程度的努力，获取最大程度的工作效率。这就是：我们承担的工作要求我们采取许多行动。 In the last two chapters, I have covered the basic models of how to stay maximally productive and in control, with minimal effort, at the two most basic levels of our life and work: the actions we take and the projects we enter into that generate many of those actions. 基本原则是真实可靠的，你必须收集生活中所有悬而未决的问题，运用前期思考方式对付每一种情况，对其结果进行组织管理、回顾检查，并采取恰当的措施和行动。 The fundamentals remain true—you must be responsible for collecting all your open loops, applying a front-end thought process to each of them, and managing the results with organization, review, and action.

你并不需要新的技能来提高你的效率，只需一套全新的行为模式：在什么时间，什么地点运用这些技能。 You need no new skills to increase your productivity-just a new set of behaviors about when and where to apply them. 对于你所承诺完成的所有工作，无论大小，你都可以依赖自然式计划模式，游刃有余地进行处理。这种模式的合理应用往往能够简化工作程序，提高工作速度，获得丰厚的收益。 For all those situations that you have any level of commitment to complete, there is a natural planning process that goes on to get you from here to there. Leveraging that five-phase model can often make the evolution easier, faster, and more productive. 这些模式简洁明了，通俗易懂，操作简单，而且效果显著。事实上，你并不需要掌握新的技能，你早已经知道如何做记录，明确预期效果，决定下一步行动方案，把事物归纳分类，及时地回顾检查，以及凭借直觉作出选择判断。现在，你已经完全有能力聚精会神地设想一下成功的效果，集思广益，清理归整你的思想轨迹，一步一步地推动工作向前发展。 These models are simple to understand and easy to implement. Applying them creates remarkable results. You need essentially no new skills—you already know how to write things down, clarify outcomes, decide next actions, put things into categories, review it all, and make intuitive choices. Right now you have the ability to focus on successful results, brainstorm, organize your thinking, and get moving on your next steps. 然而，仅仅了解所有的操作手段还不足以促使预期效果的产生。仅仅拥有提高工作效率，轻松自如地控制局面的“能力”也并不能顺理成章地转化你的工作模式。如果你同大多数人的情况一样，你可以请一位指导老师。他凭借丰富的经验，循序渐进地引导你不断地向前迈进，此外，他还为你准备了一些俯拾即是的小诀窍，直到这种全新的运作模式在你的生活中生根开花。 But just knowing how to do all of those things does not produce results. Merely having the ability to be highly productive, relaxed, and in control doesn't make you that way. If you're like most people, you can use a coach—someone to walk you step by step through the experience and provide some guideposts and handy tricks along the way, until your new operational style is elegantly embedded. 在第二部分，你将读到更加详尽的阐述。 You'll find that in part 2.

第 4 章确定时间、空间和工具 Getting Started: Setting Up the Time, Space, and Tools 在第二部分中，我对控制工作流程的讨论，将从一个框架式的概念和极为有限的应用转入到全面的实施以及一些经典的实践操作中。实施这一计划往往能够让人们体验到他们从未享受过的状态。然而，这通常需要循序渐进才可能稳操胜券。为了达到这一目标，我为你提供了处理事务时应该遵循的逻辑顺序，以便使你尽可能轻松地加入到我们的先烈中来，最大限度地从这种技巧中吸取营养，满载而归。 IN PART 2 we'll move from a conceptual framework and limited application of workflow mastery

to full-scale implementation and best practices. Going through this program often gives people a level of relaxed control they may never have experienced before, but it usually requires the catalyst of step-by-step procedures to get there. To that end, I'll provide a logical sequence of things to do, to make it as easy as possible for you to get on board and glean the most value from these techniques.

实际应用：是竭尽全力呢？还是顺其自然？更着眼于许许多多的‘诀窍’ Implementation—Whether Ail-Out or Casual—Is a Lot About "Tricks" 如果你还在犹豫不决，是否应该全力以赴地实施这些方法，我可以保证，人们从中获得的价值大都源于这些神奇的‘诀窍’。有时，仅仅一个诀窍的发现，就会让你感到你为此所付出的时间和精力确实是物有所值的。比如，曾经有人打电话告诉我，在他参加了我为期 2 天的研讨会中，受益最大的是这样一条建议：建立并使用备忘录文件夹。这些技巧是针对我们自身中略显蠢笨、迟钝的那一部份而制订的。在很大程度上，我认为那些工作效率最令人叹服的人群，就是成功地把绝妙的技巧动用于生活的之中的精英们。我知道我自己就是如此的。我们头脑中聪明的那一部分决定了我们要处理的事情，而自身比较迟钝的那一部分几乎能够自动地做出相应的反应。我们就是这样让自己去做应该做的事情的。 If you're not sure you're committed to an all-out implementation of these methods, let me assure you that a lot of the value people get from this material is good "tricks." Sometimes just one good trick can make it worthwhile to range through this information: I've had people tell me, for example, that the best thing they got from my two-day seminar was advice on setting up and using a tickler file. Tricks are for the not-so-smart, not-so-conscious part of us. To a great degree, the highestperforming people I know are those who have installed the best tricks in their lives. I know that's true of me. The smart part of us sets up things for us to do that the not-so-smart part responds to almost automatically, creating behavior that produces high-performance results. We trick ourselves into doing what we ought to be doing.

通过行动使自己感觉良好，要比通过使自己感觉良好而进入一种较佳的行动状态容易的多。 —0. H. Mowrer It is easier to act yourself into a better way of feeling than to feel yourself into a better way of action. —0. H. Mowrer 比如你是一个准运动健身爱好者，大概你也有一套办法让自己去参加锻炼吧。我最灵验的窍门是服装——穿上或者脱下健身服。如果让我套上训练服，我就会身不由已的产生去健身的欲望；否则的话，我很可能找点其他的事情来消磨时光。 For instance, if you're a semiregular exerciser like me, you probably have your own little tricks to get you to exercise. My best trick is costume—the clothing I put on or take off. If I put on exercise gear, I'll start to feel like exercising; if I don't, I'm very likely to feel like doing something else. 让我们一起看一个可以真正提高效率的小窍门。也许有时你需要把工作带回家处理，而第二天又必须带回公司，对不对？因此确保自己第二天早上不忘记此事就是头号大事了。那当你遇到这一情况时，头一天晚上把东西放在哪里呢？是放在大门口吧，或者放在钥匙旁边？这样一来，你就会把他们一起带走了。你是否为此又参加了某种课程的学习呢？你看，你为自己的人生增添了一项多么高明的自我管理的技能啊！事实的确如此。在前一天晚上，

那个聪明的自我早就料到那个迟钝的我第二天早上几乎意识不到“放在门前的到底是什么东西呀？噢，对了，我必须把它带去上班！”多么经典的一幕呀！我把这个诀窍称为‘把它放在大门前’。这里，‘大门’是指我们的心灵之门，而不是你的家门。但是初衷却是一致的。 Let's look at an example of a real productivity trick. You've probably taken work home that you had to bring back the next day, right? It was mission-critical that you not forget it the next morning. So where did you put it the night before? Did you put it in front of the door, or on your keys, so you'd be sure to take it with you? For this you got a higher education? What a sophisti-cated piece of self-management technology you've installed in your life! But actually that's just what it is. The smart part of you the night before knows that the not-so-smart part of you first thing in the morning may barely be conscious. "What's this in front of the door!? Oh, that's right, I've got to take this with me!" What a class act. But really, it is. It's a trick I call Put It in Front of the Door. For our purposes the "door" is going to be the door of your mind, not your house. But it's the same idea. 如果你打算立刻拿出日程表，仔细搜寻一下在今后的 2 周内都有哪些事情有待处理。很有可能你至少到了“噢，这个提醒我要去……”。如果你立刻行动起来，把这一条增值信息刻录在日程表的一某一地方，而它将会提醒你采取行动，这样一来你顷刻之间就体验到一种轻松的感受：思路更加清晰，效果事半功倍。这并非是什么高深的科学，它仅仅是一个绝妙的窍门而已。 If you were to take out your calendar right now and look closely at every single item for the next fourteen days, you'd probably come up with at least one "Oh-that-reminds-me-I-need-to ." If you then captured that value-added thought into some place that would trigger you to act, you'd feel better already, have a clearer head, and get more positive things done. It's not rocket science, just a good trick. 当你在适当的时候考虑适当的事情，并且动用恰当的工具来捕捉这些具有增值价值的思想时，你就能显著提升工作效率，增强创造力。 You increase your productivity and creativity exponentially when you think about the right things at the right time and have the tools to capture your value-added thinking. 如果你立即动手取出一张干干净净的白纸和你最喜爱的书写工具，屏气凝神 3 分钟，思考一下那些最令你忧心忡忡、坐卧不宁的事情，我敢保证你至少发现一个“噢，天哪！我必须要考虑一下……”，然后把你大脑中闪现出的事情一一地刻录在这张白纸上，然后地妥善地保存起来，以便日后你有可能随时调用它。实际上你并不会 10 分钟前增添丝毫的聪明才智，但你却会为工作和生活增添新的价值。 If you take out a clean sheet of paper right now, along with your favorite writing instrument, and for three minutes focus solely on the most awesome project on your mind, I guarantee you'll have at least one "Oh, yeah, I need to consider ." Then capture what shows up in your head on the piece of paper and put it where you might actually use the idea or information. You won't be one ounce smarter than you were ten minutes ago, but you'll have added value to your work and life. Much of learning how to manage workflow in a "black belt" way is about laying out the gear and practicing the moves so that the requisite thinking happens more automatically and it's a lot easier to get engaged in the game. The suggestions that follow about getting time, space, and tools in

place are all trusted methods for making things happen at a terrific new level. 如果你真心实意的希望在个人管理方面取得大的实质性的进步，那么我建议你多关注细枝未节的事情，并全面地遵循下面将要提出的各种建议和意见。你会发现执行这个管理将对你的生活中的一切，产生积极的推动作用，这可是千真万确的。我们将以令你耳目一新的方法有效完成那些你希望搞定的工作，让你惊叹不已。 If you're sincere about making a major leap forward in your personal management systems, I recommend that you pay close attention to the details and follow through on the suggestions provided below in their entirety. The whole will be greater than the sum of the parts. You'll also discover that the execution of this program will produce real progress on real things that are going on in your life right now. We'll get lots done that you want to get done, in new and efficient ways that may amaze you.

预留时间 Setting Aside the Time 我建议你留出一大块完整的时间来启动这一管理计划，给自己安排一个独立的工作区域，注意要有空间，并配备必要的家具和工具。如果你的工作区安排的恰如其分，简单高效，这就能够大大减少处理事务时内心深处潜在的抵触情结，甚至它还会把你吸引到桌边，有效地加快你的工作节奏。对于大多数人来说，比较理想的时间段应该是连续的两个整天。如果你抽不出这么长的时间，千万不要因此一再推迟你的行动，我所建议的任何行动都将让你受益匪浅，而且不论你投入的时间多少。实施完整的收集过程将占用你 6 个小时或者更多时间。而对于那些你希望使之具体化的事务来说，进行加工处理并决定下一步的行动，可能又将不知不觉花去 8 个小时。 I recommend that you create a block of time to initialize this process and prepare a workstation with the appropriate space, furniture, and tools. If your space is properly set up and streamlined, it can reduce your unconscious resistance to dealing with your stuff and even make it attractive for you to sit down and crank through your input and your work. An ideal time frame for most people is two whole days, back to back. (Don't be put off by that if you don't have that long to spend, though: doing any of the activities I suggest will be useful, no matter how much or how little time you devote to them. Two days are not required to benefit from these techniques and principles—they will start to pay off almost instantly.) Implementing the full collection process can take up to six hours or more, and processing and deciding on actions for all the input you'll want to externalize and capture into your system can easily take another eight hours. Of course you can also collect and process your stuff in chunks, but it'll be much easier if you can tackle that front-end portion in one fell swoop. 对于我来说，同一位专业人士一起工作的最理想的时间段是在周未或者节假日。因为在此期期间，外界的干扰最少。如果我选择在某一个典型的工作日同某人传布的话，首先，我们将确认在这一天中没有任何预定的会议；我们不会受到任何事情的打扰，出现紧急情况；所有的电话都转接到语音信箱，或者先由秘书刻录下来，在中间休息时，交给我浏览和处理。我并不建议你用下班后的时间来处理这些事情。因为这往往意味着体力严重不支，而且很有可能误了别的事情。 The ideal time for me to work with a professional is on a weekend or holiday because the chance of outside disturbance is minimal then. If I work with someone on a typical workday, we first

make sure that no meetings are scheduled and only emergency interruptions are allowed; phone calls are routed to voice-mail, or logged by secretaries for review and handling during a break. I don't recommend using "after hours" for this work. It usually means seriously reduced horsepower and a big tendency to get caught up in "rabbit trails." * (*After hours is actually a good time to crank through a group of similar tasks that you wouldn't normally do in the course of your typical workday, like filing a big backlog of papers, organizing photographs, surfing the Web about your upcoming vacation location, or processing expense receipts.) 我接触过许许多多的管理人员，对于他们来说，连续两个整天中断工作是执行整个计划过程中最为、最难以忍受的部分。他们必须时刻地周旋于各种会议之间，忙于与方方面面的交流接洽。若要求他们放弃这些无法避免的工作，实在是极为困难的。这就是我们为往往选择周未时间的原因了。如果你的办公地点是在一个开放式的隔断里或者办公室内，如果你希望在一个普通的工作日中留出大块充裕的时间，你将面临更大的挑战。 For many of the executives I work with, holding the world back for two contiguous days is the hardest part of the whole process—the perceived necessity to be constantly available for meetings and communications when they're "at work" is difficult for them to let go of. That's why we often resort to weekends. If you work in an open cubicle or office, it will be even more of a challenge to isolate sufficient time blocks on a regular workday during office hours. 这并不是因为程序本身是多么的“神圣不可侵犯”，而仅仅是因为人们要耗费巨大的精力和心智来收集处理如此多的尚未解决的事情，尤其是当它们长期以来一直徘徊于这种“开放的”、“悬而未决”或者“陷入困境”的状态时。任何中断都意味着解决该问题的时间将会加倍地啬。如果你能够在某一个有限的时间内解决某个问题，那么，它会让你感受到自己的控制能力空前提高，并且体验到一种强烈的成就感，从而激发并开启你那蕴含丰富创造力的宝库。日后，你便能够利用各种工作之间的短暂间隙不断地维护这个系统。 It's not that the procedure itself is so "sacred"; it's just that it takes a lot of psychic energy to collect and process such a large inventory of open loops, especially when they've been "open," "undecided," or "stuck" for way too long. Interruptions can double the time it takes to get through everything. If you can get to ground zero in one contained time period, it gives you a huge sense of control and accomplishment and frees up a reservoir of energy and creativity. Later on you can maintain your system in shorter spurts around and "between the lines" of you regular day. 专门空出两天时间来处理这个过程，对于你的工作效率和精神健康而言，都将具有成倍的价值。 Dedicate two days to this process, and it will be worth many times that in terms of your productivity and mental health.

确定空间 Setting Up the Space 你需要确定一个具体的地点来充当处理事务的中心区域。如果在你的工作场所已经拥有了一张办公桌和相应的办公空间，这大概是最佳的起点了。如果你在家中办公，那么显而易见，这将是你最主要的办公场所。如果你在这两处都已经拥有办事的空间了，你会希望在这两个地点建立起统一的可以交替使用的运作体系。

You'll need a physical location to serve as a central cockpit of control. If you already have a desk and office space set up where you work, that's probably the best place to start. If you work from a home office, obviously that will be your prime location. If you already have both, you'll want to establish identical, even interchangeable systems in both places. 构成一个工作空间的最基本要素，仅仅是一个用于书写的桌面及一个可能存放工作篮的空间。有一些人，如一个机械修理店的工头、一个在医院新招的搞坏或者是你小孩的保姆，拥有这些条件也就绰绰有余了。当然对于大多数专业人士来说，这个书桌还将进一步的扩展，包括一部电话，一部电脑，一个资料架、文件夹以及架子等。有的人还可能需要传真机、打印机、录像机，或者多媒体会议设备等。某些一丝不苟、严谨有序的人还希望放置一些运动健身器材，以兼顾他们的休闲活动和兴趣爱好。 The basics for a work space are just a writing surface and room for an in-basket. Some people, such as a foreman in a machine shop, an intake nurse on a hospital floor, or your children's nanny, won't need much more than that. The writing surface will of course expand for most professionals, to include a phone, a computer, stacking trays, working file drawers, reference shelves. Some may feel the need for a fax, a printer, a VCR, and/ r multimedia conferencing equipment. The seriously self-contained will also want gear for exercise, leisure, and hobbies. 工作空间的实用性是至关重要的。如果你还没有一个这样的工作空间和工作篮，现在马上动手安排。这也同样适用于学生，家族主妇和退休者。每一个人都必须建立一个具体的控制中心，以便处理一切事务。 A functional work space is critical. If you don't already have a dedicated work space and in-basket, get them now. That goes for students, homemakers, and retirees, too. Everyone must have a physical locus of control from which to deal with everything else. 如果我必须在几分钟内建立一个紧急的工作区域，我首先会买一扇门，把它架在两头各有两层抽屉的文件柜上（一边一个，这就是我在家中的基地了（如果我能够抽出时间坐下来的话，我还要买一个小凳子）。信不信由你，我曾经去过几个经理的豪华办公室，都没有我上面建立的区域那样实用。（很想知道这个门是怎么放的） If I had to set up an emergency workstation in just a few minutes, I would buy a door, put it on top of two two-drawer filing cabinets (one at each end), place three stack-baskets on it, and add a legal pad and pen. That would be my home base (if I had time to sit down, I'd also buy a stool!). Believe it or not, I've been in several executive offices that wouldn't be as functional. 如果你出去上班，在家里，你仍然需要一个空间 If You Go to an Office, You'll Still Need a Space at Home 千成不要吝惜在家中的工作空间。通过实施这个计划，你将会发现在家里建立起一个同办公室一致的工作环境是多么的重要啊！我接触过很多人都多多少少地受到家里杂乱气氛的干扰，根本无法同他们上班时的工作环境相提并论。而当他们在两个地方建立起一模一样的工作基地后，立刻受益匪浅。如果你同他们的情况类似，花上一个周未的时间在家时打造一个工作区域，这对于组织管理自己的生活来说，将是一个重大的变革。 Don't skimp on work space at home. As you'll discover through this process, it's critical that you have at least a satellite home system identical to the one in your office. Many people I've worked

with have been somewhat embarrassed by the degree of chaos that reigns in their homes, in contrast to their offices at work; they've gotten tremendous value from giving themselves permission to establish the same setup in both places. If you're like many of them, you'll find that a week-end spent setting up a home workstation can make a revolutionary change in your ability to organize your life. 你必须准备一个专门的工作空间——在家、在工作场所，如果可能的话，甚至在旅途中。 You must have a focused work space—at home, at work, and if possible even in transit. 在交通环节中的办公空间 An Office Space in Transit 如果你是一个频繁出差在外的生意人，或者过着一种流动性的生活，需要到处奔波，你还需要在路途中配备一个高效的微型办公室。这常常包括一个公文包，背包或者一个小书包，并配有一层层文件夹以便于携带的办公用品。 If you move around much, as a business traveler or just as a person with a mobile life-style, you'll also want to set up an efficiently organized micro-office-in-transit. More than likely this will consist of a briefcase, pack, or satchel with appropriate folders and portable workstation supplies. 很多人丧失掉了一些重要的工作机会，就是因为他们没有随身准备好必要的办公设备，结果无法有交待利用起零散时间。一个运行良好的管理模式，一些得心应手的工具，加之连接住所和工作地点之间的完善体系，这三者结合，就可以使你的旅程变得富有成效。 Many people lose opportunities to be productive because they're not equipped to take advantage of the odd moments and windows of time that open up as they move from one place to another, or when they're in off-site environments. The combination of a good processing style, the right tools, and good interconnected systems at home and at work can make traveling a highly leveraged way to get certain kinds of work done. 千万不要吝惜空间！Don't Share Space! 拥有自己的工作空间是极其必要的，或者至少拥有一个独立的工作和处理文件的场所。我结识了许多已婚夫妇，他们为家中惟一的一张写字台你争我抢。而当他们在家中又增添了一个办公空间后，发现结果真的是天壤之别。这样做法并没有产生他们想像的那种隔阂，反而减轻了管理共同生活时对夫妻关系所产生压力。有一对夫妇甚至在厨房也配备了一个迷你工作台，这样留在家里照顾小孩的妈妈也能同时兼顾到工作。 It is imperative that you have your own work space—or at least your own in-basket and a physical place in which to process paper. Too many married couples I've worked with have tried to work out of a single desk at home, and it always makes light-years of difference when they expand to two workstations. Far from being the "separation" they expect, the move in fact relieves them of a subtle stress in their relationship about managing the stuff of their shared lives. One couple even decided to set up an additional mini-workstation in the kitchen for the stay-at-home mom, so she could process work while keeping an eye on their infant in the family room. 某些机构对‘住旅馆’这个概念情有独钟，即要求人们创造一种流动的，严谨有序的工作站。这样无论什么时候，在公司的任何一处场所他们都能够立即“插上电源”，动作起来。对

于这一概念在实践中将会取得什么样的成效，我表示怀疑。我的一位朋友在华盛顿的一家政府机构就职。他也参与了建立这种“未来办公室”模式的活动。据他说，这种旅店模式往往由于“我的”这一因素而分崩离析。也就是说，人们只希望处理自己的事情。我认为，失败的结果还有更深层次的原因：当采用这个系统时，我们潜意识中的抵触情结应该为零点。由于我们不得不连续不断地重新确定我们的任务和归档系统，以及处理这些信息的方式和地点，这些都可能成为不断干扰我们的因素。假如你的办公室系统简洁而紧凑，可以随身携带，你对如何快速处理事物的方法也了如指掌，那你就可以在任何地方开始办公。然而，你仍然需要在家里开拓一个“基地”，并准备好一套得心应手的工具和宽敞明亮的空间来存储参考资料。所有资料最好抬手可得。我遇到的大多数人往往至少需要 4 个抽屉来存放他们的资料，因此要想一件不落并且轻松随意地把这些资料搬来搬去简直是不可能完成的任务。 Some organizations are interested in the concept of "hoteling"—that is, having people create totally self-contained and mobile workstation capabilities so they can "plug in" anywhere in the company, at any time, and work from there. I have my doubts about how well that concept will work in practice. A friend who was involved in setting up an "office of the future" model in Washington, D.C., for the U.S. government, claimed that hoteling tended to fall apart because of the "Mine!" factor—people wanted their own stuff. I suggest there's a deeper reason for the failure: there needs to be zero resistance at the less-than-conscious level for us to use the systems we have. Having to continually reinvent our inbasket, our filing system, and how and where we process our stuff can only be a source of incessant distraction. 拥有自己的工作空间是十分重要的。你希望动用自己的系统，而不仅仅是在头脑中考虑它们。 It is critical that you have your own work space. You want to use your systems, not just think about them. 准备好你的工具如果你下决心要一丝不苟的地执行整个工作流程管理计划，首先应该着手准备一些最基本的用品和设备。很可能你会在新旧两种设备的选择上犹豫不决。是继续采用旧的模式？还是考虑一下全新的工作用品呢？ If you're committed to a full implementation of this workflow process, there are some basic supplies and equipment that you'll need to get you started. As you go along, you're likely to dance between using what you're used to and evaluating the possibilities for new and different gear to work with. 请注意，合适的工具不一定非得是价钱昂贵的。通常情况下，当技术含量较低的时候，那些看起来越适合“管理工作”的工具，事实上其功效越发低劣。 Note that good tools don't necessarily have to be expensive. Often, on the low-tech side, the more "executive" something looks, the more dysfunctional it really is. 一些基本的管理工具 The Basic Processing Tools 我们假设你从零做起，除了拥有一个桌面的工作空间以外，你还需要： ·资料存放筐（最少 3 个）

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·一叠信纸大小的白纸 ·即时贴（3X3 寸） ·回形针 ·订书机等 ·透明胶带 ·橡皮筋 ·自动打孔机 ·若干文件夹 ·一个日程表 ·废纸篓 Let's assume you're starting from scratch. In addition to a desktop work space, you'll need: * Paper-holding trays (at least three) * A stack of plain letter-size paper * A pen/pencil *Post-its (3X3s) * Paper clips * Binder clips * A stapler and staples * Scotch tape * Rubber bands * An automatic labeler * File folders * A calendar * Wastebasket/recycling bins 资料存放筐 Paper-Holding Trays 这些筐可以分别用来存放新资料和已经处理完毕的事务文件。另外再准备 1－2 资料筐存放工作中需要的一些辅助性资料和你将要“回顾检查”的内容。最好用的要数那些侧面标着字母，或者叠起来堆放的那一种。在它们的顶部没有那些令你抽取时都感觉到极为不便的突出的“小舌头” These will serve as your in-basket and out-basket, with one or two others for work-in-progress support papers and/or your "read and review" stack. The most functional trays are the side-facing letter or legal stackable kinds, which have no "lip" on them to keep you from sliding out a single piece of paper. 白纸 Plain Paper 你可以用白纸开始你的收集工作。信不信由你，在整整一页白纸上只写下一个想法，将会产生令人难以想像的效果。尽管大多数人终将以某种清单形式管理他们随笔写下的东西，但是，如果有一些人坚持采用这种简洁易行的“一张纸一个想法”的办法。无论如何，手头准备一些足够的白纸或者小册子专门用于捕捉突发的奇思妙想，这一点至关重要。 You'll use plain paper for the initial collection process. Believe it or not, putting one thought on one full-size sheet of paper can have enormous value. Although most people will wind up processing their notes into some sort of list organizer, a few will actually stick with the simple piece-of-paper-per-thought system. In any case, it's important to have plenty of letter-size writing

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paper or tablets around to make capturing ad hoc input easy. 即时贴、回形针、订书机 Post-its, Clips, Stapler, Etc. 有了即时贴、回形针、订书机、胶带和橡皮筋，你就能快速的整理和存放你的文件资料。到目前为此。我们还不可能完全摆脱纸张的使用，因此，管理这些纸张资料的简单工具就不可缺少。 Post-its, clips, stapler, tape, and rubber bands will come in handy for routing and storing paper-based materials. We're not finished with paper yet (if you haven't noticed!), and the simple tools for managing it are essential. 时时刻刻不间断的收集，思考，加工处理和组织管理这本身已经是一个巨大的挑战了。你必须确保自己有恰当的工具来尽可能地简化这一过程。 Moment-to-moment collecting, thinking, processing, and organizing are challenging enough; always ensure that you have the tools to make them as easy as possible. 打签机 The Labeler 打签机在我们的工作中起着不同的作用。曾经与我共事过的行政人员，专业人士以及家庭主妇都添置了自动打签机。我保存的档案中写满了他们的评语，如：“真让人难以相信。我以前从来不相信它是如此的神奇！”你可以用打签机给你所有的文件夹、活页夹的侧面以及数不胜数的其它资料标说明。 The labeler is a surprisingly critical tool in our work. Thousands of executives and professionals and homemakers I have worked with now have their own automatic labelers, and my archives are full of their comments, like, "Incredible—I wouldn't have believed what a difference it makes!" The labeler will be used to label your file folders, binder spines, and numerous other things. At this writing, I recommend the Brother labeler—it's the most user-friendly. Get the least expensive one that sits on a desk and has an AC adapter (so you won't have to worry about batteries). Also get a large supply of cassettes of label tape—black letters on white tape (instead of clear) are much easier to read and allow you to relabel folders you might want to reuse. 当然你可以用软件和打印机打印一些标签，但我偏爱可以供销科冷静物工具。如果面临大批量的归档分类工，你就不会愿意仅仅为了一两页纸而制作文件夹。虽然这可以使整个工作显得更加正规，但也可能因此影响正常的工作。（这个东西，应该不太适合中国人用吧） You can get software and printer sheets to make computer-generated labels, but I prefer the stand-alone tool. If you have to wait to do your filing or labeling as a batch job, you'll most likely resist making files for single pieces of paper, and it'll add the formality factor, which really puts the brakes on this system. 文件夹 File Folders 你需要使用大量的文件夹（尽可能准备信纸规格的，但必须是标准尺寸）。如果归档系统需要，你还应该准备相等数目的潘德弗莱克斯文件夹。素净的淡黄色的文件夹就很方便耐用，彩色条码过于复杂。参考资料归档系统应该就是一个简单明了的图书馆。 You'll need plenty of file folders (get letter size if you can, legal size if you must). You may also need an equal number of Pendaflex-style file-folder hangers, if your filing system requires them. Plain manila folders are fine—color-coding is a level of complexity that's hardly ever worth the

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effort. Your general-reference filing system should just be a simple library.

日程表 Calendar 尽管你也许根本不需要一个日程表来仅仅记录一些七零八碎的杂事，但毫无疑问的是，我还希望在日程表上标记一些活动，正如我以前谈到过的，日程表并非是用来储备各种行动清单的，它应该记录在某一些具体的日子或者时间内，那些艰巨而重要的事情。 Although you may not need a calendar just to collect your incomplete items, you'll certainly come up with actions that need to be put there, too. As I noted earlier, the calendar should be used not to hold action lists but to track the "hard landscape" of things that have to get done on a specific day or at a specific time. 目前，大多数专业人士已经开始创建工作日历，形式多样，从迷你记事本到活页计划手册，上面分别标着以日－月－年为单位的各种选择。还有个人管理软件以及可以在公司内部集体运用操作的日程安排软件，如 outlook 或者 lotus notes. Most professionals these days already have some sort of working calendar system in place, ranging from pocket week-at-a-glance booklets, to loose-leaf organizers with day-, week-,month-, and year-at-a-glance options, to single-user software organizers, to group-ware calendars used companywide, like Outlook or Lotus Notes. 日程表使一切变得井井有条。对于管理那些涉及到具体时间的工作任务来说，日程表一种至关重要的手段。当然，还有大量的提示信息和数据迫切需要日程表加以辅助管理，需要把日程表带入一个更加全面完善的系统中。随着进一步地应用，这个完善的系统会日渐盛开。 The calendar has often been the central tool that people rely on to "get organized." It's certainly a critical component in managing particular kinds of data and reminders of the commitments that relate to specific times and days. There are many reminders and some data that you will want a calendar for, but you won't be stopping there: your calendar will need to be integrated with a much more comprehensive system that will emerge as you apply this method. 你也许非常好奇，想了解到底哪种类型的日程瑚最适合，在下一章里，我将详细讨论这个问题。目前你只要坚持使用原有的日程表就行了。等你对整个系统有了一定的认识。就可以渐渐过渡到另一种工具。 You may wonder what kind of calendar would be best for you to use, and I'll discuss that in more detail in the next chapter. For now, just keep using the one you've got. After you develop a feel for the whole systematic approach, you'll have a better reference point for deciding about graduating to a different tool. 废纸篓 Wastebasket/Recycling Bins 你必须对将要产生的大量垃圾做好心理准备。我们的一些管理人员发现，当我们共同工作时，在办公室门外放一个大垃圾箱，实在功效出奇，大有益处！ If you're like most people, you're going to toss a lot more stuff than you expect, so get ready to create a good bit of trash. Some executives I have coached have found it extremely useful to arrange for a large Dumpster to be parked immediately outside their offices the day we work

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together! 你需要一个计划手册吗？Do You Need an Organizer? 你是否需要一个计划手册？这要视一些具体因素而定。你是不是已经在使用这种工具了呢？你希望所有的活动、日程安排和工作的提示信息以何种形式存在？你会在什么地点回顾这些信息，多长时间一次？我们的大脑绝非一个存储空间，因此绝对需要一上外部装置来管理它们。你完全可以采用技术含量非常低的手段，如把资料存放在文件夹。或者可以选择其它的笔记或者计划手册，也可以采用电子记事本，或者综合这些手段。 Whether or not you'll need an organizer will depend on a number of factors. Are you already committed to using one? How do you want to see your reminders of actions, agendas, and projects? Where and how often might you need to review them? Because your head is not the place in which to hold things, you'll obviously need something to manage your triggers externally. You could maintain everything in a purely low-tech fashion, by keeping pieces of paper in folders. Or you could even use a paper-based note-book or planner, or a digital version thereof. Or you could even employ some combination of these. 一旦掌握了如何处理你的材料以及你希望组织管理的内容，你所需要的就仅仅是创建和管理清单了。 Once you know how to process your stuff and what to organize, you really just need to create and manage lists. 在前一章中列举出了一些科技含量较低的工具。它们可以用于收集、整理和组织管理这一过程的方方面面。你可以随意选取一个文件筐和一张纸来收集。在整理工作篮中的内容时，你可以马上处理掉许多花不了 2 分钟就能搞定的事。这时你需要即时贴、订书机和回形针。那些费时较长的阅读资料，如杂志文章以及备忘录等应该存放在另一文件筐中。剩下的任务目录表、活动提示信息、追踪查询信息等都需要某种形式的清单，或者把一些可以回顾的资料进行分类。 All of the low-tech gear listed in the previous section is used for various aspects of collecting, processing, and organizing. You'll use a tray and random paper for collecting. As you process your in-basket, you'll complete many less-than-two-minute actions that will require Post-its, a stapler, and paper clips. The magazines, articles, and long memos that are your longer-than-two-minute reading will go in another of the trays. And you'll probably have quite a bit just to file. What's left—maintaining a project inventory, logging calendar items and action and agenda reminders, and tracking the things you're waiting for—will require some form of lists, or reviewable groupings of similar items. 这些任务清单完全能够以技术含量较低的工具形式加以保存，如放置在文件夹中的资料（比如，在“电话”文件夹中不同的纸页上记录着你需要电话联系的有关人员的信息）或者采取中等技术含量的工具，在活页夹记事本或者计划手册上进行安排（如页眉上标着“电话” 下面则排列着姓名）：或者采用数字形式的清单（如掌上电脑中“待处理”条目中的电话一栏，微软 outlook 软件中的“任务”栏）。 Lists can be managed simply in a low-tech way, as pieces of paper kept in a file folder (e.g., separate sheets/notes for each person you need to call in a "Calls" file), or they can be arranged in a more "mid-tech" fashion, in loose-leaf notebooks or planners (a page titled "Calls" with the

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names listed down the sheet). Or they can be high-tech, digital versions of paper lists (such a "Calls" category in the "To Do" section of a Palm PDA or in Microsoft Outlook "Tasks"). 除了保存可以随身携带的参考资料（如电话地址记录本）以外，大多数计划手册都是针对清单（你的日程表实际上也是一种形式的清单，按照时间的先后顺序标了某一具体时间、具体日期相关事宜的提示信息）的管理而设计的。自 20 世纪 80 年代以来，大概有上万种计划手册在市场中流通，其中包括曾经轰动一事的袖珍记事本，高科技的 pda，以及 outlook 和 notes 等软件。 In addition to holding portable reference material (e.g., telephone/address info), most organizers are designed for managing lists. (Your calendar is actually a form of a list—with time- and day-specific action reminders listed chronologically.) Probably thousands of types of organizers have been on the market since the 1980s, from the early rash of pocket Day-Timers to the current flood of high-tech personal digital assistants (PDAs) and PC-based software products like Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes. 你是不是应该把本书所介绍的管理系统全部纳入到你的管理方法中来呢，或者还是应该实施全新的策略呢？回答是哪一种有利于你改变不当的行为习惯，促进你正确地运用这些工具就选择哪一种。当然还必须考虑到效率这个因素。你是否经常收到大量的电子信息，这样采用电子设备来管理将更加简单易行；如果你经常需要与他人会面并频繁地改变计划，还需要一个书面形式的日程表吗？如果文件夹不适宜随身携带，你还会需要它来提醒你某些必打电话之类的事情吗？当然美学因素和娱乐性也不容忽视。我曾经利用在餐厅等候晚餐的时间更新了最佳的行动计划，而当时我仅仅是找个借口来把一下我的掌上电脑罢了。 Should you implement the Getting Things Done process into what you're currently using, or should you install something new? The answer is, do whichever one will actually help you change your behavior so you'll use the tools appropriately. There are efficiency factors to consider here, too. Do you get a lot of digital information that would be easier to track with a digital tool? Do you need a paper-based calendar for all the appointments you have to make and change rapidly on the run? Do you need reminders of things like calls you have to make when it's not easy to carry file folders? And so on. There are also the aesthetic and enjoyment factors. I've done some of my best planning and updating for myself when I simply wanted some excuse to use (i.e., play with) my Palm organizer while waiting for dinner in a restaurant! 提升个人工作效率的最佳和段之一就是拥有你乐于使用的管理工具。 One of the best tricks for enhancing your personal productivity is having organizing tools that you love to use. 当考虑否应该配备一个管理工具时，什么样的合适呢，一定要记住，真正的需求是管理你的清单。你应该能在忙碌中轻松创造一个清单，并在需要时定期地翻阅。一旦你掌握了哪些内容应该纳入清单以及正确的使用方法时，采用何种媒介已经变得无关紧要了，你只需要关注简洁、快速和趣味性。 When considering whether to get and use an organizer, and if so, which one, keep in mind that all you really need to do is manage lists. You've got to be able to create a list on the run and review it easily and as regularly as you need to. Once you know what to put on the lists, and how to use them, the medium really doesn't matter. Just go for simplicity, speed, and fun.

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构建一个归档系统的关键因素 The Critical Factor of a Filing System 一个简单而高效的个人资料管理系统对于整个过程来说是至关重要的。无论是在谁的办公室，在我们开始实施工作流程管理计划之前，首先要对他是否拥有方便快捷的资料归档系统进行评估。而对于经我培训的大多数人来说，这也就是他们可能获得最大改进的机会之一。有很多次，我开车带着客户到当地的办公用品店去购买了一个用于归档的文件柜、一大摞文件夹、一个打签机，目的就是为了能够创造一个空间来存放 2/3 的“资料”。此前，这些物品正七零八落的散落在他的写字台周围和书柜中，有的干脆在地上。 A simple and highly functional personal reference system is critical to this process. The filing system at hand is the first thing I assess before beginning the workflow process in anyone's office. As I noted in chapter 2, the lack of a good general-reference system can be one of the greatest obstacles to implementing a personal management system, and for most of the executives I have personally coached, it represents one of the biggest opportunities for improvement. Many times I have driven to the local office-supply store with a client and bought a filing cabinet, a big stock of file folders, and a labeler, just so we could create an appropriate place in which to put two-thirds of the "stuff" lying around his/her desk and credenza and even on the office floors. 如果你的归档系统无法达到快速、有效、妙趣横生，那么你就会对整个过程产生抵触情结。 If your filing system isn't fast, functional, and fun, you'll resist the whole process. 在这里，我们主要是针对一般性参考资料的归类分档问题，这与分门别类的文件归档系统截然不同。分类文件归档系统专门用于存放各种合同、金融信息或者其它应该拥有独立空间和目录索引的数据。而一般性参考资料的归档系统则用来保存各类文章、宣传手册、论文、笔记、印刷品和传真件。基本上，这囊括了所有你希望保留的、有趣的或者有用的资料，然而，它们又不属于哪一个专门的类别，不可能像装订成册的研讨会文件那样独立地放置在书架上。 We're concerned here mostly with general-reference filing—as distinct from discrete filing systems devoted to contracts, financial information, or other categories of data that deserve their own place and indexing. General-reference files should hold articles, brochures, pieces of paper, notes, printouts, faxes—basically anything that you want to keep for its interesting or useful data and that doesn't fit into your specialized filing systems and won't stand up by itself on a shelf (as will large software manuals and seminar binders). If you have a trusted secretary or assistant who maintains that system for you, so you can put a "File as X" Post-it on the document and send it "out" to him or her, great. But ask yourself if you still have some personally interesting or confidential support material that should be accessible at any moment, even when your assistant isn't around. If so, you'll still need your own system, either in your desk or right beside it somewhere. 成功归档分类的要素 Success Factors for Filing 我强烈地建议你使用自己的归档系统，并且就保存在伸手可及的地方。这样一来，你用不了一分钟就可以从工作篮中提取一份材料，或者将电子邮件打印出来。如果目前并不需要它，但它对你未来的工作又具有潜在的价值，这时你可以迅速地将它存入可靠的系统中去。

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如果完成这一系列工作所耗费的时间超过了一分钟，那你还有可以提高的机会，因为你大概不会将这个文件归档，而只是把它放置一旁。这个归档系统要兼顾趣味性、简洁性、时效性和完整性。否则，你会在潜意识里拒绝清空整理这些事情，甚至连看一眼都不愿意。别泄气！我曾经见过一些人，一旦他们的个人档案系统建立起来并投入运行，他们就从一开始的强烈抵触渐渐变成享受整理资料的乐趣了。 I strongly suggest that you maintain your own personal, at-hand filing system. It should take you less than one minute to pick something up out of your in-basket or print it from e-mail, decide it needs no action but has some potential future value, and finish storing it in a trusted system. If it takes you longer than a minute to complete that sequence of actions, you have a significant improvement opportunity, since you probably won't file the document; you'll stack it or stuff it instead. Besides being fast, the system needs to be fun and easy, current and complete. Otherwise you'll unconsciously resist emptying your in-basket because you know there's likely to be something in there that ought to get filed, and you won't even want to look at the papers. Take heart: I've seen people go from resisting to actually enjoying sorting through their stacks once their personal filing system is set up and humming. 当你把一纸孤零零的文件整理妥当，即使是一张字迹潦草的便条被归入独立的文件夹内，你也一定会感到如同处理了一大宗正式的文件一样心情愉快。组建和管理文件夹要耗费大量的时间和精力，因此，对于一些资料，人们要么不保存，要么把它们胡乱地塞到柜子和抽屉里，比如外卖的菜单或者火车时刻表等。 You must feel equally comfortable about filing a single piece of paper on a new topic—even a scribbled note—in its own file as you would about filing a more formal, larger document. Because it requires so much work to make and organize files, people either don't keep them or have junked-up cabinets and drawers full of all sorts of one-of-a-kind items, like a menu for the local take-out cafe or the current train schedule. 如果你希望采取什么手段，建立起一个简便易行的参考资料管理系统来存放一切资料，马上动手吧！我的系统动作出色，许多人尝试以后也有同感。因此，我强力向你推荐下面的方法。 Whatever you need to do to get your reference system to that quick and easy standard for everything it has to hold, do it. My system works wonderfully for me and for many others who try it, and I highly recommend that you consider incorporating all of the following guidelines to really make reference filing automatic.

把参考资料文件夹放在伸手可及的地方归档工作应该能够在瞬间完成，并且操作简单。如果每当你想存放某些特殊文件时都不得不站起来，那你就会渐渐习惯随手把它丢到一边，从而放弃了归档。同时，你也很可能抵触整个管理计划（因你潜意识里认识到，那其中也许还存在需要处理的文件呢。）我培训过的许多人都已经重新设计了办公室的布局。现在坐在椅子上的时候，一转圈就可以取到 4 个抽屉里的参考资料，不用再满屋子乱窜了。 Keep Your General-Reference Files at Hand's Reach Filing has to be instantaneous and easy. If you have to get up every time you have some ad hoc piece of paper you want to file, you'll tend to stack it instead of filing it, and you're also likely to just resist the whole in-basket process (because you subconsciously know there's stuff in there that might need filing!). Many people I have coached have redesigned their office space so they have four general-reference file drawers

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literally in "swivel distance," instead of across their room.

一个按照字母顺序排列的系统我建立了一个按照英文字母顺序排列的归档系统。一般而言，人们倾向于把文件夹当做一个管理系统来使用，按照工作类型或者不同领域分类管理。但当你忘记了某一材料的具体存放位置的时候，它可能出现的地点将会呈几何倍数大大地啬。一个简明扼要的按照字母顺序排列的系统可以根据主题、工作、人或者公司加分类归档，这样即使你忘记了放在哪，也仅仅面临着三四个选择。在通常情况下，你可在每个标签下至少设立一个分主题，比如：“园艺――花盆”和“园艺――想法”，这些都可以排列在字母 G 的下面下面（园艺 garden） One Alpha System I have one A—Z alphabetical filing system, not multiple systems. People have a tendency to want to use their files as a personal organization system, and therefore they attempt to organize them by projects or areas of focus. This magnifies geometrically the number of places something isn't when you forget where you filed it. One simple alpha system files everything by topic, project, person, or company, so it can be in only three or four places if you forget exactly where you put it. You can usually put at least one subset of topics on each label, like "Gardening—pots" and "Gardening—ideas." These would be filed under G. 目前我为自己的一般性参考资料文件夹设立了 4 个专用抽屉。每个抽屉的外面都清楚地标明了“A~E”、“F~L”等标签。一旦某份资料贴上标签以后，我就不用再花心思去考虑放在哪里了。 Currently I have four file drawers for my general-reference files, and each is clearly marked on the outside—"A-E," "F-L," and so on—so I don't have to think about where something goes once it's labeled. 过于庞杂的参考资料应该安置在独立的柜子里。但假如它们还装不满半个文件夹，我建议你还是把它们存入这个字母系统中。 Every once in a while someone has such a huge amount of reference material on one topic or project that it should be put in its own discrete drawer or cabinet. But if it is less than a half a file drawer's worth, I recommended including it in the single general alphabetical system.

准备大量备用的新文件夹我手头上储备了大量的新文件夹，处理资料的时候随手可取。当你需要归档的时候，却发现由于没有充裕的文件夹而导致工作停滞不前，恐怕再也没有比这更糟糕、更让人沮丧的了。在任何情况下，抽屉中的文件夹都应该至少有一半是未使用的或者是可以重复使用的。经验之谈：当数量降低到 100 以下时，重新排序 Have Lots of Fresh Folders I keep a giant stack of fresh, new file folders instantly at hand and reachable from where I sit to process my in-basket. Nothing is worse than having something to file and not having an abundance of folders to grab from to make the process easy. At any given time I want to have an inventory of almost half a file drawer full of unused or reusable folders. Rule of thumb: reorder when the number drops below a hundred.

保持抽屉中的材料少于 3/4 坚持使放在抽屉中的材料略低于 3/4。如果每个抽屉都已经塞得满满当当的，你的潜意识里就会排斥新资料的存入，结果导致参考资料堆积如山。如果发现抽屉开始变得拥挤不堪，我就会在打电话等候时动手进行整理。 Keep the Drawer Less Than Three-Quarters Full Always try to keep your file drawers less than

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three-quarters full. If they're stuffed, you'll unconsciously resist putting things in there, and reference materials will tend to stack up instead. If a drawer is starting to get tight, I may purge it while I'm on hold on the phone. 我知道，几乎所有的人都曾经使用过塞得满满的抽屉。如果你珍视这层“保护膜”的价值，如果你确实希望消除潜意识中的抵触情结，那就必须让抽屉保持密切配合的状态，以便你能够不费力地放入或者抽取需要的资料。 I know almost no one who doesn't have overstuffed file drawers. If you value your cuticles, and if you want to get rid of your unconscious resistance to filing, then you must keep the drawers loose enough that you can insert and retrieve files without effort. 某些人面对这种情况时，会作出这样的反应：“我必须再多添置几个文件柜：，似乎这是一件令人恐怖的事情。快来帮我一把吧！如果这些资料真的值得保留，那么你就理所当然地希望可以轻松地资料，对不对？如果达不到这一目的，那你为什么还要继续保存它呢？人们常说，我们正处于信息时代，如果事实果真如此，而你的做法却又恰恰阻碍了你从这个时代获益，这应该不是聪明的做法吧。 Some people's reaction to this is "I'd have to buy more file cabinets!" as if that were something horrible. Help me out here. If the stuff is worth keeping, it's worth keeping so that it's easily accessible, right? And if it's not, then why are you keeping it? It's said that we're in the Information Age; if there's any validity to that, and if you're doing anything that hinders your usage of it... not smart. 也许你还需要创立另一个区域，以便使手边上的一般性参考资料系统留有充裕的空间。有些已告一段落的工作的资料以及一些“闲置”的用户资料文件夹，也许都还存一定的保留价值，但你完全选择另外的区域保存它们，或者至少放在你的工作空间之外。 You may need to create another tier of reference storage to give yourself sufficient working room with your general-reference files at hand. Material such as finished project notes and "dead" client files may still need to be kept, but can be stored off-site or at least out of your work space.

用自动打签机来标注文件夹打印标签彻底地改变了所有文件夹的本质以及你与他们之间的关系。会议室桌子上摆放着冠以标签的文件夹，令人赏心悦目，每一个人都能找到需要的资料；从远处看或者一打开公文包，便一目了然；当你打开抽屉的时候，一眼就可以看到那些按字母排列顺序的排列整齐的文件夹，上面标着像是打印出来的工工整整的目录。因此，打开抽屉查找或者放入一份资料就变得乐趣无穷了。 Label Your File Folders with an Auto Labeler Typeset labels change the nature of your files and your relationship to them. Labeled files feel comfortable on a boardroom table; everyone can identify them; you can easily see what they are from a distance and in your briefcase; and when you open your file drawers, you get to see what looks almost like a printed index of your files in alphabetical order. It makes it fun to open the drawer to find or insert things. 也许随着新千年的进一步发展，那些天资过人的科学家们将会对此提出像神经学一样深奥的理论根据――为什么标清楚的文件夹具有如此神奇的功效呢？请相信我，直到那里，它的功效才会完全显现出来。现在赶紧去准备一个打签机，而且必须是完全属于你的。你必须把它一直放在手边，以便随取随用。如果你正打算将某材料归档，却发现打签机不翼而飞了，

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你往往会把资料又堆到一边。可见，打签机和订书机一样是最基本的工具。 Perhaps later in this new millennium the brain scientists will give us some esoteric and complex neurological explanation for why labeled files work so effectively. Until then, trust me. Get a labeler. And get your own. To make the whole system work without a hitch, you'll need to have it at hand all the time, so you can file something whenever you want. And don't share! If you have something to file and your labeler's not there, you'll just stack the material instead of filing it. The labeler should be as basic a tool as your stapler.

选择质量好的文件柜文件柜的质量不容忽视。每当你试图拉开一个沉重的抽屉时，却听到“吱吱”的刺耳声，没有什么比这种感觉更糟的了！当你费尽力气地拨动你那仅花了 29.95 美元买来的特价柜子的滚轴时，往往出现上面的一幕。你的确需要这样一个柜子，即使当抽屉内 3/4 空间已经被占用时，可以轻松地打开和关闭它。（这个价格在中国已经可以买个过的去的柜子了） Get High-Quality Mechanics File cabinets are not the place to skimp on quality. Nothing is worse than trying to open a heavy file drawer and hearing that awful screech! that happens when you wrestle with the roller bearings on one of those $29.95 "special sale" cabinets. You really need a file cabinet whose drawer, even when it's three-quarters full, will glide open and click shut with the smoothness and solidity of a door on a German car. I'm not kidding. 尽可能地消灭悬挂文件夹有很多人使用悬挂式文件夹。冒着得罪他们的危险，我还是建议你彻底放弃这些设备，选择那些可以独立放置的简朴的文件夹放在抽屉中，后面由可以自由移动的金属板支撑着。悬挂文件夹大大地降低了工作效率，这是因为创立一新的文件夹比较麻烦，另外，对文件归纳系统的限制颇多。（有谁用过，我没见过） Get Rid of Hanging Files If You Can At the risk of seriously offending a lot of people who are already using hanging files, I recommend that you totally do away with the hanging-file hardware and use just plain folders standing up by themselves in the file drawer, held up by the movable metal plate in the back. Hanging folders are much less efficient because of the effort it takes to make a new file ad hoc and the formality that imposes on the filing system. 我刚刚收到一位资深经理发来的电子邮件。多年来他一直在使用悬挂式装置。由于当初花费不小他一直没值得更换。但是，最终他还是接受了我的建议。下面就是这个邮件的内容：你的系统简直太神奇了！我已经彻底地更换了家里和办公室里的所有文件夹，总共用了 4

天时间。我换掉了所有的潘德弗莱克斯文件夹，选用了淡黄褐色的文件夹，上面只标注了从 A 到 Z 的字母，一目了然，妙极了！这一切如此简单。而且我的写字台也变得干净整洁、井井有条，再也看不到那些堆积如山等待处理的资料了。 Here's an e-mail I received recently from a senior manager who actually took my advice after avoiding it for a couple of years because of his investment in the hanging hardware: Your system is FANTASTIC!! I've completely redone my files at home and at work—it only took a combined four days to do it, but I've done away with Pendaflex and have gone to the manila folder system, with A-Z and nothing else. WOW! It's so much easier. My desk for some reason is a lot neater, too, without those stacks of "to be filed" stuff hanging around!

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但是，如果你做不到的话，我建议你： But If You Can't... Many people are stuck with the hanging-file system, at least at work, because side-opening hanging-folder filing cabinets have become standard corporate issue. If you have to work with hanging files, then I recommend that you: 1、标注所有的文件夹，而不是悬挂托架。这样做你可以带着文件夹去开会、旅行，而不必扛着悬挂托架。 2、每一个悬挂托架只存放一个文件夹。这种方法可以使抽屉看上去比较整洁，从避免了由于多个文件夹堆在一处造成的悬挂托架不均衡的怪异感。此外，在重新整理托架时也会比较简单。 3、在第一个文件夹抽屉的前部储备大量的备用悬挂支架。这样就可以迅速的完成创建和存储新的文件的工作 z Label the files, not the hangers. That lets you carry the file folders for meetings and when traveling, without taking the hanger. z Use only one file folder per hanger. This will keep the drawer visually neat and prevent the weirdness that results when multiple files make a hanger uneven. Having to recalibrate files in an alpha system every time a folder gets full is too much trouble. z Keep a big supply of plain hangers and new file folders in the front of your first file drawer so you can make new files and store them in a flash. 在现实工作中的“火警区域”，如果归纳某项内容所需要的时间超过了 60 分钟，那你就不是在归纳文件，而是在堆放垃圾了。 In the fire zone of real work, if it takes longer than sixty seconds to file something, you won't file, you'll stack.

至少一年整理一次所有的文件夹定期地整理你的文件，可以防止它们变得像黑洞一般无法掌握，此外也为你提供了一个假想的空间：“也许我还会用到这个。”你知道，不管怎么样，每隔几个月你就会评估一下所有的资料，判断哪些值得继续保存，哪些不是。正如我所讲到的，每当我打电话中途等待的时候，或者是电话会议磨磨蹭蹭拖延的时候，总会动手整理我的文件夹。 Purge Your Files at Least Once a Year Cleaning house in your files regularly keeps them from going stale and seeming like a black hole, and it also gives you the freedom to keep anything on a whim "in case you might need it." You know everything will be reassessed within a few months anyway, and you can redecide then what's worth keeping and what isn't. As I say, I purge my files while I'm on hold on the phone (or marking time on a conference call that's dragging on and on!). 我建议所有的机构都建立一个个人整理日，在那一天，所有的员工都穿着休闲的衣服和鞋子，把电话切掉，动手清理他们所有的库存物资。每个人都可以花费一整天的时间来进行大扫除。而个人的整理日，即可以安排在节假日、年未，也可以在春节前申报税金的期间，因为到那时，你可以把前一年的财务数据合并存档。所以说，这个个人整理日是一件大好事。 I recommend that all organizations (if they don't have one already) establish a Dumpster Day, when all employees get to come to work in sneakers and jeans, put their phones on do-not-disturb, and get current with all their stored stuff.* (*A great time to do this is Christmas Eve Day, or some similar near-holiday that falls on a workday. Most people are in "party mode" anyway, so it's an ideal opportunity to get funky and clean house.) Dumpsters are brought in, and everyone has

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permission to spend the whole day in purge mode. A personal Dumpster Day is an ideal thing to put into your tickler file, either during the holidays, at year's end, or around early-spring tax-preparation time, when you might want to tie it in with archiving the previous year's financial files.

最后一件需要准备的事 One Final Thing to Prepare . . . 你已经专门固定了一个时间段，开辟了一个新的区域，准备了一切基本的工具。一切就绪，就等着开始实施这个管理计划了。而现在你又应该做些什么呢？ You've blocked off some time, you've gotten a work area set up, and you've got the basic tools to start implementing the methodology. Now what? 如果你已经决定花费一定的时间来建立自己的工作流程体系，要想获得最佳成效，你还需要做一件事情：必须首选解决在那一个时间段内你需要处理的具体事务。 If you've decided to commit a certain amount of time to setting up your workflow system, there's one more thing that you'll need to do to make it maximally effective: you must clear the decks of any other commitments for the duration of the session. 假如你确实需要同某人通过一次电话，或者你的秘书必须要代你处理某件事情，或者你有事情想要同你的配偶商量一下，马上就动手处理吧。要么你自己首选确定具体的处理时间，并且妥善地保存好提示信息。也就是说，为处理手头上工作作好充分的精神准备，这一点至关重要。 If there's someone you absolutely need to call, or something your secretary has to handle for you or you have to check with your spouse about, do it now. Or make an agreement with yourself about when you will do it, and then put some reminder of that where you won't miss it. It's critical that your full psychic attention be available for the work at hand. 当我坐下来开始培训学员时，毫无例外，即使他们安排了一个固定的时间，付给我大笔金钱向我请教，在课程结束前，他们还是会手忙脚乱地不断应付这样或者那样的事情，而且还没把这些情况纳入到他们的归档系统之中―――“噢，是的，我今天必须要给这个用户打一个电话”，他们说，或者“我必须同我的先生确认一下，看看他是否已经拿到了今天晚上的入场券”。这么多精明教练的专业人士竟然日复一日地地某些责任和义务视而不见，这表明我们的企业文化显然存在着一些漏洞。 Almost without exception, when I sit down to begin coaching people, even though they've blocked out time and committed significant money to utilize me as a resource for that time, they still have things they're going to have to do before we quit for the day, and they haven't arranged for them yet in their own systems. "Oh, yeah, I've got to call this client back sometime today," they'll say, or "I have to check in with my spouse to see if he's gotten the tickets for tonight." It bespeaks a certain lack of awareness and maturity in our culture, I think, that so many sophisticated people are ignoring those levels of responsibility to their own psyche, on an ongoing operational basis. 那么你是否已经解决了这些问题呢？好极了，现在我们应该开始把你可能遭遇到的、所有问题的代表性事件归纳到一起来看看了。 So have you handled all that? Good. Now it's time to gather representatives of all of your open loops into one place.

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第五章收集阶段：填充工作篮 Collection: Corralling Your "Stuff" 在第 2 章里我已经介绍了收集资料的一些基本程序。在这一章中，我们将详细讨论如何将你所有的未尽事宜、零乱的资料归拢到一起过程――放进“工作篮”。这即是通往“心静如水”境界的关键的第一步。只需要比当前的习惯做法多搜集一些信息，你就会体验到一种积极良好的感觉。如果能够坚持百分百地落实这个收集信息的环节，你的生活将会发生富有戏剧性的变化，为你全面有交地控制自己的工作和生活提供一个全新的参照点。 IN CHAPTER 2 I described the basic procedures for collecting your work. This chapter will lead you in more detail through the process of getting all your incompletes, all your "stuff," into one place—into "in." That's the critical first step in getting to the state of "mind like water." Just gathering a few more things than you currently have will probably create a positive feeling for you. But if you can hang in there and really do the whole collection process, 100 percent, it will change your experience dramatically and give you an important new reference point for being on top of your work. 尽管这一阶段通常要花 1－6 个小时的时间才能够完成，但当我对某一个委托人针对这一环节进行培训的时候，却整整用去了 20 个。如果你下定决心对所有的工作和物品进行全面的清查，这需要花费相当长的一段时间，而且往往超出你的预想――这意味着严密地搜寻每一个地方，绝不放过任何一个偏僻隐蔽的角落。如果你拥有汽车、游艇和其它住宅，也不能置之不理。 When I coach a client through this process, the collection phase usually takes between one and six hours, though it did take all of twenty hours with one person (finally I told him, "You get the idea"). It can take longer than you think if you are committed to a full-blown capture that will include everything at work and everywhere else. That means going through every storage area and every nook and cranny in every location, including cars, boats, and other homes, if you have them. 你尽可以放心，只要你抽出至少几个小时的时间来处理这个问题，就可以首选抓住事物的主干。然后在对付其余的情况时，你甚至只需要创建一些相关的提示信息代表一下就足够用了，例如“清理存放游艇的船坞”和整理走廊中的壁橱“。 Be assured that if you give yourself at least a couple of hours to tackle this part, you can grab the major portion of things out-standing. And you can even capture the rest by creating relevant placeholding notes—for example, "Purge and process boat storage shed" and "Deal with hall closet." 现实生活中，任何人都无法保证自己能够时刻百分之百地控制住所有的事物。如果工作应接不暇，你根本不可能把各式各样的想法和承诺统统地从头脑中转移出去。然而，这的的确确是一个完美的行动准则：调动自己的积极性，始终如一地坚持“大扫除”，清理生活和工作中的一切分散注意力的事情。 In the real world, you probably won't be able to keep your stuff 100 percent collected all of the time. If you're like most people, you'll move too fast and be engaged in too many things during the course of a week to get all your ideas and commitments captured outside your head. But it should become an ideal standard that keeps you motivated to consistently "clean house" of all the things about your work and life that have your attention.

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预备，各就各位！Ready, Set. . . 在你动手处理有，搜集一切信息资料。这样做的原因是非常现实的： 1、这有助于你认识到自己面对的工用量。 2、同时让你清楚“隧道的终点”在哪你 3、当开始加工处理这些环节时，你并不希望自己在心理上还对某些可能藏匿于“某处” 的、尚未确定的事情纠缠不休。一旦你已经把所有的吸引注意力的事务归拢到一起，就会自然进入到思想高度集中的状态，并具有良好的控制能力。 There are very practical reasons to gather everything before you start processing it: 1 it's helpful to have a sense of the volume of stuff you have to deal with; 2 it lets you know where the "end of the tunnel" is; and 3 when you're processing and organizing, you don't want to be distracted psychologically by an amorphous mass of stuff that might still be "somewhere." Once you have all the things that require your attention gathered in one place, you'll automatically be operating from a state of enhanced focus and control. 一下子捕捉到所有未完成的事务并归纳到位。这个想法恐怕会让人觉得不切实际。这主要是因为，大多数问题过去和现在都不是“如此重要的”，正是它们之所以一直被弃之一旁的原因了。它可能是一张放入钱包里的名牌，你可能希望将来某个时间再同此人取得联系；也可能是一个掉了某个零件的机械小装置，一直闲置于抽屉中的角落里；还可能是一台打印机，你一直提醒自己要重新安排它在办公室中的位置。这些事情一直让你大伤脑筋，但你还没有下定决心：是马上动手还是让它们从你的清单中彻底消失呢。还是把它们从你的清单中彻底清除掉。由于你心里一直对它们念念不忘，生怕自己忘记了，因此这些事一直占据着你的大脑，耗费着本不应该消耗的精力。只有当你清清楚楚地认识到哪些事情自己没有，才有可能不再为它们烦恼不止。是动手的时候了。拿出一叠白纸准备记录，然后，让我们。。。 It can be daunting to capture into one location, at one time, all the things that don't belong where they are. It may even seem a little counterintuitive, because for the most part, most of that stuff was not, and is not, "that important"; that's why it's still lying around. It wasn't an urgent thing when it first showed up, and probably nothing's blown up yet because it hasn't been dealt with. It's the business card you put in your wallet of somebody you thought you might want to contact sometime. It's the little piece of techno-gear in the bottom desk drawer that you're missing a part for. It's the printer that you keep telling yourself you're going to move to a better location in your office. These are the kinds of things that nag at you but that you haven't decided either to deal with or to drop entirely from your list of open loops. But because you think there still could be something important in there, that "stuff" is controlling you and taking up more psychic energy than it deserves. Keep in mind, you can feel good about what you're not doing, only when you know what you're not doing. So it's time to begin. Grab your in-basket and a half-inch stack of plain paper for your notes, and let's . . . 开始！... Go! 具体的收集工作 Physical Gathering 第一步是搜索你周围的环境，检查一下哪些事物没有到位，把它们放入工作篮。开始收

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集那些不完善的，以及那些已经确定行动方案，正在等待执行的事务。把它们全都扔到工作篮，以便日后随时调用。 The first activity is to search your physical environment for anything that doesn't belong where it is, the way it is, permanently, and put it into your in-basket. You'll be gathering things that are incomplete, things that have some decision about potential action tied to them. They all go into "in," so they'll be available for later processing. 训练自己发现那些没有到位的事情 Train yourself to notice and collect anything that doesn't belong where it is forever. 原地不动 What Stays Where It Is 要想干净利落地哪些资料应该纳入工作篮，最佳的方法是：清清楚楚地了解哪些资料不应该惧。对于下面的 4 类情况我们可以原样保留： 1、供应品 2、参考资料 3、装饰物 4、设备 The best way to create a clean decision about whether something should go into the in-basket is to understand clearly what shouldn't go in. Here are the four categories of things that can remain where they are, the way they are, with no action tied to them: * Supplies * Reference material * Decoration * Equipment

供应品：包括一切你经常使用的、需要保留的物品。文具，名牌，邮票，订书机、记事本、电池，橡皮筋，这些物品都符合这些条件。还有许多人拥有一个存储“个人物品”的抽屉，里面有纸巾、糖果之类的物品 Supplies . . . include anything you need to keep because you use it regularly. Stationery, business cards, stamps, staples, Post-it pads, legal pads, paper clips, ballpoint refills, batteries, forms you need to fill out from time to time, rubber bands—all of these qualify. Many people also have a "personal supplies" drawer at work containing dental floss, Kleenex, breath mints, and so on.

参考资料：是你需要保存，以备随时查询的信息。比如某软件的使用手册，某个熟食店的菜谱，孩子的足球训练时间表，你的通讯录，与你的工作、计划和项目有关的的信息以及像辞典、百科全书等 Reference Material ... is anything you simply keep for information as needed, such as manuals for your software, the local takeout deli menu, or your kid's soccer schedule. This category includes your telephone and address information, any material relevant to projects, themes, and topics, and sources such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, and almanacs.

装饰品：像照片，艺术品、小饰物和植物等 Decoration . . . means pictures of family, artwork, and fun and inspiring things pinned to your bulletin board. You also might have plaques, mementos, and/or plants.

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设备：电话、电脑、打印机、家俱等 Equipment ... is obviously the telephone, computer, fax, printer, wastebasket, furniture, and/or VCR. 你肯定有不少属于这 4 类的物品，基本上这包括了你所有的工具和个人衣物。除此之外的其他一切必须纳入工作篮。有许多物品，你最初可能把它们定义为供应品，参考资料，但也许它们还有待完善。 You no doubt have a lot of things that fall into these four categories—basically all your tools and your gear, which have no actions tied to them. Everything else goes into "in." But many of the things you might initially interpret as supplies, reference, decoration, or equipment could also have action associated with them because they still aren't exactly the way they need to be. 比如，许多在写字台的抽屉、书柜里和公告牌上存放着大量的参考资料。这些资料要么早就过期了，要么整理一下，存放在别的地方。那它们也就应该放到“工作篮”里。同样地，如果对存放供应品的抽屉推动控制，里面塞满无用的，杂乱物品，那么这也是一项等待完成的工作，孩子的照片是否是最近照的呢？墙上的艺术照片、工艺品你是不是还喜欢？总之，如果这 4 类物品并不是处于理想的、应有的状态的话，那你还是要将它们扔到工作篮中去的。 For instance, most people have, in their desk drawers and on their credenzas and bulletin boards, a lot of reference materials that either are out of date or need to be organized somewhere else. Those should go into "in." Likewise, if your supplies drawer is out of control, full of lots of dead or unorganized stuff, that's an incomplete that needs to be captured. Are the photos of your kids current ones? Is the artwork what you want on the wall? Are the mementos really something you still want to keep? Is the furniture precisely the way it should be? Is the computer set up the way you want it? Are the plants in your office alive? In other words, supplies, reference materials, decoration, and equipment may need to be tossed into the in-basket if they're not just where they should be, the way they should be. 有关收集的问题 Issues About Collecting 当处于收集资料的阶段时，你可能会遇到下面一种或者多种情况： 1、收集的内容过多，一个工作蓝装不完。 2、可能偏离到清理和组织管理的环节中。 3、可能碰到一些已经收集和整理过的情况。 4、可能碰上一些紧急的事情。 As you engage in the collecting phase, you may run into one or more of the following: * you've got a lot more than will fit into one in-basket; * you're likely to get derailed into purging and organizing; * you may have some form of stuff already collected and organized; and/or * you're likely to run across some critical things that you want to keep in front of you.

如果某一项工作的内容过多而无法装入一只工作篮时，你应该怎么办呢？如果你不能把它们放到一只工作篮，可以用一纸写下来，比如门后放了一张海报，你只用在白纸上写下门后的海报，然后就可以扔到篮子里去了。 What If an Item Is Too Big to Go in the In-Basket? If you can't physically put something in the

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in-basket, then write a note on a piece of letter-size plain paper to represent it. For instance, if you have a poster or other piece of artwork behind the door to your office, just write "Artwork behind door" on a letter-size piece of paper and put the paper in the in-basket. 此外在你手写的每一件物品上注明日期也是一个好习惯。比如你交给你助手处理的即时贴便条，你从语音信箱中以便条上的信息，以及与某一位用户通电话随手记下的零星笔记等。花很少的时间获取极其有价值的信息，这确实是一个值得我们培养的好习惯。 Be sure to date it, too. This has a couple of benefits. If your organization system winds up containing some of these pieces of paper representing something else, it'll be useful to know when the note was created. It's also just a great habit to date everything you hand-write, from Post-it notes to your assistant, to voice-mails you download onto a pad, to notes you take on a phone call with a client. The 3 percent of the time that this little piece of information will be extremely useful makes it worth developing the habit.

如果不同项目的资料过多，也无法装入工作篮时，应该怎么办？一般人都不可能只靠一个工作篮就装完所有的资料，把它们堆到篮子旁边，甚至放在地上也可以。最终加工处理的时候，这些堆积如山的资料将会被清空。但请注意，这些资料要和别的东西严格开。 What If the Pile Is Too Big to Fit into the In-Basket? If you're like 98 percent of my clients, your initial gathering activity will collect much more than can be comfortably stacked in an in-basket. If that's the case, just create stacks around the in-basket, and maybe even on the floor underneath it. Ultimately you'll be emptying the in-stacks, as you process and organize everything. In the meantime, though, make sure that there's some obvious visual distinction between the stacks that are "in" and everything else.

立刻倒掉如果某一资料一眼能就断定是没有价值的，立刻扔掉它们。对于我的一些客户来说，这个工作标志着他们第一次动手清理写字台中间位置的抽屉！ Instant Dumping If it's immediately evident that something is trash, go ahead and toss it when you see it. For some of my clients, this marks the first time they have ever cleaned their center desk drawer! 如果你对某样东西的价值感到犹豫时，把它放入工作篮。日后进行清理阶段工作时，可以进一步考虑再作决定。你当然不希望自己一味的把精力纠缠在这些琐碎的东西上。干脆先把它们都扔到工作篮里。收集阶段的中心目标是以最快速度把一切装入到工和篮。这样一来你就节约了时间，“划清了界限”。 If you're not sure what something is or whether it's worth keeping, go ahead and put it into "in." You'll be able to decide about it later, when you process the in-basket. What you don't want to do is to let yourself get wrapped up in things piece by piece, trying to decide this or that. You'll do that later anyway if it's in "in," and it's easier to make those kinds of choices when you're in processing mode. The objective for the collection process is to get everything into "in" as quickly as possible so you've appropriately retrenched and "drawn the battle lines."

提防清除和组织管理的干扰许多人在清理办公室（或者家里）的各个不同区域时，都受到“清除组织管理病毒”的袭击，如果你也遭遇到该病毒的侵袭，只要你能够确定一个时间段对整个管理流程进行检查和回顾，就不用过分地担忧（就像你至少还拥有一个星期的时间

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呢）。否则，你必须把它们分散开来，当做零碎的事情或行动加以处理，并把提示信息纳入你的系统之中，就像“清理抽屉”或者“清扫办公室的橱柜”。 Be Careful of the Purge-and-Organize Bug! Many people get hit with the purge-and-organize virus as they're going through various areas of their office (and their home). If that happens to you, it's OK, so long as you have a major open window of time to get through the whole process (like at least a whole week ahead of you). Otherwise you'll need to break it up into chunks and capture them as little projects or actions to do, with reminders in your system, like "Purge four-drawer cabinet" or "Clean office closet." 如果终日埋头于清理整顿，疲惫地奔波于支离破碎的势必工作中，自然无力再去推进整个行动管理计划的实施。这样耗费的时间可能会超过你的预想。你希望追求最具有价值的目标，尽快处理掉所有的问题，建立自己的管理体系。 What you don't want to do is let yourself get caught running down a rabbit trail cleaning up some piece of your work and then not be able to get through the whole action-management implementation process. It may take longer than you think, and you want to go for the gold and finish processing all your stuff and setting up your system as soon as possible.

怎么处理那些清单上和计划中已经存在的事情呢？很可能，你已经创立了一些清单和某种形式的管理系统。但我还是建议你，除非已经对整个工作流程的管理模式了如指掌，否则的话，你还应该像对待“工作篮”中其它所有需要处理的情况一样对待他们。你当然希望自己建立起来的新系统承前启后，具有连贯性，因此，从同一视角出发，对每一件事物进行评估就变得十分必要了。 What About Things That Are Already on Lists and in Organizers'? You may already have some lists and some sort of organization system in place. But unless you're thoroughly familiar with this workflow-processing model and have implemented it previously, I recommend that you treat those lists as items still to be processed, like everything else in "in." You'll want your system to be consistent, and it'll be necessary to evaluate everything from the same viewpoint to get it that way. “但是我不能放弃那件事！“ 通常情况下，有些人在收集过程中偶然发现一有一页纸或者一份文件时，会大叫一声：“噢，我的天啊！我完全把这件事忘记了！我得赶紧处理一下！” 这可能是一张电话留言，提醒她两天前必须回一个电话；或者是一个会议备忘录，提醒她几个星期前必须采取的一个行动。她绝不希望把它与其它堆积如山的资料混在一起，以免再次丢失这个信息。 "But I Can't Lose That Thing . . . !" Often in the collection process someone will run across a piece of paper or a document that causes her to say, "Oh, my God! I forgot about that! I've got to deal with that!" It could be a phone slip with a return call she was supposed to handle two days before, or some meeting notes that remind her of an action she was supposed to take weeks ago. She doesn't want to put whatever it is into the huge stack of other stuff in her in-basket because she's afraid she might lose track of it again. 如果这件事发生在你的身上，你首先必须问一下自己：有些事是否必须在开始实施管理计划前解决掉。如果情况如此，你最好立刻行动起来把它搞定，以便能够尽快地消除这个精神负担。如果情况并非如此，那你就按部就班地行事吧，把它放入工作篮中。不管怎么样，你马上就要对付并工作篮中的一切问题，因此不会出现丢失或者遗漏它的可能。

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If that happens to you, first ask yourself if it's something that really has to be handled before you get though this initial implementation time. If so, best deal with it immediately so you get it off your mind. If not, go ahead and put it into "in." You're going to get all that processed and emptied soon anyway, so it won't be lost. 如果此刻无法采取任何措施，而你仍然需要一提示，可以做一个“紧急事件夹”放在身，虽然这并不是一个理想的解决办法，但仍然能够奏效。请记住，随着你对一些事情比以往更加关注，某些潜意识中的担忧将会渐渐地浮现出来。因此，应该创建一个能够满足一切需要的工具。 If you can't deal with the action in the moment, and you still just have to have the reminder right in front of you, go ahead and create an "emergency" stack somewhere close at hand. It's not an ideal solution, but it'll do. Keep in mind that some potential anxiousness is going to surface as you make your stuff more conscious to you than it's been. Create whatever supports you need. 从办公桌开始 Start with Your Desktop 现在准备好了吗？好的。开始动手把堆积在办公桌上的物品放入工作篮。通常情况下，你手头上总会搁置数不胜数的东西，它们都需要收集起来。有许多人干脆把整个办公桌当做工作篮。如果你也如此，可以从四周堆积如山的资料着手整理。把工作空间的某一个角落作为切入点然后向四周扩展，注意不要遗漏每一个角落。典型的物品有：＊堆积成山的信件和备忘录＊电话记录本＊收集到的名片＊会议记录 Ready now? OK. Start piling those things on your desk into "in." Often there'll be numerous things right at hand that need to go in there. Many people use their whole desktop as "in"; if you're one of them, you'll have several stacks around you to begin your "in" collection with. Start at one end of your work space and move around, dealing with everything on every cubic inch. Typical items will be: * Stacks of mail and memos * Phone slips * Collected business cards * Notes from meetings 就像每个人最初的表现那样，你要努力克制自己的冲动，不要这样说：“噢，我知道那堆材料是什么，是我自己放在那里的。”这正是以前不良的做法，因此，这一切统统要放入工作篮中。 Resist the urge to say, as almost everyone does initially, "Well, I know what's in that stack, and that's where I want to leave it." That's exactly what hasn't worked before, and it all needs to go into the in-basket. 当你围着办公桌来回走时，要问一下自己，是不是打算更换这里的任何工具或者设备呢？电话机功效如何呢？计算机呢？写字台呢？如果某一设备有更换的必要，写个便条，扔到工作篮里去。 As you go around your desktop, ask yourself if you have any intention of changing any of the

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tools or equipment there. Is your phone OK? Your computer? The desk itself? If anything needs changing, write a note about it and toss it into "in." 写字台的抽屉 Desk Drawers 下一步轮到写字台的抽屉了。注意一次就清理一个。抽屉里有哪些东西总是在分散着你的注意力？哪些可以采取行动？哪些是根本不应该放在那里的呢？如果你对上面任何一个问题的回答是肯定，就应该马上行动起来，把那些可以付诸行动的事件投入工作篮，或者写一个提示信息。我重申一次，你是否能够抓住这一机会彻底地清理这些抽屉中的物品，或者干脆记下来日后再进行处理，这一切都取决于你手中有多少可以支配的时间和抽屉中的资料的存储量是多少。 Next tackle the desk drawers, if you have them, one at a time. Any attention on anything in there? Any actionable items? Is there anything that doesn't belong there? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, put the actionable item into "in" or write a note about it. Again, whether you use this opportunity to clean and organize the drawers or simply make a note to do it later will depend on how much time you have and how much stuff is in there. 工作台 Countertops 继续清理办公室。搜寻放在书柜，工作台面或者文件柜顶部的那些临时文件。通常，你会发现一摞摞的的阅读资料、信件，以及各色混杂的文件夹和辅助资料。把它们统统收集起来。 Continue working your way around your office, collecting everything sitting on the tops of credenzas or counters or cabinets that doesn't belong there permanently. Often there will be stacks of reading material, mail, and miscellaneous folders and support material for actions and projects. Collect it all. 也许某些参考资料已经用完了，只是随手丢在那里。如果你能够反手即可把它们放回原来的文件柜或者书架中，立即行动吧！但在你存放这些资料之前，你首先需要确认一点：这些资料是不是可能牵扯到别的潜在的活动呢？如果有，则必须放入“工作篮”，以备日后进一步处理。 Maybe there is reference material that you've already used and just left out. If that's so, and if you can return it to the file cabinet or the bookshelf in just a second, go ahead and do that. Be careful to check with yourself, though, about whether there is some potential action tied to the material before you put it away. If there is, put it into "in" so you can deal with it later in the process. 柜橱内 Inside the Cabinets 现在我们来检查一下柜子里都储备了一些什么物品。这里藏匿大批供应品和参考资料以及常年累月的积压品的理想场所，你可能翻出一些不完整或者过时了的物品。我就经常碰到一些收藏和纪念品，它们对我的客户来说早就已经失去了意义了。比如，一位保险公司的总经理最后处理掉的奖状竟然塞满了一个小垃圾桶，这些都是他多年以来积攒起来的。 Now look inside the cabinets. What's in there? These are perfect areas for stashing large supplies and reference materials, and equally seductive for holding deeper levels of stuff Any broken or out-of-date things in there? Often I'll find collectibles and nostalgia that aren't meaningful to my clients any longer. One general manager of an insurance office, for example, wound up tossing out at least a small Dumpster's worth of "recognition" awards he had accumulated over the years.

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考虑一下，那些收藏品和纪念物是否对你还存在任何意义。 Consider whether your collectible and nostalgia items are still meaningful to you. 再重复一次，如果这些区域迫切需要清理和整顿，那就立即动手，写张字条并投入工作篮中。 Again, if some of these areas are out of control and need purging and organizing, write that on a note and toss it into "in." 地板、墙壁和书架 Floors, Walls, and Shelves 告示牌上的记录是否需要立刻付诸行动？墙上用大头钉固定的那些纸箱是不是早就已经失去了作用？有哪些照片、艺术品或者装饰品分散了你的注意力？那些开放式的印刷品架的情况又是怎么样的呢？哪些书籍需要浏览一下或者送给别人？有哪些目录表、指南手册，或者三孔的活页夹已经陈旧过时了，或者还可能引发潜在的行动？地板上是不是到处堆积着一叠叠的资料？你只需要迅速把它们转移到工作篮附近，从而添加到清单中去。 Anything on bulletin boards that needs action? Anything tacked onto the walls that doesn't belong there? Any attention on your pictures, artwork, plaques, or decorations? How about the open shelves? Any books that need to be read or donated? Any catalogs, manuals, or three-ring binders that are out of date or have some potential action associated with them? Any piles or stacks of things on the floor? Just scoot them over next to your in-basket to add to the inventory. 设备、家具和固定装置 Equipment, Furniture, arid Fixtures 你否希望更换一下办公室的设备、家具或者改善一下办公室的空间安排？一切设施是运转正常？照明设备符合你的要求吗？如果存在着某种改善的可能性，你应该知道怎么做：写张纸条，放入工作篮中。 Is there anything you want to do to or change about any of your office equipment or furniture or the physical space itself? Does everything work? Do you have all the lighting you need? If there are actionable items, you know what to do: make a note and put it in "in." 其它地方 Other Locations 这将取决于在实施本计划时，你自己所确定范围的大小。也许你也希望在所有的保存资料的区域推选收集工作的活动。如果你决心彻底地解放自己的大脑，那么，在所有的区域全面落实这一计划就变得势在必行了。 Depending on the scope of what you're addressing in this process, you may want to do some version of the same kind of gathering anywhere else you keep stuff. If you're determined to get to a really empty head, it's imperative that you do it everywhere. 我培训过的一些经理把我请回家里，他们在我的亲自指导下实施这个收集过程，深感受益匪浅。在家庭生活中，他们通常不知不觉地落入“鸡毛蒜皮”的小事的陷阱之中，导致精力被一点一滴地侵蚀掉。 Some executives I work with find it immensely valuable to take me home with them and have me walk them through this process there as well. Often they've allowed the "not so important" trap to ensnare them in their home life, and it has gnawed away at their energy. 千万不要让“并非那么重要的”陷阱吞噬掉你在家时的精力

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Don't let the "not so important" trap gnaw away your energy at home. 大脑中的搜集活动：清扫大脑 Mental Gathering: The Mind-Sweep 一旦认为已经把周围环境中需要处理的事宜全部搜索到一起，你会进而希望搜寻那些仍然存储在你脑海中的事项。是什么事还在时刻侵占你的注意力。而你却又无法在工作篮中找到它们呢？ Once you feel you've collected all the physical things in your environment that need processing, you'll want to collect anything else that may be residing in your psychic RAM. What has your attention that isn't represented by something already in your in-basket? 这时，一叠简单的白纸开始真正地发挥作用了。我建议你分别在不同的纸上一一写下这些想法或者诸如此类令人精力分散的事情。你可以在一张白纸上列一份长长的清单。但是考虑到日后要一一分别处理每项事情，因此实际上，每张纸上只记录一项工作会更有效果。也许你不会保存这些纸条。但是当你开始工作的时候，各项分类记录的事情将令你感到得心应手。 This is where the stack of plain paper really comes into play. I recommend that you write out each thought, each idea, each project or thing that has your attention, on a separate sheet of paper. You could make one long list on a pad, but given how you will later be processing each item individually, it's actually more effective to put everything on separate sheets. You will likely not keep these pieces of paper (unless you decide that low-tech is your best organizing method), but it'll be handy to have them as discrete items to deal with as you're processing. 完成了其它事物的收集工作后，你大概需要 20 分钟到一个小时的时间把头脑中的内容一一地清理到记录用的白纸上。你会发现这些事情的出现往往随意性很强――鸡毛蒜皮的小事、重大事件、个人私事、工作问题等，没有任何特定的次序可依。 It will probably take you between twenty minutes and an hour to clear your head onto separate notes, after you've gathered everything else. You'll find that things will tend to occur to you in somewhat random fashion—little things, big things, personal things, professional things, in no particular order. 在这种情况下，你只需要注重数量。宁有过之而无不及，也不能冒着遗漏任何情况的危险。毕竟，你总能在日后处理掉那些垃圾。你冒出来的第一个念头可能是“保护臭气层”，接着你会继续想到“我要去买一些狗粮”，，，，，总之把它们统统地记下来。如果在这一阶段，你在工作篮中放入了厚厚一打便笺，可别大惊小怪。 In this instance, go for quantity. It's much better to overdo this process than to risk missing something. You can always toss the junk later. Your first idea may be "Save the ozone layer," and then you'll think, "I need cat food!" Grab them all. Don't be surprised if you discover you've created quite a stack of paper in "in" during this procedure. “启动器”清单 "Trigger" List 为了帮助你清理自己的大脑，你可能希望浏览下面列出的“不完全事件的启动器”清单。一条条地仔细检查，看一看自己是不是有所遗漏。通常你只要快速浏览一次就可以发现潜藏于你大脑某一个角落中的问题。记住：一旦有所发现，马上在纸上记录下来，投入工作篮。 To assist in clearing your head, you may want to review the following "Incompletion Triggers" list,

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item by item, to see if you've forgotten anything. Often you'll just need a jog to unearth something lurking in a corner of your mind. Remember, when something occurs to you, write it on a piece of paper and toss it into "in." “不完全事件的启动器”清单职业方面：已经开始的工作，但沿未完成需要开始处理的工作对别人的承诺/许下的诺言老板/合伙人同事下属机构中的其他人员 “圈外”人顾客其他机构专业人士需要进行/获得的交流内部的/外部的发起/作出反应电话语音邮件电子邮件传呼机传真信件备忘录其它需要完成/上交的文字资料

评估/回顾检查建议文章晋升材料指南手册/说明书重新编写和编辑需要确定的会议需要了解决策情况的人重要阅读/复查资料金融方面现金流数据统计预算预报/预测损益资产负债表最高赊账限额计划和组织管理正式计划（目的，对象，目标）当前的各项工作（下一阶段）即将出现的各项工作

报告商业/营销计划机构的进取心即将发生的事件会议发言稿机构的组织结构设备上的变化安装新系统/设备旅行

供应品办公室/现场办公室管理家具装饰品等待信息指派给他人的工作/任务需要完成的重要工作

银行应收账款欠债零花钱

答复信件备忘录电话

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管理法律事宜保险人事安排政策/程序顾客内部的外部的市场营销促销销售客户服务系统电话需要特别掌握/学习的技能：计算机办公设备其它设备公用事业文件归档存储详细的目录个人方面已经开始但还未完成的需要开始处理的工作对别人许下的诺言配偶孩子家庭朋友专业人士借贷的物品工作：其它组织机构服务市政志愿者需要进行/获取的交流家庭朋友职业方面发起或回复：电话信件

建议要求报销零用现金保险已经订购的货物修理中的物品票据其它决定职业发展培训/研讨会需要学习的事物有待改善的事物

录音录像培训个人简历外部教育研究―――需要搞清楚… 职业服装柜

研究与发展的事项打算去的地方打算会见或拜访的人当地的旅游景点管理金融方面账单银行投资贷款税款保险司法事宜文件归档等待… 邮购订单修理退还外借物品医疗资料

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卡片即将发生的事件特殊场合生日周年纪念日婚礼毕业典礼节假日旅游周未之行度假社交活动文化活动体育活动车道墙面/地板/天花板装饰品家具公共设施用具器皿灯泡/电线厨房用具洗衣机/吹风机/吸尘器需要整理清扫的区域计算机软件硬件连接线 cdrom 电邮/因特网电机录像机音乐/光盘/录像带照相机/胶卷电话体育设施柜橱/衣物

待回信函家庭/家居事项房东财产所有权法律方面的不动产分区制交税建筑商/承包商供暖/空调水管供电屋顶情况风景车库/贮藏室汽车修理/保养工具行李宠物保健医生牙医专科医生爱好书籍/cd 外出跑腿的差事五金店杂货店市场银行洗衣店文具店社区街道学校当地政府市政事宜

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工作篮库存清单 The "In" Inventory 如果你的大脑中空空如也，无牵无挂，你的工作篮恐怕已经塞得满满的了。除了局面资料和物品外，恐怕工作篮里的库存清单上还包括了那些长驻的语音及电子邮件，当然还应该包括那些你已经刻录到管理手册清单中，但还没决定下一步行的事情。 If your head is empty of everything, personally and professionally, then your in-basket is probably quite full, and likely spilling over. In addition to the paper-based and physical items in your inbasket, your inventory of "in" should include any resident voice-mails and all the e-mails that are currently staged in the "in" area of your communication software. It should also include any items on your organizer lists for which you have not yet determined next actions. 通常情况下，我建议我的用户把语音信息下载到书面记事本上，并连同整个计划手册的记事本一起存入工作篮中。人们常常还需要对它再次进行评估。如果你一直在使用掌上电脑、 outlook 或者 lotus，而不是日历牌和电话地址通讯录的话，那么我建议你打印出工作和待处理事务的清单，也同样放入工作篮中。至于电子邮件，最好还是由它去吧。这是因为电子邮件的数量巨大，此外它还有一套自身的迷你系统。

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I usually recommend that clients download their voice-mails onto paper notes and put those into their in-baskets, along with their whole organizer notebooks, which usually need significant reassessment. If you've been using something like a Palm PDA or Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Organizer for anything other than calendar and telephone/address functionality, I suggest you print out any task and to-do lists and put them, too, into your in-basket. E-mails are best left where they are, because of their volume and the efficiency factor of dealing with them within their own minisystem. 当你能够轻而易举地看到这个包含了所有完成了的工作目录时，工作篮的整理也就差不多完成了。 Connection is completed when you can easily see the edges to the inventory of everything that is complete. 工作篮中的内容并不永远地保留在工作篮中 But "In" Doesn't Stay in "In" 完成了这一步骤后，你也就为下一步的行动作好准备了。你肯定不希望无限期地把资料保存在工作篮，那样这些事情将会再次偷偷钻入你的心里。当然人们之所以对收集资料并转移到工作篮充满抵触情绪，主要的原因之一是人们依然缺乏一种良好的管理方法来就会这一局面。这就把我们带入下一章――清空工作篮。 When you've done all that, you're ready to take the next step. You don't want to leave anything in "in" for an indefinite period of time, because then it would without fail creep back into your psyche again, since your mind would know you weren't dealing with it. Of course, one of the main factors in people's resistance to collecting stuff into "in" is the lack of a good processing and organizing methodology to handle it. That brings us to the next chapter: "Getting 'In' to Empty."

第六章处理阶段：清空工作篮 Processing: Getting "In" to Empty 假设你已经完成了收集过程，现在你的工作实际上就是从工作篮的最底层开始挖掘。清空工作篮，事实上并不意味着落实你所收集到的全部工作和行动。它仅仅是指确定每一项工作的内容和实质，并判断出你下一步的具体措施。 ASSUMING THAT YOU have collected everything that has your attention, your job now is to actually get to the bottom of "in." Getting "in" to empty doesn't mean actually doing all the actions and projects that you've collected. It just means identifying each item and deciding what it is, what it means, and what you're going to do with it. 当你完成了加工处理工作篮的活动时，你将： 1、丢弃你不再需要的一切； 2、完成任何用不了 2 分钟就能搞定的事情； 3、把任何可以委托他人处理的事情交代出去； 4、为所有需要走过 2 分钟时间的工作注明提示信息，并分类纳入你的管理系统之中； 5、根据获取的信息，明确你目前一些较为重要的工作和任务。 When you've finished processing "in," you will have 1 rashed what you don't need;

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2 completed any less-than-two-minute actions; 3 handed off to others anything that can be delegated; 4 sorted into your own organizing system reminders of actions that require more than two minutes; and 5 identified any larger commitments (projects) you now have, based on the input. 为了能够纵览整个工作流程，你会发现，在下一页所附的工作流程图具有非常有益的参考价值。中间一栏展示了加工处理以及确定下一步行动计划时所涉及到的一切步骤。 To get an overview of this process, you may find it useful here to refer to the Workflow Diagram on page 120. The center column illustrates all the steps involved in processing and deciding your next actions. 本章将重点介绍该图中间一栏的各个组成因素，从工作篮扩展到一步行动的各个环节。你能看到，每一个悬而未决的问题在遵循这个加工处理的模式后，会自然而然地形成一种组织结构。例如，当你从工作篮随手挑出一件事情，突然意识到：“我应该致电安德烈，向她通告这一情况。算了，还是等到星期一她在办公室的时候再打吧。”然后你立刻推迟了行动，并在星期一的工作日历上做标注。 This chapter focuses on the components in the diagram's center column, the steps from "in" to next action. You'll immediately see the natural organization that results from following this process for each of your open loops. For instance, if you pick up something from "in" and realize, "I've got to call Andrea about that, but I've got to do it on Monday, when she's in her office," then you'll defer that action immediately and enter it into your calendar for Monday. 我建议你在正式开始处理你所网罗到工作篮内的事情之前，首先仔细地阅读一下本章，以及下一章有关管理具体行动的内容，这样做也许可以节约某些步骤。当我针对这一过程对客户进行培训时，人们往往踌躇不前、摇摆不定，这是因为决定要处理未尽事宜是一个简单的事情，但是最佳的决策途径便相当的棘手了。 I recommend that you read through this chapter and the next one, on organizing your actions, before you actually start processing what you've collected in "in." It may save you some steps. When I coach clients through this process, it invariably becomes a dance back and forth between the simple decision-making stage of processing the open loops and the trickier task of figuring out the best way to enter these decisions in a client's particular organization system. 比如我培训的许多客户都迫不及待地建立起个人掌上电脑中的计划表，并使之与公司用于收发电子邮件和进行日程安排的 outlook 保持同步。首先需要确认的是，所有的硬件和软件配置运行良好。当完成收集工作之后，我们清除(通常是打印出来然后清除掉)整理了那些原先在 outlook 工作清单上的准备管理的一切项目，并把它们统统地放入工作篮中。接着，我们建立起不同类别的目录，如“待打的电话”、“外出办理的事宜”、“议事日程”、“在电脑旁”等。随后我们开始着手清理工作篮，用户可以立刻启动他的计算机，直接把下一步的行动方案输入到管理系统中，最终他将会依赖于这个系统。 Many of my coaching clients, for example, are eager to get set up personally on a PDA organizer that will synchronize with Microsoft Outlook, which their company is using for e-mail and scheduling. The first thing we have to do (after we've collected the in-basket) is make sure all their hardware and software are working. Then we clean up (print out and erase, usually) everything

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they have previously tried to organize in their Outlook task lists and put it all into "in." Then we establish some working categories such as "Calls," "Errands," "Agendas," "At Computer," and so on. As we begin to process the in-basket, the client can go immediately to his computer and type his action steps directly into the system he will ultimately depend on. 如果你仍然对自己到底使用哪一种个人提示系统感到犹豫的话，你完全可以首先使用技术含量较低的局面形式的记事本。一旦你的个人管理系统全部建立到位，就可以随时更新改进这些工具了。 If you're not sure yet what you're going to be using as a personal reminder system, don't worry. You can begin very appropriately with the low-tech initial process of notes on pieces of paper. You can always upgrade your tools later, once you have your system in place.

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“材料”

工作篮垃圾

是什么工作

可否付诸行

不可以

可以

将来某时/也许（备忘录文件夹；保留备查）

参考资料（需要时可取）

工作（策划）下一步行动是什么工作计划行动时备查

2 分钟能否搞定

是

实施

等待让别人去处理

否

指派给别人

延迟

日程表

后面的行动

在某一具体时间内处理

尽快解决

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加工处理的方法指导 Processing Guidelines 学习这种模式的最佳途径就是行动起来。但是，还是有几个基本原则可以遵循： 1、从最上面的一项开始处理。 2、一次只处理一件事情。 3、永远不要把任何事情再次放回工作篮 The best way to learn this model is by doing. But there are a few basic rules to follow: * Process the top item first. * Process one item at a time. * Never put anything back into "in." 从最上面的一项开始 Top Item First 即使第二项事情是你们国家总统先生给你的一封个人留言，而第一项仅仅是一个垃圾邮件，你也必须首先对付这个垃圾邮件。虽然这是一个夸张的例子。但是这个原则是非常重要的，每一件事情都必须获得均等机会的处理。“处理”这个动词并不意味着“花费时间”，它仅仅是指“判断事情的实质，决定下一步的行动方案，然后相应地处理掉”。无论如何，你必须尽最大的可能迅速地突击到工作篮的底部，而且不逃避任何一件事情的处理。 Even if the second item down is a personal note to you from the president of your country, and the top item is a piece of junk mail, you've got to process the junk mail first! That's an exaggeration to make a point, but the principle is an important one: everything gets processed equally. The verb "process" does not mean "spend time on." It just means "decide what the thing is and what action is required, and then dispatch it accordingly." You're going to get to the bottom of the basket as soon as you can anyway, and you don't want to avoid dealing with anything in there. 加工处理并不意味着“花费时间” Process does not mean "spend time on." 紧急搜索并非加工处理 Emergency Scanning Is Not Processing 大多数人首先在工作篮或者电子邮箱里寻找最紧急、最生动有趣或者最引人注目的事情来做。“紧急搜索”的做法固然很好，而且有时也极为必要。也许你刚刚从别处开会回来，15 分钟后还要参加一个长时间的电话会议，因此检查一下以确保没有“地雷”，看看你的客户是不是已经答复了你的电子邮件，对你的提议表示赞同。 Most people get to their in-basket or their e-mail and look for the most urgent, most fun, or most interesting stuff to deal with first. "Emergency scanning" is fine and necessary sometimes (I do it, too). Maybe you've just come back from an off-site meeting and have to be on a long conference call in fifteen minutes. So you check to make sure there are no land mines about to explode and to see if your client has e-mailed you back OK'ing the big proposal. 然而这并不是我们所说的处理工作的正常程序，这充其量只是一个紧急搜索。当你开始进入加工处理的行动模式时，必须养成这样一个习惯：即从一端入手，按顺序一次只解决一项内容。一旦你打破了这一原则，只去处理你想要解决的事情，并且顺序杂乱，结果某些事件必然被遗漏掉了。因此，你将失去这个功效卓著的“漏斗”，所有的事物又将铺天盖地地布满你的写字台和办公室。 But that's not processing your in-basket; it's emergency scanning. When you're in processing mode, you must get into the habit of starting at one end and just cranking through items one at a time, in

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order. As soon as you break that rule, and process only what you feel like processing, and in whatever order, you'll invariably begin to leave things unprocessed. Then you will no longer have a functioning funnel, and it will back up all over your desk and office. “后进先出”法，还是“先进先出”法 LIFOorFIFO? 从理论上讲，你应该把工作篮底朝天地颠倒一下，然后，从第一件装入工作篮的材料开始清理。事实上，只要你能够在一段比较合理的时间内，完成从一个末端到另一末端的整理工作，其结果是大同小异的。无论如何，你在短时间内可以没有遗漏地检阅全部的内容。然而如果你试图整理一大堆积压已久的电子邮件，恐怕你会发现，首先对付最后出现的邮件反而可以提高效率。这是由于所有的讨论中的头绪是一个一个相互叠加而累积起来的。 Theoretically, you should flip your in-basket upside down and process first the first thing that came in. As long as you go from one end clear through to the other within a reasonable period of time, though, it won't make much difference. You're going to see it all in short order anyway. And if you're going to attempt to clear up a big backlog of e-mails staged in "in," you'll actually discover it's more efficient to process the last-in first because of all the discussion threads that accumulate on top of one another. 工作篮是一个处理问题的站点，而不是一个存储容器。 The in-basket is a processing station, not a storage bin. 一次一项内容 One Item at a Time 也许你发现自己常常有这样一种倾向：拿起一份资料，当自己还未确定具体的处理措施时，你的眼睛又不由自主地落到下面的另一桩事情上，大脑也随之开了小差。也许第二项工作对你具有更强的吸引力，因为你对如何解决它胸有成竹，而对于手头上的这件事你一点也不感兴趣。这可是一个危险的信号：由于你把精力转移到下面一项更简单、更重要或者更有趣的事情，很可能你会把手头上的工作扔到一边，使它再次积压在你的办公桌上。 You may find you have a tendency, while processing your in-basket, to pick something up, not know exactly what you want to do about it, and then let your eyes wander onto another item farther down the stack and get engaged with it. That item may be more attractive to your psyche because you know right away what to do with it—and you don't feel like thinking about what's in your hand. This is dangerous territory. What's in your hand is likely to land on a "hmppphhh" stack on the side of your desk because you become distracted by something easier, more important, or more interesting below it. 大多数人也希望能够立刻把工作篮中的一切内容统统倒出来，尽力搞定它们。尽管我本人非常理解人们这一急切愿望，但是，我还是始终提醒我的客户们：把所有的内容放回原处，除了最上面的一项。每次只强调一项内容，可以迫使你集中注意力作出判断。注意力是确保问题解决必不可少的条件。即使你的思考被迫中断，你处理的事情也不会再次陷入失控状态。 Most people also want to take a whole stack of things out of the in-basket at once, put it right in front of them, and try to crank through it. Although I empathize with the desire to "deal with a big chunk," I constantly remind clients to put back everything but the one item on top. The focus on just one thing forces the requisite attention and decision-making to get through all your stuff. And if you get interrupted (which is likely), you won't have umpteen parts of "in" scattered around outside the tray and out of control again.

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多重操作的例外 The Multitasking Exception 对于一次处理一件事这个原则，存在着一个难以捉摸的例外，某些人在作出决定前的确需要转移一下工作的重心。当我注意到某人出现这种情况时，我就允许他在处理事物时，同时取出两件，有时是三件事。只有这样，选择行动方案的过程才会变得简单迅速。 There's a subtle exception to the one-item-at-a-time rule. Some personality types really need to shift their focus away from something for at least a minute in order to make a decision about it. When I see this going on with someone, I let him take two or sometimes three things out at once as he's processing. It's then easier and faster for him to make a choice about the action required. 请记住，多重操作是一个例外，而且，只有当你坚持遵循快速完成每一项任务的原则时才会奏效。此外，永远不要逃避那些超过一两分钟才能够作出的决定。 Remember, multitasking is an exception—and it works only if you hold to the discipline of working through every item in short order, and never avoid any decision for longer than a minute or two. 永远不再放回工作篮 Nothing Goes Back into "In" 你只有一条单程路线离开工作篮。尽管事实上，对事物仅仅只处理一次并非是一个好语音，但这条单程路线体现了那条古老的警言“处理一次”（handle things once）的真实寓意。如果你照此办理，你就永远不会背负着一个清单，因为当你读到这个清单时，你即刻就将它们一一搞定了。这条建议的中心意图在于，根除一种不良习惯，即连续不断地从工作篮中取出任务，但却即不判定的性质，也不考虑下一步对策，只是把它们弃之一旁。因此，一条善意的忠告是：“当你第一次从工作篮中取出时，立刻判定它的实质以及处理方法，永远不要把它再次放回工作篮内。 There's a one-way path out of "in." This is actually what was meant by the old admonition to "handle things once," though handling things just once is in fact a bad idea. If you did that, you'd never have a list, because you would finish everything as soon as you saw it. You'd also be highly ineffective and inefficient, since most things you deal with are not to be acted upon the first time you become aware of them. Where the advice does hold is in eliminating the bad habit of continually picking things up out of "in," not deciding what they mean or what you're going to do about them, and then just leaving them there. A better admonition would be, "The first time you pick something up from your in-basket, decide what to do about it and where it goes. Never put it back in "in."

加工处理的关键性问题：“下一步行动是什么？” The Key Processing Question: "What's the Next Action?" 你已经领悟了要点，每一次你只会对付一项任务。此外，你还将针对每一个任务作出果断的决定。听起来似乎轻而易举，但这要求你必须想得又快又准。在大多数的情况下，行动方案需要反复斟酌，因此，你必须作出判断。 You've got the message. You're going to deal with one item at a time. And you're going to make a firm next-action decision about each one. This may sound easy—and it is—but it requires you to do some fast, hard thinking. Much of the time the action will not be self-evident; it will need to be determined.

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例如，第一项任务是：是否需要你与某人通一个电话？填写一张表格？从因特网上下载某些信息？去商店采购？同你的秘书谈一谈？给你的老板发一封电子邮件？如果存在行动的可能，那么，这项任务独特而确切的本质将界定下一步行动可能的几种选择。然而，如果 “确实没有什么可以采取的行动”，又应该怎么办呢？ On that first item, for example, do you need to call someone? Fill something out? Get information from the Web? Buy something at the store? Talk to your secretary? E-mail your boss? What? If there's an action, its specific nature will determine the next set of options. But what if you say, "There's really nothing to do with this"?

就像是一只在一个挤满了裸体的账篷中的蚊子，我清楚自己想要做什么，但是却不知道从哪里下手。 ――斯蒂芬.贝恩 I am rather like a mosquito in a nudist camp; I know what I want to do, but I don't know where to begin. —Stephen Bayne 如果不需要采取对策时，又应该怎么办呢？What If There Is No Action? 很可能的是，你的工作篮中存在着一些不需要采取行动的任务。在这种情况下，一般有三种情况： 1、垃圾 2、待孵化的项目 3、参考资料 It's likely that a portion of your in-basket will require no action. There will be three types of things in this category: * Trash * Items to incubate * Reference material 垃圾 Trash 如果一直采纳了我的建议，你必然已经淘汰了一大堆的东西，同样的，你还可能已经把堆积如山的资料存入了“工作篮”，这其中也包括那些你不再需要的资料。因此，当你动手开始处理时，如果发现工作篮中仍然存有大量的废物，不要感到惊讶。 If you've been following my suggestions, you'll no doubt already have tossed out a big pile of stuff. It's also likely that you will have put stacks of material into "in" that include things you don't need anymore. So don't be surprised if there's still a lot more to throw away as you process your stuff. 处理你生活中的一切事物，将令你对自己的每一步行动做到心知肚明，同时，也对不应之举一清二楚。我培训过一位基金组织的负责人，他发现自己居然积累了太多的电子邮件（上千封），而事实上他不打算回复。他告诉我，在采取了我介绍的方法后，他把那些长期以来未尽的事宜，都一项项的步入了健康的轨道。 Processing all the things in your world will make you more conscious of what you are going to do and what you should not be doing. One director of a foundation I worked with discovered that he had allowed way too many e-mails (thousands!) to accumulate—e-mails that in fact he wasn't ever going to respond to anyway. He told me that using my method forced him to "go on a healthy diet"

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about what he would allow to hang around his world as an incompletion. 有时，恐怕你将面临这样的问题：是否需要保存某个资料以备清查。对付这种情况，我有两种方法： 1、扔掉它 2、保存它 It's likely that at some point you'll come up against the question of whether or not to keep something for future reference. I have two ways of dealing with that: * When in doubt, throw it out. * When in doubt, keep it. 这完全由你来决定。我认为，无论那一种方法都是不错的，你只用信赖自己的直觉，并且对工作空间保持一种理智的认识，大多数人对此忧心忡忡，这是因为他们从前的管理系统功效低下，而且界线模糊不清。如果你能够清楚地办公室参考资料、供应品与所需要采取的行动之间的界线，同时还拥有一个简洁易行的参考资料管理系统，你就可以轻松自如地保存尽可能多的资料。既然没有采取行动的必要，这也仅仅只是一个物理空间和后勤管理的问题啦。 Take your pick. I think either approach is fine. You just need to trust your intuition and be realistic about your space. Most people have some angst about all of this because their systems have never really been totally functional and clear-edged before. If you make a clean distinction between what's reference and supplies and what requires action, and if your reference system is simple and workable, you can easily keep as much material as you can accommodate. Since no action is required on it, it's just a matter of physical space and logistics. 归档专家们可以在这方面提供更多更详细的指导，此外，你的会计师也可以提供有关刻录保留的时间表，明确告诉你各种类型的文件需要保存的时限。我建议你对任务是否具有可操作性进行明确的界定。一旦搞清楚某项工作不需要采取任何措施，那就存在许多种可以选择的余地。 Filing experts can offer you more detailed guidelines about all this, and your CPA can provide record-retention timetables that will tell you how long you should keep what kinds of documentation. My suggestion is that you make the distinction about whether something is actionable or not. Once it's clear that no action is needed, there's room for lots of options. 孵化 Incubate 在你的工作篮中大概存在这样的情况，你会对自己说：“目前没有什么可做的，但是，也许今后会有。”这样的例子有： ·一个宣传小册子，通告与一位客座演讲者的一次商务早餐会。你也许非常希望去参加，但时间是两周以后，因此你目前还无法确定到那时你是否还留在此地，或者是出差在外。 ·三周后召开的一次董事会议的日程安排。你已经收到了邀请，目前你并不需要采取任何行动，只需要等待在开会的前一天浏览一下日程安排。 ·一个有关个人理财的软件升级的广告。你确实需要更新到这个新版本吗？你不知道，那就暂时把问题放在一边，一周后再去考虑吧。 ·一个想法，也许你希望在明年的销售年度会议上提出来。目前也不必行动。但是你希望在制定计划时得到提醒。

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·一张写给自己的字条，是关于参加一个水彩课程的，但目前你已经顾不上了。 There will probably be things in your in-basket about which you will say to yourself, "There's nothing to do on this now, but there might be later." Examples of this would be: * A flier announcing a chamber of commerce breakfast with a guest speaker you might want to hear, but it's two weeks away, and you're not sure yet if you'll be at home then or out of town on a business trip. * An agenda for a board meeting you've been invited to attend in three weeks. No action is required on it, other than your briefing yourself a day ahead of the meeting by reading the agenda. * An advertisement for the next Quicken software upgrade for your personal finances. Do you really need this next version? You don't know .. . you'd rather sleep on it for another week. * An idea you had about something you might want to do for next year's annual sales meeting. There's nothing to do on this now, but you'd like to be reminded when the time comes to start planning for it. * A note to yourself about taking a watercolor class, which you have zero time for right now. 在这些情况下，你应该怎么办呢？你面临着两种选择： 1、把它们记入“将来某时/也许”清单； 2、你的日程表，或者放入“备忘录”文件夹中。 What do you do with these kinds of things? There are two options that could work: * Write them on a "Someday/Maybe" list. * Put them on your calendar or in a "tickler" file. 这些孵化程序的宗旨在于：他们为你提供了一个摆脱所有的精神负担的机会，同时使你相信某些行动的提示信息在适当的时候将会再次浮现出来。在下一章中，我将对组织管理进行详细的阐述。而现在，仅需要在这类事物上贴一个即时贴，标明“也许”或者“10 月 17 日 8 时给予提醒”，然后把它们归入“悬而未决”一类，以备日后再整理。 The point of all of these incubation procedures is that they give you a way to get the items off your mind right now and let you feel confident that some reminder of the possible action will resurface at an appropriate time. I'll elaborate on these in more detail in the next chapter, on organizing. For now, just put a Post-it on such items, and label them "maybe" or "remind on October 17," and set them aside in a "pending" category you will be accumulating for later sorting.* (*One of your extra stack baskets is ideal for this purpose. Use it temporarily during this initial processing to gather things to organize later. Afterward you can use it to hold pending work-in-progress papers and physical reminders of next actions.) 参考资料 Reference 你将在工作篮中挖掘出许多情况，它们并不要求你采取任何行动，但它们又对某些项目和主题具有潜在的价值，今后还可以提供一些极为有用的信息。较为理想的情况是，你已经建立起了一个文件归档系统。因此，当你浏览工作篮和电子邮件时，如果碰到这类你希望保存的资料，那就立即动手去做吧！ Many of the things you will uncover in "in" will need no action but may have value as potentially useful information about projects and topics. Ideally, you have already set up a workable filing system (as described in chapter 4) for your reference and support information. As you come across material in your in-basket and e-mail that you'd like to keep for archival or support purposes, file

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it. 你很有可能还会发现各种各样的资料，你一心希望保留起来，却一直堆积一旁，或者塞进了拥挤不堪的抽屉中。造成这种局面的原因是，你的参考资料系统过于正统，或者根本就不存在。在现实生活“真刀真枪的拼搏中”，如果归档工作达不到简洁快速，生动有趣，那必然导致资料的堆积搁置，而不是有效的管理组织，结果千万处理加工这一环节陷入重重困难。 You'll probably discover that there are lots of miscellaneous kinds of things that you want to keep but have piled up in stacks or stuffed into drawers because your reference system was too formal or just plain nonexistent. Let me remind you here that a less-than-sixty-second, fun-to-use general-reference filing system within arm's reach of where you sit is a mission-critical component of full implementation of this methodology. In the "battle zone" of real life, if it's not easy, fast, and fun to file, you'll stack instead of organizing. And then it will become much more difficult to keep things processed. 每当你碰到希望保留的资料时，做一标签贴在文件夹上，然后放入你分类归档的抽屉中；或者暂时贴上一个即时贴，交代给你的秘书或者助手进行处理。在我人事培训的早期阶段，我常常允许我的客户保存着“待归档”资料夹。而现在我早已经杜绝了这种做法。因为我发现，如果你不能马上采取行动，大概日后你也做不到了。 Whenever you come across something you want to keep, make a label for it, put it in a file folder, and tuck that into your filing drawer. Or put a Post-it on it instructing your secretary or assistant to do the same. In my early days of coaching I used to give my clients permission to keep a "To File" pile. No longer. I discovered that if you can't get it into your system immediately, you're probably not ever going to. If you won't do it now, you likely won't do it later, either. 如果需要采取行动，那到底是什么呢？这可是一件大事啊。如果“工作篮”中有需要立刻落实的事情，你应该判定这一行动的具体内容是什么。“下一步行动”即意味着清晰可见的具体活动，它将推动事情的发展进程。 This is the biggie. If there's something that needs to be done about the item in "in," then you need to decide what exactly that next action is. "Next Actions" again, means the next physical, visible activity that would be required to move the situation toward closure. 事实上，这要比听起来的即简单又复杂。 This is both easier and more difficult than it sounds. 你应该能够轻而易举地确定下一步行动，但是，你的大脑常常在这时还没能完成那几步快速的分析过程和计划安排，而这些步骤都应该在你明确判定具体措施之前得以完成，即使它们相当简单。 The next action should be easy to figure out, but there are often some quick analyses and several planning steps that haven't occurred yet in your mind, and these have to happen before you can determine precisely what has to happen to complete the item, even if it's a fairly simple one. 让我们来一起看一个实例，这个人是如何处理这种情况： ·清扫车库 ·申报纳税 ·将要参加的会议

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·bob 的生日会 ·新闻发布会 ·业绩宴请 ·改善管理模式 Let's look at a sample list of the things that a person might typically have his attention on. * Clean the garage * Do my taxes *- Conference I'm going to * Bobby's birthday * Press release * Performance reviews * Management changes 尽管每项都是相对清晰、独立的工作，然而决定每一项的下一步还需要进行一定的思考。 Although each of these items may seem relatively clear as a task or project, determining the next action on each one will take some thought. ·清扫车库是的，我只需要走进车库，动手收拾一下。不行，等一下，车库里还有一台电冰箱，我必须把它处理掉。我应该问一下 john,看看他野营时有没有用。我应该…… * Clean the garage . . . Well, I just have to get in there and start. No, wait a minute, there's a big refrigerator in there that I need to get rid of first. I should find out if John Patrick wants it for his camp. I should... ·为电冰箱的事给 john 打一个电话怎么样… * Call John re refrigerator in garage What about. . . ·申报纳税但是我现在还不能开始，我必须等拿回上一次的 k-1 表这后才行。在这之前我什么也不能做，因此。。。。。 * Do my taxes . . . but I actually cant start on them until I have my last K-l back. Can't do any thing until then. So I'm.. . ·等待从 acme 信用基金取回 K－1 表关于。。。。。。。 * Waiting for K-l from Acme Trust And for the. . . ·打算参加的会议我必须搞清楚，桑德拉是不是会为我们准备一个宣传资料袋。我想我需要。。。。。。。。 * Conference I'm going to

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. . . I need to find out whether Sandra is going to prepare a press kit for us. I guess I need to. . . ·给桑德拉发电子邮件，询问有关会议宣传资料袋的事 z E-mail Sandra re press kits for the conference 等等！这些行动步骤――“给 john 打电话”，“等待 K－1 表格”，“给桑德拉发电子邮件” －就是针对你的工作篮中可以付诸行动的一切事物所必须作出的决定。 . . . and so forth. The action steps—"Call John," "Waiting for K-l," "E-mail Sandra"—are what need to be decided about everything that is actionable in your in-basket. 行动步骤必须绝对是具体的行动记住这些行动是看得见，摸得着的。许多人以为，当他们决定“开会”时，已经决定了“下一步行动”。然而，那并不是真正的下一步行动，因为它缺乏对具体措施的细致描述。你是如何为一次会议作准备的呢？是的，也许你需要打一个电话或者发一个电子邮件，但是电话打给谁？电邮又发给谁呢？现在决定！假如目前不作出决定，这意味着在将来的某一时刻，你还将重新思考这一问题。而设计这个加工处理程序的初衷就是帮助你高潮完成针对某一项工作所必须进行的思考。因此，如果你还无法明确下一步具体的行动方案，势必造成一种心理间断。每当你考虑这一问题时，这个心理间断都会存在。渐渐地你就产生了一种抵触情绪，忽视了它的存在。 The Action Step Needs to Be the Absolute Next Physical Thing to Do Remember that these are physical, visible activities. Many people think they've determined the "next action" when they get it down to "set meeting." But that's not the next action, because it's not descriptive of physical behavior. How do you set a meeting? Well, it could be with a phone call or an e-mail, but to whom? Decide. If you don't decide now, you'll still have to decide at some other point, and what this process is designed to do is actually get you to finish the thinking exercise about this item. If you haven't identified the next physical action required to kick-start it, there will be a psychological gap every time you think about it even vaguely. You'll tend to resist noticing it. 在认清下一步的具体行动之前，你需要考虑更多的事情，才有可能应对任何出现的变化。 Until you know what the next physical action is, there's still more thinking required before anything can happen. 当你拿起电话或者坐在电脑前时，你希望结束所有的思考过程，这样一来你就可以运用你手中的工具以此时此刻的场所，更加轻松地将事情搞定，因为你已经提前确定了在这个地点要进行的工作了。 When you get to a phone or to your computer, you want to have all your thinking completed so you can use the tools you have and the location you're in to more easily get things done, having already defined what there is to do. 如果你对自己说：“噢，我下一步要做的是看看这件事应该怎么处理？”这是一种非常棘手的情况，需要慎重对待。因为行动会耗费大量的时间，而作决定则不然。你总能发现一些具体的措施来简化你的决策过程。在你作出决定之前，99%的时间将用于收集更加丰富的信息。这些额外的信息可以来自外部资源（“给苏珊打一个电话，看看她对这个提议的看法”）或者来源于你自身的思考判断（“摹拟一些重组的想法”）。无论采纳哪一种方法，你仍然面临决定下一步行动的问题。

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What if you say to yourself, "Well, the next thing I need to do is decide what to do about this?" That's a tricky one. Deciding isn't really an action, because actions take time, and deciding doesn't. There's always some physical activity that can be done to facilitate your decision-making. Ninety-nine percent of the time you just need more information before you can make a decision. That additional information can come from external sources ("Call Susan to get her input on the proposal") or from internal thinking ("Draft ideas about new reorganization"). Either way, there's still a next action to be determined in order to move the project forward. 为了对下一步的行动作决策，你必须首先明确你希望达到的目标。 Determine what you need to do in order to decide. 一旦你决定了下一步的行动一旦你决定了下一步的行动，这时，你就面临着 3 种选择： ·实施（如果 2 分钟内可以完成的话） ·指派给他人（如果你自己并不是最佳的执行者）； ·交给你的管理系统（作为日后处理的一种选择）。 Once You Decide What the Action Step is You have three options once you decide what the next action really is. * Do it (if the action takes less than two minutes). * Delegate it (if you're not the most appropriate person to do the action). * Defer it into your organization system as an option for work to do later. 实施 Do It 如果下一步行动用不了 2 分钟即可搞定的话，那么抓紧时间动手吧。一个备忘录只需要你花上 30 秒钟读上一次，然后，在即时贴上迅速地答复一个“行”、“不行”或其它的回答，发回给寄件者即可。现在就开始吧！如果你在一两分钟之内就可浏览一次目录，洞察你可能感兴趣的事情，那就开始浏览吧。然后根据要求要么丢弃，要么处理归类，要么作为参考资料保存起来。如果你下一步需要快速地在某人的语音信条中留下一个口信，现在就请拿起电话吧。 If the next action can be done in two minutes or less, do it when you first pick the item up. If the memo requires just a thirty-second reading and then a quick "yes"/"no"/other response on a Post-it back to the sender, do it now. If you can browse the catalog in just a minute or two to see if there might be anything of interest in it, browse away, and then toss it, route it, or reference it as required. If the next action on something is to leave a quick message on someone's voice-mail, make the call now. 即使该项事物并非那种重要的项目，你也应该立刻采取行动，毕竟你迟早还要面对它。 2 分钟事件处理的基本原则是，2 分钟基本上是一道时间分界线，即从这里开始你对某些情况进行归档保存所花费的时间，远远地超出了当你第一次发现这个问题时就动手解决所需要的时间。换句话说，这是一条提高效率的捷径。如果是鸡毛蒜皮类的小事，不值一提，那么干脆丢弃它。如果它的重要性不容忽视，而且你迟早要处理，在这种情况下，效率应该是我们首要考虑的因素。 Even if the item is not a "high priority" one, do it now if you're ever going to do it at all. The rationale for the two-minute rule is that that's more or less the point where it starts taking longer to

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store and track an item than to deal with it the first time it's in your hands-—in other words, it's the efficiency cutoff. If the thing's not important enough to be done, throw it away. If it is, and if you're going to do it sometime, the efficiency factor should come into play. 许多人发现，一旦遵循 2 分钟事件处理原则养成了习惯，他们的工作效率就能获得显著的提高。一家大型软件公司的副总裁曾经告诉我，他采用了这个工作方法以后，每天多出了 1 个小时可以自由支配的时间，而且质量极高。他属于那一类每天不得不面对 300 封电子邮件的高技术企业的管理人员。他们在大多数的工作时间里精力高度集中在 3 个关键性的问题上。有许多的电子邮件都是他们的下属发来的，向他汇报工作，他必须逐一过目，发表意见，都能够确保工作的顺利发展。然而由于他们对某些情况的了解极为有限，因此，很有可能他们暂时把这些邮件搁置在工作篮中，“随后”再进行处理。当几千封邮件堆积如山时，他不得不搭上整个周未的时间，拼命加班加点地工作，以弥补漏洞。如果他现在只有 26 岁，精力充沛，身体健康，这一切还算不了什么。然而，一旦他已经步入了而立之年，小儿绕膝，情况就不一样了。他将无法承受整个周末通宵达旦的投入工作。当我对他进行培训的时候，我们一起浏览了他的工作篮，当前那里存放了 800 多封电子邮件。而其中有许多完全可以删掉，相当一部份可以作为参考资料归档保存，还有许多不到 2 分钟就可以立刻答案和解决掉。一年以后，我同他联系时，他依然身居这一要职而且非常胜任从那时起，他决不会允许自己的电子邮件再走过满满一屏而不处理了。由于回复邮件的时间显著地减少，他已经改变了他那个部门的职能性质。他的员工们认为他简直是由特殊材料构成的！ Many people find that getting into the habit of following the two-minute rule creates a dramatic improvement in their productivity. One vice president of a large software company told me that it gave him an additional hour a day of quality discretionary time! He was one of those 300-e-mails-a-day high-tech executives, highly focused for most of the workday on three key initiatives. Many of those e-mails were from people who reported to him—and they needed his eyes on something, his comments and OKs, in order to move forward. But because they were not on a topic in his rifle sights, he would just stage the e-mails in "in," to get to "later." After several thousand of them piled up, he would have to go in to work and spend whole weekends trying to catch up. That would have been OK if he were twenty-six, when everything's an adrenaline rush anyway, but he was in his thirties and had young kids. Working all weekend was no longer acceptable behavior. When I coached him we went through all 800-plus e-mails he currently had in "in." It turned out that a lot could be dumped, quite a few needed to be filed as reference, and many others required less-than-two-minute replies that he whipped through. I checked with him a year later, and he was still current! He never let his e-mails mount up beyond a screenful anymore. He said it had changed the nature of his division because of the dramatic decrease in his own response time. His staff thought he was now made of Teflon! 2 分钟原则魔力无限 The two-minute rule is magic. 这是一个活生生的证明，但它同时也说明这些简单处理是多么重要，特别是当信息的数量和速度飞速增长的时候。 That's a rather dramatic testimonial, but it's an indication of just how critical some of these simple processing behaviors can be, especially as the volume and speed of the input increase for you personally.

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事实上，2 分钟仅仅是一个指导原则。如果你在处理工作时拥有较长的时间段，完全可以把处理每件事情的时间限制行长到 5 分钟或者 10 分钟。如果你打算迅速弄清楚你目前所有的资料，以做便决定如何更高效地运用下午的时间，也可以把时段缩减至 1 分钟，甚至 30 秒，这样就能加快处理每件事的速度。 Two minutes is in fact just a guideline. If you have a long open window of time in which to process your in-basket, you can extend the cutoff for each item to five or ten minutes. If you've got to get to the bottom of all your input rapidly, in order to figure out how best to use your afternoon, then you may want to shorten the time to one minute, or even thirty seconds, so you can get through everything a little faster. 随着你渐渐熟悉了这个管理程序，给自己计时不失为一个好主意。我的大多客户对于 2 分钟的时间到底有多长都感到难以估测，因此，他们大大低估了某些行动落实所需要的时间。比如，如果你打算给某人一个口令，你找到本人而不是他的语音信箱，这个电话通常都要超过 2 分钟的时间。 It's not a bad idea to time yourself for a few of these while you're becoming familiar with the process. Most clients I work with have difficulty estimating how long two minutes actually is, and they greatly underestimate how long certain actions are likely to take. For instance, if your action is to leave someone a message, and you get the real person instead of his or her voice-mail, the call will usually take quite a bit longer than two minutes. 你会惊奇地发现，竟然存在着如此多的 2 分钟行动，甚至对于你最为重要的工作也是如此。 You'll be surprised how many two-minute actions you can perform even on your most critical projects. 事实上，你并不需要真正地追踪刻录那些只许花费 2 分钟的时间的行动，你仅仅落实它们就行了。然而，如果你采取了行动但却没能完成这个工作，你必须明确接下来的活动，并根据同一标准加以管理。比如，你打算更换你最喜欢的一一支笔的笔芯，却无意中发现你已经用光所有的备用笔芯。这时你就要考虑一下如何再弄一些（去店里买一些）接着你要么行动起来，要么委托他人，要么暂时推迟一下这个行动。 There's nothing you really need to track about your two-minute actions—you just do them. If, however, you take an action and don't finish the project with that one action, you'll need to clarify what's next on it, and manage that according to the same criteria. For instance, if you act to replace the cartridge in your favorite pen and discover that you're out of cartridge refills, you'll want to decide on the next action about getting them ("Buy refills at the store") and do, delegate, or defer it appropriately. 坚持 2 分钟原则，看看自己在处理堆积在“工作篮”中的资料时功效如何？许多人惊异地发现，居然有如此之多的事情可以在 2 分钟内解决掉，而且，这其中还包括他们手头上最重要的一些工作。 Adhere to the two-minute rule and see how much you get done in the process of clearing out your "in" stacks. Many people are amazed by how many two-minute actions are possible, often on some of their most critical current projects. 让我再从另一个角度来观察一下 2 分钟原则的效果吧。这次是关于你如何才能够轻松自

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如地输入那些电子邮件的。如果你的工作常常涉及到大量的电子邮件的往来，你可通过加快打字速度和使用操作系统以及大量的快捷键来提高你的工作效率。有许多经验丰富的专业人士在工作时步履艰难，这是由于他们还在一边用眼睛紧紧地盯着键盘，一边缓慢笨拙地敲打着，而且使用鼠标也太过频繁了。其实，只要把 2 分钟原则与加强计算机技能结合起来，许多工作都能迎刃而解。我发现，很多行政人员对于新技术并没有抑制的意思，却对他们的键盘退避三舍。 Let me make one more observation regarding the two-minute rule, this time as it relates to your comfort with typing e-mails. If you're in a large-volume e-mail environment, you'll greatly improve your productivity by increasing your typing speed and using the shortcut keyboard commands for your operating system and your common e-mail software. Too many sophisticated professionals are seriously hamstrung because they still hunt and peck and try to use their mouse too much. More work could be dispatched faster by combining the two-minute rule with improved computer skills. I've found that many executives aren't resisting technology, they're just resisting their keyboards! 委派他人 Delegate It 如果下一步工作花费的时间将超过 2 分钟，这时，你可以问一下自己：“我是不是最适合处理这个事情的人呢？”如果答案是否定的，就把它转给适当的人选好了。 If the next action is going to take longer than two minutes, ask yourself, "Am I the best person to be doing it?" If not, hand it off to the appropriate party, in a systematic format. 委派工作并非总是自上而下的。你可以决定“这件事必须交给客户服务部进行处理”，或者“这个必须让我的老板过目”，或者“我需要征求一下合伙人的意见”。 Delegation is not always downstream. You may decide, "This has got to get over to Customer Service," or "My boss needs to put his eyes on this next," or "I need my partner's point of view on this." “有条不紊的做法”可能是下面的某一种情况： ·给适当的一方发一封电子邮件。 ·在纸上写一张纸条，然后转发给某人。 ·给他或者她留一条语音留言 ·在工作日程表中添加这一条，以便下一次与此人见面时进行探讨 ·直接与他对话 A "systematic format" could be any of the following: * Send the appropriate party an e-mail. * Write a note or an overnote on paper and route the item "out" to that person. * Leave him or her a voice-mail. * Add it as an agenda item on a list for your next real-time conversation with that person. * Talk to him or her directly, either face-to-face or by phone. 尽管任何一种选择都可以奏效，但是我还是按照以上列出的次序向你们推荐，由上而下。通常情况下，电子邮件是一种快捷的方式，它提供了一个电子文档记录，收集者可以在他方便的时候阅读这些信息。接下来是写一张备忘，它们也能够立即载入系统，接收者也可以把这个具体物件用做管理系统中的提示信息。如果你准备把某种资料信息传递给另一个机构，

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那么显而易见的是，白纸黑字的交流方式最为常见。由于拥有了电子邮件，接收你信息的人完全可以根据自己的时间进行处理，语音信息功效不凡，许多专业人士都依赖于这种手段，但是它也有不利的一面，要跟踪这些信息，对于你和接收者来说都算得上是一种额外的付出了。此外，你所表达的内容也不光是别人听到的那些。下一项内容是把所有需要进行的沟通列入日程表或者放进文件夹中，以备召开例行会议时再与某人磋商。有时这一步是绝对必要的，因为有些话题过于敏感或者过于复杂，因此，只有等面对面的时候谈，事情才能有进一步的发展。最不受欢迎的选择就是中途打断你与某人各自正在处理的工作，而就一项问题开始讨论。这一做法虽然直截了当，但严重阻碍了你们双方的工作流程。它同语音留言有同样的负面影响——没有书面记录 Although any of these options can work, I would recommend them in the above order, top to bottom. E-mail is usually the fastest mode into the system; it provides an electronic record; and the receiver gets to deal with it at his or her convenience. Written notes are next because they too can get into the system immediately, and the recipient then has a physical particle to use as an organizational reminder. If you're passing on paper-based material as part of the handoff, a written communication is obviously the way to go; as with e-mail, the person you hand it off to can then deal with it on his or her own schedule. Voice-mail can be efficient, and many professionals live by it; the downside is that tracking becomes an additional requirement for both you and the recipient, and what you say is not always what gets heard. Next would be saving the communication on an agenda list or in a folder for your next regular meeting with the person. Sometimes this is necessary because of the sensitive or detailed nature of the topic, but it then must wait to get moving until that meeting occurs. The least preferable option would be to interrupt what both you and the person are doing to talk about the item. This is immediate, but it hampers workflow for both of you and has the same downside as voice-mail: no written record.

跟踪移交他人处理的工作如果你确实把某一项工作转交给他人处理，同时，你又非常关心其发展的结果，这时你就需要追踪发展过程。正如我在下一章中介绍的管理组织工作，到时你将看到一个具有重要意义的管理类别：“等待”。 Tracking the Handoff If you do delegate an action to someone else, and if you care at all whether something happens as a result, you'll need to track it. As I will walk you through in the next chapter, about organizing, you'll see that a significant category to manage is "Waiting For." 随着你渐渐地建立起一个你个人的客户系统，你最终需要指派他人完成需要追踪的事件，看起来就像计划手册中的一张清单。在这个文件夹中，分门别类的保存着每一个项目的几页清单，或者存入你的软件“等待”类别的条目之下。就目前而言，如果你还没有建立起一个托管系统，你只需要在一张纸条上写下“等待：bob 的答复”，然后把它放入一叠“悬而未决”的字条中，保存在一个独立的文件夹里，而它们都是你加工处理后获得的产物。 As you develop your own customized system, what you eventually hand off and then track could look like a list in a planner, a file folder holding separate papers for each item, and/or a list categorized as "Waiting For" in your software. For now, if you don't have a trusted system set up already, just put a note on a piece of paper—"W/F: reply from Bob"—and put that into a "Pending" stack of notes in a separate pile or tray that may result from your processing.

如果球已经落到别人的场地上了，又应该怎么办呢？在上面的例子中，你在等待 K－1 资料的副本，然后才可以动手准备报税，因此，下一步行动目前正是别人份内的工作。在这

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种情况下，你也希望把这类归为委托他人工作的范畴，或者存在“等待”目前下。因此，在标有“报税”字样的纸上写下“等待从 Acme 信用基金取回 K－1 表”，然后投入“悬而未决”一堆中。 What If the Ball Is Already in Someone Else's Court? In the example cited above about waiting for the last K-l to come in so you can do your taxes, the next action is currently on someone else's plate. In such situations you will also want to track the action as a delegated item, or as a "Waiting For." On the paper that says "Do my taxes," write something like "Waiting for K-l from Acme Trust" and put that into your "Pending" stack. 注意：在每份委托给他人处理的资料上标明具体的日期，这一点非常重要。所有类别的资料上都必须贴上小标签。当你哪怕只有几次的确希望查阅这一信息时，你会发现，建立起这样的一个习惯会让你终生受益。 It's important that you record the date on everything you hand off to others. This, of all the categories in your personal system, is the most crucial one to keep tabs on. The few times you will actually want to refer to that information ("But I called and ordered that on March 12") will make it worth establishing this as a lifelong habit. 推迟这项工作 Defer It 很可能，当你决定下一步行动时，大部分还将由你亲自实施，而且时间往往又超过 2 分钟。你需要给客户打一个电话；你需要花点时间来考虑并起草一个电子邮件，然后发给你的团队成员；你需要在文具店为你的兄弟购买一件礼物；你需要从因特网上下载一个软件并试用；你需要同你的配偶商量一项投资计划。所有这些统统归属这一范畴。 It's likely that most of the next actions you determine for things in "in" will be yours to do and will take longer than two minutes to complete. A call you need to make to a customer; an e-mail you need to spend a little time thinking about and drafting to your team; a gift you need to buy for your brother at the stationery store; a piece of software you need to download from the Web and try out; a conversation you must have with your spouse about an investment you think you should make—all of these fit that description. 你必须写下这些行动，记录在某个地方，并存入适当的类别。以备需要时查阅。赶紧行动起来，把“工作篮”存放的资料一一贴上即时贴，并在上面标明行动内容，然后放入已经加工处理过的“悬而未决”的资料堆中。 These actions will have to be written down somewhere and then organized in the appropriate categories so you can access them when you need to. For the moment, go ahead and put Post-its on the pieces of paper in "in," with the action written on them, and add these to the "Pending" stack of papers that have been processed. 剩下的“悬而未决”的事宜 The "Pending" Things That Are Left 如果遵循本章中的指令，你会扔掉一大堆垃圾，归档一大批资料，落实大量的 2 分钟行动，并把相当数量的事务转交给他人处理，然后手上还留下一堆项目需要付诸行动。“悬而未决”的事务是由你转交他人或者推迟落实的行动组成的。在你的个人管理系统中，还需要对它们调整安排。在下一章中，我将对此逐步地进行详细地阐述。 If you follow the instructions in this chapter, you'll dump a mess of things, file a bunch, do a lot of two-minute actions, and hand off a number of items to other people. You'll also wind up with a

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stack of items that have actions associated with them that you still need to do—soon, someday, or on a specific date—and reminders of things you're waiting on from other people. This "Pending" group is made up of the actions you've delegated or deferred. It is what still needs to be organized in some fashion in your personal system, a topic I'll cover in step-by-step detail in the next chapter.

明确你手中的工作 Identifying the Projects You Have 当你挖掘到“工作篮”的底层部分时，最后一步工作强调了视角的转变，这时你应该从每一个独立行动的具体细节转入对大局的权衡，即你的工作。 This last step in getting to the bottom of "in" requires a shift in perspective from the single-action details to the larger picture— your projects. 在此，我重申一次“工作”的定义，它是指任何你承诺达到的目标，并且需要一步以上的行动才能完成。如果你回顾一下自己列出的一个行动目录：“给弗兰克打电话，谈一谈汽车报警器的事情”；“给伯纳发一个电子邮件，交流一下有关一个会议资料的准备工作”，毫无疑问，你将其中有许多事情，要比那些已经明确了定义的行动更加重要。在你给弗兰克打电话讨论“汽车警报器”之后，你还要处理“报警器”的其它事情；你给伯纳发出电子邮件之后，还需要考虑会议涉及的其他方面的问题。 Again, I define a "project" as any outcome you're committed to achieving that will take more than one action step to complete. If you look through an inventory of actions that you have already been generating—"Call Frank about the car alarm"; "E-mail Bernadette re conference materials"—you'll no doubt recognize a number of things that are larger than the single action you've defined. There's still going to be something about "car alarm" to do after the call to Frank, and there will still be something to handle about the conference after the e-mail to Bernadette. 我希望你能像我一样，从一个广泛的角度认识定义工作的真实原因：如果你已经明确的那一步行动无法完成整个工作，那么你还需要在地上埋几根木桩来提醒你其它悬而未决的行动，直到任务完成。你应该列出一个工作清单，它可包罗万象，从“开一次节日晚会”到“减去一条小装饰物的生产流水线”到“确定赔偿计划”。这个清单的目的并不是为了反映这些事物的先后顺序，仅仅是为了确保所有悬而未决的问题在清单中都有自己的位置 I hope you're able to see the very practical reason for defining projects as broadly as I do: If the action step you've identified will not complete the commitment, then you'll need some stake in the ground to keep reminding you of actions you have pending until you have closure. You need to make a list of projects. A "Projects" list may include anything from "Give holiday party" to "Divest the Widget product line" to "Finalize compensation package." The purpose of this list is not to reflect your priorities but just to ensure that you've got placeholders for all those open loops. 现在恐怕你拥有 30－100 件工作 Right now you probably have between thirty and a hundred projects. 无论你是刚刚开始处理工作的阶段就动手拟定了“工作”清单，还是当你已经确定了行动清单之后才着手起草，这其实并不重要。事实上，你只需要在某一阶段落实这个步骤，并妥善保存它就可以了。因为这个工作清单是确保你了解自己正处于哪一个阶段，以及你期望达到何种目标的关键性因素。

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Whether you draw up your "Projects" list while you're initially processing your in-basket or after you've set up your action lists doesn't really matter. It just needs to be done at some point, and it must be maintained, as it's the key driver for reviewing where you are and where you want to be. 就目前情况而言，我们要保证你所建立起的系统确实能推动工作的发展进程。 For now, let's make sure your organizing setup is "all systems go."

第七章管理阶段：建立好清单 Organizing: Setting Up the Right Buckets 一个完整没有漏洞的组织体系良好地运转起来，可以赋予你无穷无尽的力量，因为它让大脑彻底摆脱掉了那些低层次的思维，将精力投到了更重要的事情上，不会因为那些未经处理的事物干扰分神。但是这对你的生理机能也提出了相应的要求。只有拥有良好的身体素质和充沛的精力，才有可能促成这种结局。 HAVING A TOTAL and seamless system of organization in place gives you tremendous power because it allows your mind to let go of lower-level thinking and graduate to intuitive focusing, undistracted by matters that haven't been dealt with appropriately. But your physical organization system must be better than your mental one in order for that to happen. 滴水不漏的组织管理工作，对于你关注更加广阔的领域来说，是不可或缺的条件。 Airtight organization is required for your focus to remain on the broader horizon. 在本章中，我将引导你了解加工处理工作篮时所要经历的各个步骤以及各种工具。当你最初开始清理“工作篮”时，你将会创建一个希望进行管理的清单和分级目录，毫无疑问的是，你总能想到一些额外的事情需要添加进来。换句话说，你不用一下子就创建一个完整的组织管理系统。随着你处理的资料日渐增多，并不断进行检测、验证，这个系统也将随之发展深化，渐渐的成熟起来。 In this chapter I'll lead you through the organizing steps and tools that will be required as you process your in-basket. As you initially process "in," you'll create lists and groupings of things you want to organize and you'll invariably think of additional items to include. In other words, your organization system is not ' ' something that you'll necessarily create all at once, in a vacuum. It will evolve as you process your stuff and test out whether you have put everything in the best place for you.

我把他们全部都网罗在一起了，但是我忘记放在哪里了 ―――匿名 I got it all together but I forgot where I put it. —Anonymous 工作流程图的外环内容显示出，当你判定了事物的本质以及需要对它们采取的措施时，事物将朝着哪几个主要的方向发展。 The outer ring of the Workflow Diagram (opposite) shows the main groupings into which things will go as you decide what they are and what needs to be done about them.

基本类型 The Basic Categories 150

从组织管理的角度来看，你希望了解和管理的事情可以为 7 大类： ·一个“工作”清单 ·工作的辅助性资料 ·记录在日程表中的行动和信息 ·各种“下一步行动”的清单 ·一个“等待”清单 ·参考资料 ·一个“将来某时/也许”清单 There are seven primary types of things that you'll want to keep track of and manage from an organizational perspective: * A "Projects" list * Project support material * Calendared actions and information * "Next Actions" lists * A "Waiting For" list * Reference material * A "Someday/Maybe" list 界限的重要性 The Importance of Hard Edges 所有这些类型分门别类、清晰明确，这一点至关重要。每一种都代表着我们同自己所签订的不同类型的协议。如果界限模糊不清的话，那么组织管理的大部份价值也将荡然无存。 It's critical that all of these categories be kept pristinely distinct from one another. They each represent a discrete type of agreement we make with ourselves, and if they lose their edges and begin to blend, much of the value of organizing will be lost. 比如，如果你把参考资料和想阅览的资料保存在同一个文件夹中，你就会对这一堆资料变得麻木不仁。如果你把应该属于日程表范畴的事情放入“下一步行动”清单中，因为它们必须在某些特定的时间出现，结果你就会推动对日程表的信赖，从而不断地重新评估你的各种行动清单。如果你对一项工作暂时不打算采取任何行动，它必须放入你的“将来某时/也许” 清单之中。这样一来，当你翻阅“工作清单时就会精力充沛，随时准备决定接下的行动方案，这是”工作“清单所要求的。然而，如果”等待“清单上的某项内容被归入行动清单的范畴，你就会被无效的反复思考拖入泥潭。 If you put reference materials in the same pile as things you still want to read, for example, you'll go numb to the stack. If you put items on your "Next Actions" lists that really need to go on the calendar, because they have to occur on specific days, then you won't trust your calendar and you'll continually have to reassess your action lists. If you have a project that you're not going to be doing anything about for some time, it must go onto your "Someday/Maybe" list so you can relate to the "Projects" list with the rigorous action-generating focus it needs. And if something you're "Waiting For" is included on one of your action lists, you'll continually get bogged down by nonproductive rethinking. 必须对这些事物类型分门别类地加以保存，无论是在视觉上、具体形式上，还是心理上。 The categories must be kept visually, physically, and psychologically separate.

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你真正需要的是清单和文件夹 All You Really Need Is Lists and Folders 一旦你认清需要保存的内容（在前一章中已经论述过了），这时，你所真正需要的是用清单和文件夹来保存参考及辅助资料。你的清单（如我曾经指出过的那样，也可以是文件夹的项目）将保存所有的工作和将来某时/也许的内容，以及你打算对每一个悬而未决的问题予以处置的措施。文件夹（电子或者书面）也将用于保留正在运行中的各项工程的参考资料和辅助信息。 Once you know what you need to keep track of (covered in the previous chapter, on Processing), all you really need is lists and folders for reference and support materials. Your lists (which, as I've indicated, could also be items in folders) will keep track of projects and someday/maybes, as well as the actions you'll need to take on your active open loops. Folders (digital or paper-based) will be required to hold your reference material and the support information for active projects.

我才不在乎复杂事物这一方面的简单情况，但是，我会为另一方面的简洁付出我的一切 ——奥利弗·温德尔·福尔摩斯 / would not give a fig for the simplicity on this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity. —Oliver Wendell Holmes 许多人多年来一直坚持开列清单，但是他们从未发现这种做法效果显著。因此，对于我推荐的这一简单明了的系统，怀疑声此起彼伏。然而，大多数开列清单的人并没有刻录下正确的内容，或者没有完善它们，这导致清单无法正常发挥作用。一旦你对清单上的项目做到心中有数，事情就自然变得简单了，然后你只需要一种管理它们的手段。 Lots of people have been making lists for years but have never found the procedure to be particularly effective. There's rampant skepticism about systems as simple as the one I'm recommending. But most list-makers haven't put the appropriate things on their lists, or have left them incomplete, which has kept the lists themselves from being very functional. Once you know what goes on the lists, however, things get much easier; then you just need a way to manage them. 正如我曾经提到的，你大可不必从外部对清单中的内容进行重要程度的排序，因为随着事情的发展变化，你将不得不重新安排这些情况。对于许多人的管理工作而言，强行对事情进行排序正是导致他们沮丧困惑的根源。事实上，当你看到整个清单时，完全能够凭借直觉按照其重要程度排出先后的顺序。清单本身仅仅是保存工作的一种手段，它以总目录的形式呈现出来，便于随时回顾检查。 As I've said, you shouldn't bother to create some external structuring of the priorities on your lists that you'll then have to rearrange or rewrite as things change. Attempting to impose such scaffolding has been a big source of frustration in many people's organizing. You'll be prioritizing more intuitively as you see the whole list, against quite a number of shifting variables. The list is just a way for you to keep track of the total inventory of active things to which you have made a commitment, and to have that inventory available for review. 当我提及一个“清单”时，请记住，我只不过是指一群具有相似特征的项目。一个清单可以是下面 3 种形式中的任何一种： 1、一个文件夹，包括一些各自独立的记录，记录着同属于一个范畴的事物； 2、在一张有标题的纸上列出的真实的目录；

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一个软件程序或者电子记事本中的详细目录，比如 outlook 软件中的任务或者一个掌上电脑中的清单。 When I refer to a "list," keep in mind that I mean nothing more than a grouping of items with some similar characteristic. A list could look like one of three things: (1) a file folder with separate paper notes for the items within the category; (2) an actual list on a titled piece of paper (often within a loose-leaf organizer or planner); or (3) an inventory in a software program or on a digital assistant, such as Microsoft Outlook task categories or a category on a handheld PDA.

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管理那些行动的提示信息 Organizing Action Reminders 如果你已经清空了你的工作篮，往往意味着创建了一大堆“悬而未决”的提示信息：比如那些需要花费 2 分钟以上才能够搞定的又不能指派给别人的工作；同时也你将积累起那些已经交给他人办理的事件的提示信息，也许有些情况需要填写在日程表中或者“将来某时/也许”这类的文件夹中。 If you've emptied your in-basket, you'll undoubtedly have created a stack of "Pending" reminders for yourself, representing longer-than-two-minute actions that cannot be delegated to someone else. You'll probably have anywhere from twenty to sixty or seventy or more such items. You'll also have accumulated reminders of things that you've handed off to other people, and perhaps some things that need be placed in your calendar or a "Someday/Maybe" kind of holder. 你会希望将所有的资料分门别类的进行整理，使你容易把它们区分开来。这样一来，当你有空再次浏览这些信息的时候，你就可以把它们视做可选择的行动。同时，你也希望运用最恰当的方法组织管理这些分组资料，是否应该放入文件夹中呢？还是列在清单上面呢？是采用书面形式呢？还是选择数字形式呢？ You'll want to sort all of this into groupings that make sense to you so you can review them as options for work to do when you have time. You'll also want to decide on the most appropriate way physically to organize those groups, whether as items in folders or on lists, either paper-based or digital. 记录在你日程表上的行动 The Actions That Go on Your Calendar 正如我曾说过的，从组织管理的目的出发，存在着两种基本的行动：一类事情必须在某一天或者某一个特定的时间内完成；另一类则需要你在日程表中一看到它们时就尽快解决掉。列入你日程表的行动方案要么是时间具体的（如“4：00－5：00 与吉姆见面”），要么日期是明确的（“星期二给雷切尔打电话，看看她是不是已经接受了建议”）。 For the purposes of organization, as I've said, there are two basic kinds of actions: those that must be done on a certain day and/or at a particular time, and those that just need to be done as soon as you can get to them, around your other calendared items. Calendared action items can be either time-specific (e.g., "4:00—5:00 meet with Jim") or day-specific ("Call Rachel Tuesday to see if she got the proposal"). 当你处理工作篮中的事情时，也许会碰到这样一些事：它们一出现，你就直接把它们安排到日程表中去了。比如，进行一次体检所需要的一下个步骤就是打个电话约定时间（既然这只需要 2 分钟的时间或者更少），因此当你有这个想法时，就自然而然地去做了。约定时间后，刻录在日程表中，这也就顺理成章地成了一个基本的常识。 As you were processing your in-basket, you probably came across things that you put right into

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your calendar as they showed up. You may have realized that the next action on getting a medical checkup, for example, was to call and make the appointment, and so (since the action required two minutes or less) you actually did it when it occurred to you. Writing the appointment into your calendar as you made it would then have been common sense. 日程表应该只显示“重要而艰巨的工作”，围绕着它推进你其余的行动。 The calendar should show only the "hard landscape" around which you do the rest of your actions. 然而，根据人们记录每天工作计划的老习惯，许多人希望把行动放在他们有心情去完成这件事情的那一天的日程安排中，比如星期一。但是到那时，也许情况就会发生变化了，因此这件事又不得不一再地拖延下去了。要抑制住这种种情况。你需要依赖你的日程表，把它视为一块圣域。它界定了你每天所有的责任的严格精确的界限。当你忙碌的时候，这些工作也应该能够一目了然。如果日程表中包括你必须在某一天搞定的工作，事情也就简单多了。 What many people want to do, however, based on old habits of writing daily to-do lists, is put actions on the calendar that they think they'd really like to get done next Monday, say, but that then actually might not, and that might then have to be taken over to following days. Resist this impulse. You need to trust your calendar as sacred territory, reflecting the exact hard edges of your day's commitments, which should be noticeable at a glance while you're on the run. That'll be much easier if the only things in there are those that you absolutely have to get done on that day. When the calendar is relegated to its proper role in organizing, the majority of the actions that you need to do are left in the category of "as soon as possible, against all the other things I have to do." 根据具体情况，管理属于“越快越好”的范畴的行动 Organizing As-Soon-As-Possible Actions by Context 在过去的许多年中，我发现提示“越快越好”这类行动的最佳途径是提示完成这一行动所必需的具体环境，即要么是工具，要么地点，或者完成该项工作的人。例如，如果这项行动需要使用计算机才能完成，那么，它就应该归入“在电脑旁”清单；如果你的行动要求你开车外出，那么“跑腿”清单将是最恰当的选择；下一步打算与你的合伙人埃米筣面对面地谈一谈，那就把它放入“埃米莉”清单中或者其它有意义的清单中。 Over many years I have discovered that the best way to be reminded of an "as soon as I can" action is by the particular context required for that action—that is, either the tool or the location or the person needed to complete it. For instance, if the action requires a computer, it should go on an "At Computer" list. If your action demands that you be out in your car driving around (such as stop-ping by the bank or going to the hardware store), the "Errands" list would be the appropriate place to track it. If the next step is to talk about something face-to-face with your partner Emily, putting it into an "Emily" folder or list makes the most sense. 这些清单在类别上的差异应该决定于： 1、现实中你所需要跟踪的行动的数量； 2、你需要改换完成这些工作所要求的环境的频率。 How discrete these categories will need to be will depend on (1) how many actions you actually have to track; and (2) how often you change the contexts within which to do them.

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如果你属于那种不寻常的人，只有 25 个下一步的行动等待执行，那么一个“下一步行动” 清单就足够了。它包括的内容五花八门，从“买钉子”到“和老板谈谈加工资的事”。如果手上有 50 甚至 100 件还没解决的事情，而你还把它们保存在一个巨大无比的清单中，这恐怕很难搜索到你需要关注的事情。每当手头上有零星的时间打算解决一些事情时，你大概不得不进行一些浪费时间的再分类工作。如果碰巧在开会时有一个短暂的休息时间，而你希望利用这段时间打几个电话，你就不得不在一批不相关的事件中寻找那些希望打的电话。当你出门去处理一些零碎的的事情时，你大概希望挑出那些需要跑腿的事情，再另外开一张清单。 If you are that rare person who has only twenty-five next actions, a single "Next Actions" list might suffice. It could include items as diverse as "Buy nails" and "Talk to boss about staff changes" and "Draft ideas about off-site meeting." If, however, you have fifty or a hundred next actions pending, keeping all of those on one big list would make it too difficult to see what you needed to see; each time you got any window of time to do something, you'd have to do unproductive resorting. If you happened to be on a short break at a conference, during which you might be able to make some calls, you'd have to identify the items that were calls among a big batch of unrelated items. When you went out to do odds and ends, you'd probably want to pick out your errands and make another list. 这一类的管理方法可以促进工作效率的另一个原因是，使你在某一种环境下和状态中集中充分地利用你的精力。当你处于“打电话的工作状态”时，完成许多要打的电话――缩减你的“电话”清单；你启动电脑时，你应该尽快地解决掉一些需要在线时处理的事情，而不必转移到其它活动中去。从某一类行为中脱离出来，再转入另一类节奏和工具都不相同的工作中去，往往会浪费掉很多精力，比大多数人所预见的还要多的多。当一个关键人物坐在你的办公室里，盯着你的时候，你如果能够立刻准备好一切你需要同他讨论的工作，这无疑是一个明智的做法。 Another productivity factor that this kind of organization supports is leveraging your energy when you're in a certain mode. When you're in "phone mode," it helps to make a lot of phone calls—just crank down your "Calls" list. When your computer is up and running and you're cruising along digitally, it's useful to get as much done on-line as you can without having to shift into another kind of activity. It takes more energy than most people realize to unhook out of one set of behaviors and get into another kind of rhythm and tool set. And obviously, when a key person is sitting in front of you in your office, you'd be wise to have all the things you need to talk about with him or her immediately at hand. 有关行动提示信息最常见的分类以下常见的下一步行动清单的标题对你有帮助： ·电话 ·在电脑旁 ·跑腿 ·在办公室时 ·在家时 ·议事日程 ·阅读/回顾 The Most Common Categories of Action Reminders You'll probably find that at least a few of the following common list headings for next actions will

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make sense for you: * "Calls" * "At Computer" *"Errand's" * "Office Actions" or "At Office" (miscellaneous) * "At Home" * "Agendas" (for people and meetings) * "Read/Review" “电话” 这是一个包括了所有要的电话的清单，只要是手上有一部电话，你就可以一项项地减少它的内容。你越是行踪不定，就越会发现拿着一个包括了所有联络电话的清单是多么有价值；你不在办公地点或者正在旅途中休息的时候，也许你就有一些小小的空闲，这为你提供一个绝好的机会来处理你的电话清单。拥有一个独立的“电话”清单，你就可以比较容易地集中精力选择一个最为恰当的电话拨打了。 "Calls" This is the list of all the phone calls you need to make; you can work off it as long as you have a phone available. The more mobile you are (especially if you have a cell phone), the more useful you'll find it to have one single list of all your calls: those strange little windows of time that you wind up with when you're off-site or traveling—on a break or waiting for a plane, maybe—offer a perfect opportunity to work down your list. Having a discrete "Calls" list makes it much easier to focus and intuitively pick the best call to make in the moment. 我建议你花一些时间，在工作清单的每一项内容旁边注明相关的电话号码。很多时候，如果电话号码一目了然，你很可能就打了这个电话，而如果你还花精力去查电话号码的话，你可能就放弃了。 I -suggest that you take the time to write the phone number itself alongside each item. There are many situations in which you would probably make the call if the number was already there in front of you but not if you had to look it up. “在电脑旁” 如果你使用电脑，特别是随身带着笔记本电脑，或者在工作场所配备有一台电脑，同时在家里安排了另一台，此时对所有当计算机运行时才能处理的事情进行分级，将会对你大有帮助。这能使你新眼看到运用电脑可以完成的所有工作，提醒你应该发送哪些电子邮件，应该起草或者编辑哪些文件等。 "At Computer" If you work with a computer—particularly if you move around with a laptop or have a PC at work and another one at home—it can be helpful to group all those actions that you need to do when it's on and running. This will allow you to see all your options for computer work to do, reminding you of all the e-mails you need to send, the documents you need to draft or edit, and so on. 因为我经常飞行，我甚至保存了一个“在飞机上”的行动清单，并与“在电脑旁”区别开。坐飞机时很难达到许多事情要求的那种办公环境：上网或连上我的服务器。因此我现在可以完全放心地依赖我的“在飞机上”清单，上面没有一项内容要求我必须上网。这样一来，我的大脑就获得了解放，不用像从前那样，对着“在电脑旁”的清单，我就不得不再次盘算，哪些工作可行，哪些不可行。 Because I fly a lot, I even maintain an "On-line" action list, separate from my "At Computer" one.

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When I'm on a plane, I can't easily connect to the Web or to my server, as many actions require. So instead of having to rethink what I can and can't do whenever I look at my "At Computer" list, I can trust that none of my "At Computer" actions require that I be connected, which frees my mind to make choices based on other criteria. 周密地斟酌在什么地点你能够执行和不能够执行哪些行动，然后相应地对你的各种清单进行组织和管理。 Think carefully about where and howyou can and can't do which actions, and organize your lists accordingly. 如果只在工作时拥有电脑，你可能不需要一个单独的“在电脑旁”清单。“办公室中的行动”可以覆盖这些内容，因为办公室是你惟一可以办理这些事物的场所。（类似的，如果你仅在家里有一个电脑，又不是笔记本型的，你也可以把电脑类行动归于“在家”清单之中。） If you have a computer only at work, you may not need a separate "At Computer" list; "Office Actions" may cover those actions because the office is the only place you can do them anyway. (Similarly, if you have a computer only at home, and it's not a laptop, you may be able to put computer-specific actions on your "At Home" list.) “跑腿” 把所有需要外出时处理的事情归纳到一起，这种方法非常有意义。当你知道自己需要开车外出，要是在路上能够看上一眼这个清单，那就太妙了。像“从保险箱中取出股票证券”，“从设计者那里取回画像”以及“在苗圃购买一个牵牛花“一类的活动都应该纳入这个清单的范畴。 "Errands" It makes a lot of sense to group together in one place reminders of all the things you need to do when you're "out and about." When you know you need to get in your car and go somewhere, it's great to be able to look at the list while you're on the road. Actions like "Get stock certificates from safety-deposit box," "Pick up pictures at framers," and "Buy petunias at nursery" would all go here. 当然，这个清单绝不比你保存在计划手册里的一张即时贴的内容更加详细，也不比你掌上电脑里的“todo”部分中的“跑腿”一栏中的屏幕显示更为复杂。 This list could, of course, be nothing more elaborate than a Post-it that you keep in your planner somewhere, or a screen in an "Errands" category of the "To Do" section on your Palm organizer. 在个人的“跑腿”项目中建立一些子目录，通常会使你受益匪浅。例如，一旦你需要从五金商店购买某些材料时，很可能你希望在清单中创建一个“五金商店”的条目，然后在此条目下再附加一个子清单，记录你打算在那里购买的具体物品。在运用技术含量低的工具时，你可能在一张即时贴上创建一个“五金商店”的清单，当拥有先进的高科技产品时，如果你使用的是一个电子形式的清单，那你就可以在“五金商店”一项后面附加一个“备忘录”，并在那里输入详细的内容。 It's often helpful to track sublists within individual "Errands" items. For instance, as soon as you realize you need something from the hardware store, you might want to make "Hardware Store" the list item and then append a sublist of all the things you want to pick up there, as you think of them. On the low-tech end, you could create a "Hardware Store" Post-it; on the high-tech side, if you were using a digital list, you could attach a "note" to "Hardware Store" on your list and input

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the details there. 由于我穿梭往返于几个大都市，因此我保存着两个“跑腿”清单：“跑腿------奥哈伊”（我住的地方）和“跑腿----任何地方。”这样即使我正在旅途上，也可以随时处理所有其他的事情。“灌溉工程的网络插件”将被纳入“跑腿---奥哈伊”，而“购买衣服袜子”将被列入“跑腿---任何地方。” Because I travel in major metropolitan areas so much, I keep two "Errands" lists—"Errands—Ojai" (where I live) and "Errands—Anywhere," for all those other things I can pick up even when I'm on the road. "T-connectors for irrigation" would go on "Errands—Ojai," but "Get dress socks" would go on "Errands—Anywhere."

我们必须努力达到那种超越烦琐复杂的简洁境界。 ——John Gardner We must strive to reach that simplicity that lies beyond sophistication. —-John Gardner “办公室中的活动”/“在办公室时” 如果你有一间办公室，肯定会有一些工作你只能在那里完成，那么眼前放上一张包括了所有这样事情的清单，就等于多了一个助手。即使你的办公室里有电话和电脑，你还是要有“打电话” 和“在电脑旁”各自独立的清单，它们将发挥自己的作用。我会使用“在办公室中的活动”或者“在办公室时”清单记录一些仅仅需要上网才能处理的情况。比如，对我来说上网下载一个大型软件的程序将纳入这个清单中。 "Office Actions'/"At Office" If you work in an office, there will be certain things that you can do only there, and a list of those will be a useful thing to have in front of you then—though obviously, if you have a phone and a computer in your office, and you have "Calls" and "At Computer" as separate lists, they'll be in play as well. I'd use an "Office Actions" or "At Office" list for anything that required an Internet connection available only, or even most conveniently, in the office—for example, a reminder to download a large software program from the Web would go on this list for me. “在家时” 许多行动只能在家里搞定，因此，针对这个环境创立一个清单就十分有必要。我相信，你有许多的私事和需要在房子周围处理的各种杂活。通常，这一类事件的下一步行动就是直接实际行动了。“挂一张新的图片”，“整理 CD”以及“把衣柜里的衣服换成冬装”都是这一类具有代表性的内容。 "At Home" Many actions can be done only at home, and it makes sense to keep a list specific to that context. I'm sure you've got numerous personal and around-the-house projects, and often the next thing to do on them is just to do them. "Hang new print," "Organize CDs," and "Switch closets to winter clothes" would be typical items for this grouping. 如果你像我一样，在家里设有一个办公室，那么只有那些在家中的办公室里才能解决的事情才可以放到“在家时”清单。（如果你仅仅在家中工作，而且并不去其它的地方办公，那你就根本不用设立“办公室的活动”清单，仅有一个“在家时”清单就够了。） If you have an office at home, as I do, anything that can be done only there goes on the "At Home" list. (If you work only at home and don't go to another office, you won't need an "Office Actions" list at all—the "At Home" list will suffice.)

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“议事日程” 不可避免，你总会发现许多下一步的行动不是在和某人的交流中冒出来的，就是在委员会、团队或者员工会议上提出来的。你不得不与合作伙伴讨论一下有关明年发展的想法；你希望同配偶协商一下春季的日程安排；你需要给秘书指派一项复杂工作，恐怕一下子还难以在电子邮件中交代清楚；你必须在星期一召开的有关调整费用报销政策的员工会议上宣布一项新的决定。 "Agendas" Invariably you'll find that many of your next actions need to either occur in a real-time interaction with someone or be brought up in a committee, team, or staff meeting. You have to talk to your partner about an idea for next year; you want to check with your spouse about his schedule for the spring; you need to delegate a task to your secretary that's too complicated to explain in an e-mail. And you must make an announcement at the Monday staff meeting about the change in expense-report policies. 长年忍受你每天必须对付的会议和人际交往，不如为这些活动打造自己的“议事日程” 清单。 Standing meetings and people you deal with on an ongoing basis may need their own "Agenda" lists. 这些行动应该分门别类的保存在针对每一个人以及会议（假设你定期参加这个会议）的议事日程的清单上。有些专业人士已经在采用这个方法的一种版本，他们把需要和老板讨论的所有事宜保存在一个专门的文件夹。如果你认真对待所有的下一步行动，你发现需要 3-15 个这样的清单。我建议你为老板、合伙人、助手、配偶和孩子建立各自独立的文件夹或者清单。同样地，你应该为你的律师、金融顾问、会议以及电脑顾问设立专门的清单，还包括所有那些你在电话中要与之商讨一件以上事情的人。 These next actions should be put on separate "Agenda" lists for each of those people and for that meeting (assuming that you attend it regularly). Professionals who keep a file folder to hold all the things they need to go over with their boss already use a version of this method. If you're conscientious about determining all your next actions, though, you may find that you'll need somewhere between three and fifteen of these kinds of lists. I recommend that separate files or lists be kept for bosses, partners, assistants, spouses, and children. You should also keep the same kind of list for your attorney, financial adviser, accountant, and/or computer consultant, as well as for anyone else with whom you might have more than one thing to go over the next time you talk on the phone. 如果你参加了一个常规的会议——员工会议、计划会议、委员会会议等，它们也同样应该享有独立的文件夹。你将收集到的上述场合的资料存放在它们的文件夹。 If you participate in standing meetings—staff meetings, project meetings, board meetings, committee meetings, what-ever—they, too, deserve their own files, in which you can collect things that will need to be addressed on those occasions. 通常情况下，某一段时间内你会同某人进行频繁的接触，你希望在此期间保存一个连续的清单。一个承包人正在对你的房屋或者财产进行一项重要的修整工作，你可以在这一阶段为此设立一个专门的清单。当他下班走人以后，你围着施工现场转，考虑可能你有几件事需要同他交换一下意见。你希望这个清单操作简单明了，随时可以派上用场。

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Often you'll want to keep a running list of things to go over with someone you'll be interacting with only for a limited period of time. For instance, if you have a contractor doing a significant piece of work on your house or property, you can create a list for him for the duration of the project. As you're walking around the site after he's left for the day, you may notice several things you need to talk with him about, and you'll want that list to be easy to capture and to access as needed. 鉴于这类清单效果显著，你系统应该允许你根据需要快速而方便地添加特别的“议事日程”清单。比如，在活页夹式的计划手册中的“议事日程”部份，为某一个人或者某一个会议插入一页纸只需要几秒钟就能办妥。同样，往掌上电脑的“议事日程”目录中增加一个专门的 “备忘录”也是如此。 Given the usefulness of this type of list, your system should allow you to add "Agendas" ad hoc, as needed, quickly and simply. For example, inserting a page for a person or a meeting within an "Agenda" section in a loose-leaf notebook planner takes only seconds, as does adding a dedicated "Memo" in a PDA's "Agenda" category.

阅读/回顾你常会发现在你的工作篮中有许多的事情，其下一步的行动是阅读。我希望你能够坚持 2 分钟的原则，已经清理掉相当多的可以一带而过的事情，根据情况把一些扔掉，把一些归档或者发送给别人。 "Read/Review" You will no doubt have discovered in your in- basket a number of things for which your next action is to read. I hope you will have held to the two-minute rule and dispatched a number of those quick-skim items already—tossing, filing, or routing them forward as appropriate. 你知道，需要阅读的内容往往要占用 2 分钟以上的时间，通常最初存入“阅读/回顾”独立工作篮中。按我的定义，这仍然还是一个“清单”，只不过是把存放在一个盒子里的或者一个文件夹中的各种资料进行更加有有效的分组管理。 To-read items that you know will demand more than two minutes of your time are usually best managed in a separate physical stack-basket labeled "Read/Review." This is still a "list" by my definition, but one that's more efficiently dealt with by grouping the documents and magazines themselves in a tray and/or portable folder. 对于许多人来说，这个“阅读/回顾”资料堆很可能最终将变成一个庞然大物。因此这堆资料必须是那些需要花费 2 分钟以上的时间，并且你一旦有空就会真心希望阅读的资料，这一点至关重要。这本身就可能令人畏缩不前，但是，如果这一界限模糊不清的话，情况将会处于严重的失控状态，你也会对此感到麻木。一个简单原始的有关边界的描绘至少能使你认识到这一种目录，而且如果你同大多数人的情况一样，拥有一个自我的调节的机制，它将有助于你更加清楚地分清哪些资料你希望保存，哪些应该扔掉了。 For many people, the "Read/Review" stack can get quite large. That's why it's critical that the pile be reserved only for those longer-than-two-minute things that you actually want to read when you have time. That can be daunting enough in itself, but things get seriously out of control and psychologically numbing when the edges of this category are not clearly defined. A pristine delineation will at least make you conscious of the inventory, and if you're like most people, having some type of selfregulating mechanism will help you become more aware of what you

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want to keep and what you should just get rid of. 当你匆匆忙忙地赶去开一个很可能被延误的会议时，当你参加的一个研讨会的中间有段空闲时间时，或者当你约了牙医，却不得不等候少许时间——在这些时间片段中，如果你身旁恰好拥有这样的一叠阅读资料，而且你可以轻松地拿到手上，这简直是太实用了。以上全都是可以用来阅读的大好时机。由于生命中充满了这类可以利用的时间片段，那些缺少“阅读/回顾”资料的人必然会浪费大量的时间。 It's practical to have that stack of reading material at hand and easy to grab on the run when you're on your way to a meeting that may be late starting, a seminar that may have a window of time when nothing is going on, or a dentist appointment that may keep you waiting to get your teeth cleaned. Those are all great opportunities to crank through that kind of reading. People who don't have their "Read/Review" material organized can waste a lot of time, since life is full of weird little windows when it could be processed.

那些最不擅长利用时间的人总是第一个跳出来抱怨时间的缺乏。 ——Jean de la Bruysre Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness. —-Jean de La Bruysre 管理 “等待”Organizing "Waiting For" 如同那些行动的提示信息一样，你期待着从别人那里取回某些由他们完成的工作，而所有这类事物的提示信息也必须得到整理和分类。你大可不必分门别类地一件一件记录这些事情，但是，通常你需要保存那些交给别人负责完成的任务的最终结果，如你向剧院订购的戏票、为办公室购买的扫描仪、获取某一个建议的确认等。当某项工作的下一步行动属于另一个人的的责任范围的时候，你并不需要行动的揭示信息，仅仅需要你所期待获取的结果的启动器。你的角色是根据需要经常核对这个清单，并且评估你是不是应该在当前的情况下采取一些行动，如检查目前的状况或者督促某项工作动作起来。 Like reminders of the actions you need to do, reminders of all the things that you're waiting to get back from or get done by others have to be sorted and grouped. You won't necessarily be tracking discrete action steps here, but more often final deliverables or projects that others are responsible for, such as the tickets you've ordered from the theater, the scanner that's coming for the office, the OK on the proposal from your client, and so on. When the next action on something is up to someone else, you don't need an action reminder, just a trigger about what you're waiting for from whom. Your role is to review that list as often as you need to and assess whether you ought to be taking an action such as checking the status or lighting a fire under the project. 也许你会发现，这个“等待”清单就像同一系统中的“下一步行动”提示清单一样，只有尽可能保存在手边时，才能够发挥最佳的效果。在某一项计划最终结束之前，下一个行动的责任可能会反复跳跃多次。例如，你也许需要给一个卖主打一个电话（在“电话”清单中）。电话打完了，你会等待对方给你的答复（这个答复属于“等待”清单的范围）。答复终于来了，你必须加以核查（它落入“阅读/回顾”资料篮）。最后你把它发给你的老板，期待他的批准（现在，这件事又回到“等待”清单）等。 You'll probably find it works best to keep this "Waiting For" list close at hand, in the same system as your own "Next Actions" reminder lists. The responsibility for the next step may bounce back

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and forth many times before a project is finished. For example, you may need to make a call to a vendor to request a proposal for a piece of work (on your "Calls" list.) Having made the call, you then wait for the vendor to get back to you with the proposal (the proposal goes to your "Waiting For" list). When the proposal comes in, you have to review it (it lands in your "Read/Review" stack-basket). Once you've gone over it, you send it to your boss for her approval (now it's back on your "Waiting For" list). And so on.* (*Digital list managers (like the Palm's) or low-tech papers in separate folders have an advantage, here over lists on paper because they let you easily move an item from one category to another as the action changes, without your having to rewrite anything.) 当你认识到这个“等待”清单囊括了一切你所关注的事情，而它们又只需要由别人来完成时，你一定会飘飘然了。 You'll get a great feeling when you know that your "Waiting For" list is the complete inventory of everything you care about that other people are supposed to be doing. 使用原始内容作为它自身的行动提示信息 Using the Original Item as Its Own Action Reminder 保存行动提示信息最为快捷有效的方法就是：当事情出现时，把它们直接地添加到清单中或者放入文件夹中。当你完成加工处理以后，原始的启动器也就毫无价值了。也许你在同老板商讨时随手做了一些记录，但是，在你挑选出相关的计划和行动后，完全可以把这些原始的记录丢掉了。有时，当一些人试图归档保存语音邮件时，他们还必须“再做点什么”，这种管理隐含在语音邮件中的提示信息的做法就算不上是最有效的了。 The most efficient way to track your action reminders is to add them to lists or folders as they occur to you. The originating trigger won't be needed after you have processed it. You might take notes in the meeting with your boss, but you can toss those after you've pulled out any projects and actions associated with them. While some people try to archive voice-mails that they still need to "do something about," that's not the most effective way to manage the reminders embedded in them.

把可以付诸行动的电子邮件和文件与其余的分离开来 Keep actionable e-mails and paper separated from all the rest. 然而，这一原则还存在着某些例外。这些输入的信息本身就可以充当自己高效的行动提示信息，而不需要你再在清单上写下几笔。这种方法尤其适用于一些书面形式的资料和电子邮件。 There are some exceptions to this rule, however. Certain kinds of input will most efficiently serve as their own reminders of required actions, rather than your having to write something about them on a list. This is particularly true for some paper-based materials and some e-mails. 管理书面形式的工作流程 Managing Paper-Based Workflow 某些事情本身就是这项工作的最佳提示物。最常见的例子有“阅读/回顾”范围内的文章、出版物和文件资料等。显而易见的是，当你完全可以轻松地把杂志本身扔进“阅读/回顾”一篮中充当提示物时，如果你坚持还要在行动清单中一笔一画地写清“游览《财富》杂志“，这就多此一举了。

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Some things are their own best reminders of work to be done. The category of "Read/Review" articles, publications, and documents is the most common example. It would obviously be overkill to write "Review Fortune magazine" on some action list when you could just as easily toss the magazine itself into your "Read/Review" basket to act as the trigger. 另一个例子是：有些人觉得把所有的账单在同一时间、同一地方进行支付比较容易，他们希望把自己的各类账单存放在一个标题为“要支付的账单“的文件夹或者篮子里（常用的是 “等待处理的财务问题”）。与此相似，报销的收据也应该在一出现时就处理掉，或者保存在“等待处理的收据”信封或者是文件夹中。 Another example: people who find it easier to deal with bills by paying them all at one time and in one location will want to keep their bills in a folder or stack-basket labeled "Bills to Pay" (or, more generically, "Financial to Process"). Similarly, receipts for expense reporting should be either dealt with at the time they're generated or kept in their own "Receipts to Process" envelope or folder.* (*This approach can be dangerous, however, if you don't put those "Bills to Pay" or "Receipts to Process" in front of your face as consistently as you should. Just having them "organized" isn't sufficient to get them off your mind—you've also got to review them appropriately.) 你所从事的工作、输入的信息以及所处工作环境的具体特点也可能决定了通过采用资料原件的形式来管理其他类别的事物，才能提高工作效率。比如，一位在客服中心工作的人员可能要与不计其数的申请信打交道，这些都要求填写在一些标准的格式中。在这种情况下，坚持用一个篮子或者文件夹专门存放它们，是一种最佳的管理方式。 The specific nature of your work, your input, and your work-station may make it more efficient to organize other categories using only the original paper itself. A customer-service professional, for instance, may deal with numerous requests that show up in a standard written form, and in that case maintaining a basket or file containing only those actionable items is the best way to manage them. 是把提示信息记录在清单上呢？还是把文件资料的原件直接存入文件夹中呢？哪一种选择更加明智呢？在相当大的程度上，这取决于逻辑关系。除了在办公桌旁，你是不是还要查阅这些提示信息呢？如果是，就应该考虑资料是不是便于携带，如果你的工作只能在办公桌边上落实，那么，仅仅在你的工作环境中管理这些提示物将是最佳的选择。 Whether it makes more sense to write reminders on a list or to use the originating documents in a basket or folder will depend to a great extent on logistics. Could you use those reminders somewhere other than at your desk? If so, the portability of the material should be considered. If you couldn't possibly do that work anywhere but at your desk, then managing reminders of it solely at your workstation is the better choice. 无论你作出哪种选择，提示信息都应该根据下一步行动的要求放在醒目的文件夹中。如果解决一下服务订单的下一个步骤是打电话，那就把它归入““电话”一组；如果行动要求游览一些信息并输入计算机中，你应该给它标注上“在电脑旁”。我认为，许多工作流程运行不畅在于一种类别的档案资料（如服务要求）全都被保存在一个篮子里，即使每项工作的要求千差万别。某一个要求通个电话，而另一个则要求查阅资料，再有一个是等待某人带回一些信息，但它们却全都混在了一起。这种安排方法可能使人对这一叠资料感到头晕，这是因它

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们的下一步决策都还处于悬而未决的状态。 Whichever option you select, the reminders should be in visibly discrete categories based upon the next action required. If the next action on a service order is to make a call, it should be in a "Calls" group; if the action step is to review information and input it into the computer, it should be labeled "At Computer." Most undermining of the effectiveness of many workflow systems I see is the fact that all the documents of one type (e.g., service requests) are kept in a single tray, even though different kinds of actions may be required on each one. One request needs a phone call, another needs data reviewed, and still another is waiting for someone to get back with some information—but they're all sorted together. This arrangement can cause a person's mind to go numb to the stack because of all the decisions that are still pending about the next-action level of doing. 我个人管理体系极其方便，易于携带，而且我的清单几乎包括了所有的事情。但是，我仍然保留了两类书面形式的提示物，出外旅行时，我带着一个“阅读/回顾”的塑料文件夹，另一个则标注了“输入资料”。在后面这个文件夹中，我存储着那些下一步仅仅需要输入电脑的事情（需要添加到电话/地址清单中的名牌，应该存入“格言”数据库中的格言，以及我希望记录在“旅行——城市”子目录中的有关餐馆的各类文章，诸如此类）。 My personal system is highly portable, with almost everything kept on lists, but I still maintain two categories of paper-based reminders. I travel with a "Read/Review" plastic file folder and another one labeled "Data Entry." In the latter I put anything for which the next action is simply to input data into my computer (business cards that need to get into my telephone/address list, quotes for my "Quotes" database, articles about restaurants I want to put on my "Travel—Cities" sublists, etc.). 管理电子邮件类的工作流程 Managing E-mail-Based Workflow 就像书面形式的材料一样，某些需要处理的电子邮件其自身带可以充当它们自己最佳的提示物——保存在电子邮件的系统内。当你面对大量的电子邮件，并耗费了许多的时间来启动有关电子邮件的软件时，这种做法尤其管用。把需要你处理的电子邮件保存在系统之内，从而不必再花力气将隐含其中的行动一项一项地列在清单上面。 Like some paper-based materials, e-mails that need action are sometimes best as their own reminders—in this case within the tracked e-mail system itself. This is especially likely to be true if you get a lot of e-mail and spend a lot of your work time with your e-mail software booted up. E-mails that you need to act on may then be stored within the system instead of having their embedded actions written out on a list. 我的许多客户发现，在他们的电子邮件地址栏这一栏中，建立 2-3 个别具特色的文件夹会使他们受益不少。的确，大部分电子邮件中的文件夹应该可以当做参考资料或者归档资料来使用，但是我们同样可以创建一个系统，用于保存和分类整理那些可以付诸实施的资料，并独立于“工作篮”区域以外（这是大多数保存资料的地方）。 Many of my clients have found it helpful to set up two or three unique folders on their e-mail navigator bars. True, most folders in e-mail should be used for reference or archived materials, but it's also possible to set up a workable system that will keep your actionable messages discretely organized, outside of the "in" area itself (which is where most people keep them).

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我建议你建立一个文件夹，专门收集那些需要处理，但同时将占用 2 分钟以上时间的电子邮件。（再提醒一次，你应该遵循 2 分钟原则，即解决掉许多的邮件。）文件夹的以一个前缀字母或者符号开始，这样做的目的是：（1）它看上去将有别于其它的参考资料文件夹（2）它位于地址栏一栏中所有文件夹的首位。你可以选用类似于微软软件中的@符号或者 lotus 软件中的破折号（“——”），它们都位居各自系统的首位。因此，你的 “@行动”文件夹将保存等待你处理的那些电子邮件。 I recommend that you create one folder for any longer-than-two-minute e-mails that you need to act on (again, you should be able to dispatch many messages right off the bat by following the two-minute rule). The folder name should begin with a prefix letter or symbol so that (1) it looks different from your reference folders and (2) it sits at the top of your folders in the navigator bar. Use something like the "@" sign in Microsoft or the dash ("-") in Lotus, which sort into their systems at the top. Your resulting "FACTION" folder will hold those e-mails that you need to do something about. 接下来，你创建一个标题为“@等待”的文件夹，它将出现在“@行动”相同的位置上。然后，当你收到一些别人将要处理而你又非常关注其结果的电子邮件时，你可以把它们拖入“@ 等待”文件夹中。此外，它还可以保存那些你通过电子邮件提出派发出去的工作的提示信息：当你发送信息或者通过电子邮件提出要求，或者指派一项工作时，只需要将它的副本存入“@ 等待”文件夹中。 Next you can create a folder titled "@WAITING FOR," which will show up in the same place as the "@ACTION" folder. Then, as you receive e-mails that indicate that someone is going to do something that you care about tracking, you can drag them over into the "@WAITING FOR" file. It can also hold reminders for anything that you delegate via e-mail: when you forward something, or use e-mail to make a request or delegate an action, just save a copy into the "@WAITING FOR" file.* 有一些应用程序（如 Notes）允许你在发送邮件的同时，复制一份并归档存入你自己的文件夹中（按一下“改善和归档”按纽）。其它软件（如 outlook）可以在同一时间内将文件存入包罗万象的“已发送邮件”文件夹中。在后一种情况下，对于许多人来说，最有效的方法是：当他们通过邮件分派任务时，复制一份（“抄送”或者是“秘密抄送”），然后把复制件存入“@ 等待”文件夹中。（编辑一个程序，使 outlook 能够自动把你转发给自己的内容发送到一个指定的文件夹中，这相对来说比较容易。这个指定的文件夹将复制出刚才描述的过程）。 Some applications (such as Lotus Notes) allow you to file a copy of an e-mail into one of your folders as you send it (with a "Send and File" button). Others (e.g., Outlook) will simultaneously save only into your universal "Sent Mail" folder. In the latter case, what seems to work best for many is to copy ("cc" or "bcc") themselves when they delegate via e-mail, and then to pull that copy into their "@WAITING FOR" folder. (It's relatively easy to program Outlook to automatically send any e-mail that you "cc" to yourself into a designated folder, which would replicate the process just described.)

将电子邮件“工作篮 ”清空上述详细阐述的方法，有助于清空电子邮件的工作篮，这简直是一个上天的恩赐了。你恢复了“工作篮”真正意义上的功能，因此，后来“寄居”在那里的所有事情都像自动应答机一样，会有一道闪烁的亮光向你通报：有事情需要处理了。大多数人利用电子邮件的“工作篮”来安排尚未决断的事物和参考资料，这一做法将迅速地麻痹大脑：

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每当他们扫视屏幕时，都不不重新评估每一件事。如果你的邮件信息永远不会超过一个整屏，这种方法还是相当有效的。但是考虑到当前专业人士所面对的电子邮件的数量级，这种方法便显得太不合时宜了。 Getting E-mail "In" to "Empty" The method detailed above will enable you to actually get everything out of your e-mail in-basket, which will be a huge boon to your clarity about and control of your day-to-day work. You'll reclaim "in" as "in," so anything residing there will be like a message on your answering machine—a blinking light telling you you need to process something! Most people use their e-mail "in" for staging still-undecided actionable things and reference, a practice that rapidly numbs the mind: they know they've got to reassess everything every time they glance at the screen. If you never had more than a screenful of e-mails, this approach might be reasonably functional, but with the volume most professionals are dealing with these days, that doesn't apply. 在一千封电子邮件的基础上进行管理，要比在零的基本上消耗多的多的精力 It requires much less energy to maintain e-mail at a zero base than at a thousand base. 再说一次，清空“工作篮”中的内容并不意味着你已经解决掉了所有的问题。它仅仅代表着，你已经删掉了一切可以删掉的内容，把你暂时不需要行动但希望保存的事情归档管理，搞定了所有那些不需要 2 分钟就能解决的事情，并把你正在等待回复以及全部都可以会计行动的电子邮件统统地装入你的提示信息文件夹。这与你手忙脚乱地搜索多个屏幕，生怕漏过一些重要事情，担心它们哪天会捅出个大娄子来是不是简单多了呢？ Again, getting "in" empty doesn't mean you've handled everything. It means that you've DELETED what you could, FILED what you wanted to keep but don't need to act on, DONE the less-than-two-minute responses, and moved into your reminder folders all the things you're waiting for and all your actionable e-mails. Now you can open the "@ACTION" file and review the e-mails that you've determined you need to spend time on. Isn't that process easier to relate to than fumbling through multiple screens, fearing all the while that you may miss something that'll blow up on you? 关于四处散落提示信息的警告 A Caution About Dispersing Reminders of Your Actions 把提示信息放在你的视线之外，这种做法是十分危险的。一个管理系统的主要功能是，在需要时为你提供希望看到的提示信息，以便你能够完全信赖自己的选择（以及未作出的选择）。在忙碌了一天，离开办公室之前，你必须逐项地检查一下这些仍然悬而未决的邮件，就像检查你的的“电话”清单或者“在电脑旁”清单一样。从本质上讲，“@行动”是你“在电脑旁” 清单的一个延续部分，因此，也应该以完全一致的方式给予对待。如果局面形式的资料是提示信息可以出现的唯一形式，那么，你那些“悬而未决”的局面工作也是必须受到同样的评估。 There's an obvious danger in putting reminders of things you need to do somewhere out of sight. The function of an organization system is primarily to supply the reminders you need to see when you need to see them, so you can trust your choices about what you're doing (and what you're not doing). Before you leave the office for the day, the actionable e-mails that you still have pending must be reviewed individually, just like your "Calls" or "At Computer" lists. In essence, "@ACTION" is an extension of your "At Computer" list and should be handled in exactly the same fashion. Your paper-based "Pending" workflow must likewise be assessed like a list if the paper materials are being used as your only reminders.

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“眼不见，心不烦”并不是真的心境坦然。"Out of sight, out of mind" is not really out of mind. 把行动的启动装置分散地存入各个文件夹、清单或者一个电子邮件系统当中，这种做法没有任何问题，只要你能够按照要求定期回顾游览。你当然不会希望在系统中任何一个隐秘的角落里隐藏着某些事情，它们逃避了它们原本应该发挥的作用：提醒你。 Distributing action triggers in a folder, on lists, and/or in an e-mail system is perfectly OK, as long as you review all of the categories to which you've entrusted your triggers equally, as required. You don't want things lurking in the recesses of your systems and not being used for their intended purpose: reminding you. 为了能够与朋友们在一起聚会或者到处闲逛，真正做到心里没有牵挂、无忧无虑，你必须弄清楚所有行动方案的存放地点，它们的具体状况如何，以及它们是不是都可以暂时被搁置起来，与此同时，你还具有在几秒钟内而不是几天后实施这些方案的能力。 In order to hang out with friends or take a long, aimless walk and truly have nothing on your mind, you've got to know where all your actionable items are located, what they are, and that they will wait. And you need to be able to do that in a few seconds, not days.

管理各种工作的提示信息 Organizing Project Reminders 创建并保存一个包括你所有工作任务（再重申一次，每一个承诺或者预期的结果都需要一步以上的行动来完成）的清单，这可能是一种非同寻常的经历如果你还没有这样做，我建议你，一开始时建立一个形式非常简洁的“工作”清单（类似于你一直在使用的行动清单）：它可以是电子文件夹中的一个目录，也可以是活页计划手册中的一页纸，甚至可以是一个独立的文件夹，贴着“工作”的标签，里面要么是一张包罗万象的清单，要么是按类别分开记录的几张纸。 Creating and maintaining one list of all your projects (that is, again, every commitment or desired outcome that may require more than one action step to complete) can be a profound experience! You probably have more of them than you think. If you haven't done so already, I recommend that initially you make a "Projects" list in a very simple format, similar to the ones you've used for your lists of actions: it can be a category in a digital organizer, a page in a loose-leaf planner, or even a single file folder labeled "PROJECTS," with either a master list or separate sheets of paper for each one. “工作”清单 The "Projects" List(s) “工作”清单意味着有关你的各项工作的具体方案或者详细资料。不过，你也不用按照事情的重要性或者急迫程度进行分类管理，它只是你所有悬而未决的问题的一个综合索引。事实上，在日复一日的活动中，你不会逐项地遵照这个清单行事；在极大程度上，每天占据你主要精力的是你的行动清单，以及随时随地钻出来的一切特殊情况。请记住，你无法一口气完成一个计划，你仅仅能够完成所需要的某一阶段的具体行动。 The "Projects" list is not meant to hold plans or details about your projects themselves, nor should you try to keep it arranged by priority or size or urgency—it's just a comprehensive index of your open loops. You actually won't be working off of the "Projects" list during your day-to-day activities; for the most part, your action lists and any ad hoc tasks that come up will constitute your tactical in-the-moment focus. Remember, you can't do a project, you can only do the action steps it requires.

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“工作”清单的真实价值在于，它可以为你提供一个完整全面的回顾机会（至少每周一次），使你确保所有的计划都已经制定出了行动方案，不会存在任何的疏漏。时不时地扫上一眼清单，可以加强你内心深处那种能够控制一切的感觉。同时，你还可以知道每当遇到适合评估工作量的时候，你（别人也可以）都可以随时拿出一张详细的目录来。 The real value of the "Projects" list lies in the complete review it can provide (at least once a week), allowing you to ensure that you have action steps defined for all of your projects, and that nothing is slipping through the cracks. A quick glance at this list from time to time will enhance your underlying sense of control. You'll also know that you have an inventory available to you (and to others) whenever it seems advisable to evaluate workload(s). 在从局部管理向全局总揽的转化过程中，一个完整和同步的“工作”清单是一个主要的动作手段。 A complete and current "Projects" list is the major operational tool for moving from tree-hugging to forest management. 仅用一张清单呢？还是进一步细分呢？One List, or Subdivided? 大多数人发现，使用一张清单是最佳的选择，因为这一张清单发挥着一张重要事件详细目录的作用，而并不是一张每日工作的先后次序的概要。管理系统仅仅为你所有悬而未决的问题和选择提供了一个占位符号，因此，你的大脑就能更加轻松自如地完全凭直觉作出必要的战略决策。 Most people find that one list is the best way to go because it serves as a master inventory rather than as a daily prioritizing guideline. The organizing system merely provides placeholders for all your open loops and options so your mind can more easily make the necessary intuitive, moment-to-moment strategic decisions. 坦白地说，你拥有多少种工作计划清单都无关紧要，只要你可以根据需要经常地游览这些内容。这是因为，在很大程度上你每周的回顾检查活动往往都是在一瞬间就可以完成的。 Frankly, it doesn't matter how many different lists of projects you have, so long as you look at the contents of all of them as often as you need to, since for the most part you'll do that in one fell swoop during your Weekly Review. 进一步细分工作的几种常见方法 Some Common Ways to Subsort Projects 在某些情况下，更深一层地划分“工作”清单是很有意义的。下面，我们逐一来看看这些情况。 There are some situations in which it makes good sense to subsort a "Projects" list. Let's look at these one by one.

个人的/职业的许多人喜欢把自己的清单划分为个人私事和工作方面两种。如果你也属于这类人，那么我建议你一定要明智地对待“个人”清单，像检查“职业”清单一样定期回顾，而不是专门留到周末才去处理。许多私人的事情也需要在平时的工作中采取行动，这一点同其他任何事情毫无差别。而且，一些工作方面的巨大压力也往往源于人们个人生活方面的疏漏。 Personal/Professional Many people feel more comfortable seeing their lists divided up between personal and professional * projects. If you're among them, be advised that your "Personal" list

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will need to be reviewed as judiciously as your "Professional" one, and not just saved for weekends. Many actions on personal things will need to be handled on weekdays, exactly like everything else. And often some of the greatest pressures on professionals stem from the personal aspects of their lives that they are letting slip.

已经指派他人处理的工作如果你是一位高级管理人员或者经理，也许你直接负责管理几项计划，但是你已经指派别人处理了其中的一部分，并且要求他们定期地向你汇报。当然你可以把这些记录纳入你的“等待”清单之中，这时，创建一个“工作——已指派”清单，跟踪这些情况将是一个不错的选择：你的任务就是定期地核查这个清单，以确保一切事情顺利向前推进。 Delegated Projects If you're a senior manager or executive, you probably have several projects that you are directly responsible for but have handed off to people who report to you. While you could, of course, put them on your "Waiting For" list, it might make better sense to create a "Projects—Delegated" list to track them: your task will be simply to review the list regularly enough to ensure that everything on it is moving along appropriately.

某些特定类别的工作有一些专业人士要面对同属一种类型的几个不同的工作。把这一类计划作为“工作”清单的一个子清单归纳在一起，也许效果更好。比如，我单独保存着一个叫做“待办事务”清单，它用于记录在较长的一个时期内，所有即将由我负责举办的研究会、培训和咨询工作。这些事件同其它的“工作”一样，因为我需要不断地记录有关它们的一些发展状况，直到任务结束。然后我发觉，按照这些事件在日程表中出现的先后次序把它们统统地保留在一张清单上，并使其远离其他的清单，这种做法对我有很大的帮助。 Specific Types of Projects Some professionals have as part of their work several different projects of the same type, which in some instances it maybe valuable to group together as a sublist of "Projects." For example, I maintain a separate category called "Projects to Deliver," a chronological listing of all the upcoming seminars, coaching, and consulting assignments I've committed to. These events are "projects" like the rest, in that I need to keep noting whether things are moving along on and in place for them until they're completed. But I find it helpful to see them all organized on one list, in the order in which they are coming up on my calendar, apart from my other projects. 如果你是一名房地产经纪人，你的客户有可能来自各行各业。如果你能够一目了然地看到所有还末解决的“运行中的销售关系”清单，这将对你大有裨益。这张清单可以是你“客户发展计划”中的一个独立清单，或者你已经针对每一个进展中的计划设立的专门的文件夹。这时，你完全有条件把它们归纳到一个文件，保存在书柜里。注意，只有当它代表着一套完整的记录，包容了所有需要采取措施的情况，同时你也能够做到连同其他的各种工作计划并进行定期地回顾检查，并保证时时更新，这种方法才能够奏效。 If you are a real estate agent, sell consulting services, or develop proposals for a relatively small number of prospective clients in any profession, you will likely find it useful to see all of your outstanding "sales relationships in progress" in one view. This could be a separate list in your planner called "Client Projects in Development," or if you already have file folders for each in-progress project, it may suffice to group them all in one file stand on your credenza. Just realize that this approach will work only if it represents a complete set of all of those situations that require action, and only if you review them regularly along with the rest of your projects, keeping

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them current and conscious. 下属工作呢？What About Subprojects? 你的某些工作很可能是由几个主要的下属工作组成的。从理论上讲，每一个下属工作都可以被视为一个完整的计划。比如，如果你正在往一座新房子里搬家，可能有这样一张列满活动的清单，如“敲定环境布置的方案”、“重修厨房”、“地下室重新布线”等。所有这些活动自身都可以视为一项项独立的计划。你是否会把所有的工作都归纳为一项内容，注明在“计划”清单上呢？比如说“完成新家的修整工作”，或者你会不会把每一个下属的行动计划都作为独立的条目逐一地记录下来呢？ Some of your projects will likely have major subprojects, each of which could in theory be seen as a whole project. If you're moving into a new house, for instance, and are upgrading and changing much of the property, you may have a list of actionable items like "Finalize landscaping," "Renovate kitchen," "Rewire basement," and so on, all of which could in themselves be considered separate projects. Do you make all of this one entry on your "Projects" list—say, "Finish new home renovations"—or do you write up each of the subprojects as an individual line item? 事实上，这一点无足轻重，只要你能够以保证工作效率为前提，经常地检查所有的内容就可以高枕无忧了。在管理你所有的工作项目方面，无论是沿着横向扩展，还是顺着纵向深入，都无法获得一个万无一失的外部工具或管理模式；当然，你还必须始终如一地掌握其完整性（比如通过每周一次的回顾检查）。如果在“工作”清单中，把某一个大型的计划以一项内容的形式体现出来，你自然希望保留一个下属工作的清单，以及把工作方案自身作为“计划辅助资料”加以保存，以备日后着手处理这宗大项项目时再进行参阅。我建议，如果某项工作计划的一些重要组成部分必须以其他工作的完成为前提，你可以运用上述的这种处理方法。在这种情况下，你很可能拥有很多的下属工作，他们全都没有附属行动。这是因为，从某种意义上来讲，他们都不得不“等待”其他工作的完成，才可能前进一步地推进。比如，在你完成给地下室重新布线的工作前，你很可能无法开始“修整厨房”的工作。无论如何，你可以着手“完成环境的布置和美化”，因为它不依赖于其他任何一个下属工作。因此，你很可能希望在对“地下室重新布线”和完成环境的布置和美化“后，会有下一步的行动继续跟进。 Actually, it won't matter, as long as you review all the components of the project as frequently as you need to to stay productive. No external tool or organizing format is going to be perfect for sorting both horizontally across and vertically down through all your projects; you'll still have to be aware of the whole in some cohesive way (such as via your Weekly Review). If you make the large project your one listing on your "Projects" list, you'll want to keep a list of the subprojects and/or the project plan itself as "project support material" to be reviewed when you come to that major item. I would recommend doing it this way if big pieces of the project are dependent on other pieces getting done first. In that scenario you might have subprojects with no next actions attached to them because they are in a sense "waiting for" other things to happen before they can move forward. For instance, you might not be able to start on "Renovate kitchen" until you finish "Rewire basement." However, you might be able to proceed on "Finalize landscaping" independent of either of the other subprojects. You would therefore want a next action to be continually current on "Rewire basement" and "Finalize landscaping." 如何拟定工作和次级工作的清单完全取决于你自己，你只需要确保自己能够找出所有的

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构成因素。 How you list projects and subprojects is up to you; just be sure you know where to find all the moving parts. 千万不要操心，哪一种才是最佳方案。如果没有十足的把握，我建议你可以把重要的工作纳入到“工作“清单中，同时在辅助资料中保存各种下属工作。注意：一定要把它们纳入到你每周的回顾检查之中。如果这种安排还不能令你感到心满意足，你可尝试一下，把一些独立的下属工作逐条地记录到你的主体清单之中。 Don't be too concerned about which way is best. If you're not sure, I'd vote for putting your Big Projects on the "Projects" list and holding the subpieces in your project support material, making sure to include them in your Weekly Review, If that arrangement doesn't feel quite right, try including the active and independent subprojects as separate entries on your master list. 没有一种完美无缺的系统能够以完全相同的模式保存你所有的工作和下属工作。你只需要认识到目前有一些工作需要处理，而且如果它们涉及到一些相关的因素，你在哪里可以找到适当的提示信息就可以了。 There's no perfect system for tracking all your projects and subprojects the same way. You just need to know you have projects and, if they have associated components, where to find the appropriate reminders for them. 工作的辅助性资料 Project Support Materials 工作的辅助性资料并不是具体的行动，而且它们也不属于提示信息的范畴。但它们是支持你行动以及你对工作产生所思所想的源泉。 Project support materials are not project actions, and they're not project reminders. They're resources to support your actions and thinking about your projects.

不要使用辅助性资料来提醒你比较典型的是，人们常常使用一叠叠的纸张和塞得鼓鼓的文件夹作为提示信息，以说明： 1. 他们有一项工作要办理； 2. 他们必须对此采取一些行动。 Don't Use Support Material for Reminding Typically, people use stacks of papers and thickly stuffed file folders as reminders that (1) they've got a project, and (2) they've got to do something about it. 事实上，他们把辅助资料当做行动的提示信息来使用。问题在于有关这个工作的下一步具体行动以及“等待”清单的内容，通常还没有被确定下来。从心理的角度来看，它们还深深地埋藏在那些厚厚的书面资料和文件，只给人们增添了一种更多“资料”的感觉，使他们排斥计划管理行为，而不是吸引他们尽快地采取行动。当你四处奔波，处于一天工作最忙碌的时候，这类文件夹对你来说，是压根不想看到的，更不要说仔细阅读以准备采取行动了。事实上，你对这堆文件夹已经渐渐的麻木了，这是因为它们根本无法激励你去处理任何事情，反而只能让你更加的焦虑。 They're essentially making support materials serve as action reminders. The problem is that next actions and "Waiting For" items on these projects have usually not been determined and arepsychologically still embedded in the stacks and the folders—giving them the aura of just more

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"stuff" that repels its (un)organizer instead of attracting him or her to action. When you're on the run, in the heat of the activities of the day, files like that are the last thing you'll want to pick up and peruse for actions. You'll actually go numb to the files and the piles because they don't prompt you to do anything and they simply create more anxiety. 如果置身于这样的环境之中，你必须首先把这个工作本身添加到“工作”清单之中，以提醒你需要达到某一种结果。然后把行动步骤以及“等待”内容逐项地列在相应的行动提示信息的清单之中。最后，当采取行动的时机成熟时，就像给某人打个电话谈谈这样这个计划一样，你可以调出所有这些你认为在沟通过程中可能将对你有所帮助的资料。 If you're in this kind of situation, you must first add the project itself to your "Projects" list, as a reminder that there's an outcome to be achieved. Then the action steps and "Waiting For" items must be put onto their appropriate action reminder lists. Finally, when it's time to actually do an action, like making a call to someone about the project, you can pull out all the materials you think you might need to have as support during the conversation. 再重申一次，你不希望把辅助性资料作为主要的提示信息，提示信息应该转移到你的行动清单中去。然而，如果在这些资料中除了包含一些特殊的参考材料外，确实还涉及到了计划方案以及工作概况等内容，这时你也许希望把这些资料安置在一种更加醒目并且便于随时调用的状态，而不希望仅仅像处置你档案柜中其他的参考资料那样。也是存放辅助材料的理想地点，只要你养成在每周例行的回顾检查时，拉开档案柜的抽屉来扫一眼每一个计划的良好习惯。如果做不到这一点，你最好还是把这类工作的辅助性材料存放在一个常备的文件夹中，或者置于一个独立的“悬而未决“的工作篮中，放在你的书桌或者文件柜中。 To reiterate, you don't want to use support materials as your primary reminders of what to do—that should be relegated to your action lists. If, however, the materials contain project plans and overviews in addition to ad hoc archival and reference information, you may want to keep them a little more visibly accessible than you do the pure reference materials in your filing cabinet. The latter place is fine for support stuff, too, so long as you have the discipline to pull out the file drawer and take a look at the plan every time you do your Weekly Review. If not, you're better off storing those kinds of project support files in a standing file holder or a separate "Pending" stack-basket on your desk or credenza. 让我们再回头看一看搬家的例子。你可能建立了一个标明“新房子”的文件夹，专门用于保存有关环境、厨房和地下室安排布置的各种计划、细节问题和备忘录。当你每周回顾检查时，一看到“工作”清单上“完成新家装修”这一项内容时，你就会取出“新家”文件夹，翻看所有的备忘录，以确保不会遗漏任何行动。接着这些行动便会被逐个解决、指派给他人处理或者推迟并放入你的行动清单之中。这个文件夹会在你再次查阅下一步行动或者进行下周的回顾时，再次被归档整理。 To return to the previous example of moving into a new house, you could have a folder labeled "New House" containing all the plans and details and notes about the landscaping and the kitchen and the basement. In your Weekly Review, when you came to "Finish new home renovations" on your "Projects" list, you'd pull out the "New House" file and thumb through all your notes to ensure that you weren't missing any possible next actions. Those actions would then get done, delegated, or deferred onto your action lists, and the folder would be refilled until you needed it again for doing the actions or for your next Weekly Review.

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有许多人与潜在的用户和客户交往时，往往试图使用客户文件夹，或者使用一些有关接洽管理的软件如 ACT！来“管理这项内容“。这种处理方法的弊病在于：一些材料仅仅是一些事实或者历史数据，需要作为背景材料存储以备后查，而一些必须保存的资料是推动人际关系向前发展的必要条件。后者在你行动清单体系中可以得到更加有效的管理。客户信息也是如此，可以存入有关客户的一般性参考资料或者存放在客户信息库中。（我使用“行动”这种软件，该软件的一个突出特点是：它允许我把一般性公司信息和公司要人的重要活动进行参考借鉴。因此，这是一个优秀的客户弄数据库。）如果我需要给一个用户打电话，我希望提示信息只出现在我的“电话”清单上，而不是别的什么地方。 Many people who interact with prospects and clients have attempted to use client folders and/or contact-management software such as Act! to "manage the account." The problem here is that some material is just facts or historical data that needs to be stored as background for when you might be able to use it, and some of what must be tracked is the actions required to move the relationships forward. The latter can be more effectively organized within your action-lists system. Client information is just that, and it can be folded into a general-reference file on the client or stored within a client-focused library. (I use Act! for the single great feature it offers of allowing me to cross-reference general company information and significant interactions with key people within the company. It's just a good client-centered database.) If I need to call a client, I don't want that reminder embedded anywhere but on my "Calls" list. 管理有关一些特殊工作的思考过程 Organizing Ad Hoc Project Thinking 在第 3 章中，我曾经提示过，你的大脑中也许会经常闪现出一些与工作相关的想法和念头，你希望将它们保存起来，但是这些不一定就是下一步行动。它们正好符合“工作辅助性资料”这个比较广泛的范畴。它可能是有关你下一次旅行的一个念头，也可能是对某一项工作计划的阐释。也许当你一边加车在高速公路上飞驰，一边还听着收音机的时候，它们就突然从你的脑海里跳了出来，也许是某篇相关的文章触发了你的联想。应该如何来对付这些资料呢？ In chapter 3, I suggested that you will often have ideas that you'll want to keep about projects but that are not necessarily next actions. Those ideas fall into the broad category of "project support materials," and may be anything from a notion about something you might want to do on your next vacation to a clarification of some major components in a project plan. These thoughts could come as you're driving down the freeway listening to a news story on the radio, or reading a relevant article. What do you do with that kind of material? 我建议你考虑：在什么地方保存这些工作或者主题的小标签？如何在这一模式中添加新的信息？在什么地方存储与此相关的更为广泛的数据？大多数专业人士拥有几种选择来对付这些辅助性资料，如在清单中的项目上附加备忘录、在电子邮件或者数据库中管理这些电子信息，此外，坚持使用书面形式的文件夹和备忘录。 My recommendation here is that you consider where you're keeping tabs on the project or topic itself, how you might add information to it in that format, and where you might store any more extensive data associated with it. Most professionals will have several options for how to handle support materials, including attaching notes to a list item, organizing digital information in e-mail and/or databases, and maintaining paper-based files and notes in notebooks.

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不应该丧失关于某个工作、主题或者话题的任何一个想法。 There is no need" ever to lose an idea about a project, theme, or topic.

附加的备忘录大多的管理软件都允许你在一个清单上或者日程表的条目上附加一个电子“备忘录”。如果你是使用软件来保存“工作”清单的，当你对某一项工作产生想法时，你可以找出这个工作计划，打开文件并贴上一个“备忘录”，然后在此处输入你的想法。这是捕捉灵感的一种绝妙和手段。如果你的“工作”清单是书面的形式，你可以在主要清单中这个项目的旁边贴上一个即时贴，或者另用一纸来进行记录。无论哪一种情况，你都需要记住，每当回顾计划进，一定要查阅这些附加信息，充分地利用这些资料。 Attached Notes Most organizing software allows you to attach a digital "note" to a list or calendar entry. If you're keeping a "Projects" list within the software, you can go to the project you had a thought about, open or attach a "note" to it, and type in your idea. This is an excellent way to capture "back-of-the-envelope" project thinking. If your "Projects" list is paper-based, you can attach a Post-it note next to the item on your master list or, if you're a lowtech type, on the item's separate sheet. In any case, you'll need to remember to look at the attachment when you review your project, to make use of the data.

电子邮件和资料库那些保存了有关各种工作信息的电子邮件可放在一个专门的电子邮件文件夹中（只要遵循关于创建“@行动”的说明，再创建一个“@工作”）。如果你目前还没有建立这样的文件夹，那么设置一个更加严格的数字资料库来管理你对某一工作或者主题所产生的想法，也许同样会大有帮助。比如，如果你的公司使用 lotus notes,，你可以创建一个工作资料库，这样你即可以安装在自己的电脑上供个人使用，也可以放在公司内部的局域网上与其他员工共享资源。因此，花些时间来调查一下当前市场出售的各种资料，是物有所值的，即使只是为了你个人的使用。如果能够从网上或者从电邮中的相关题目中剪贴、下载某些资料，或者录入你个人的想法，那就太棒了。同时，你必须注意去挖掘现有的技术和工具：仅仅学会和掌握使用像掌上电脑中的所有清单和附件的功能，也许就能够为你提供充足的潜力，激发你“信封背面式”的思考。 E-mail and Databases E-mails that might contain good information related to your projects can be held in a dedicated e-mail folder (just follow the instructions on pages 152-53 for "@ACTION" and call it something like "@PROJECTS"). You may also find it worthwhile, if you don't have one already, to set up a more rigorous kind of digital database for organizing your thinking on a project or topic. If your company uses Lotus Notes, for example, you can create a project database either for your own private use on your PC or to be shared with others in your network.* (*Many Lotus Notes users don't even realize they can do this, but in fact it's one of the program's most powerful features. If you have Notes, check with your resident IT resource person and have him or her request system permission and show you how.)It's worth looking into some of the other types of free-form databases that are on the market, too—even just for your own use. It's great to be able to cut and paste from the Web or from e-mails and drop data under a topic somewhere or type in your own thoughts. Be sure, also, to explore the technology and tools that you already have—just learning how to use all the lists and attachments in something like the Palm organizer may provide you with sufficient "back-of-the-envelope" capability.

书面形式的文件夹当你不断地积累书面形式的资料时，针对每一个工作计划都建立起一个专门的文件夹，这种做法是相当明智的。尽管这属于技术含量低的手段，但仍然不失为

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一种一流的解决方法。管理简单、运用灵活，这些特点造就了一个良好的一般性参考资料的归档体系，它能够让你轻而易举地为那些从会议上搜罗来的零碎纸片创立起一个文件夹来。 Paper-Based Files Having a separate file folder devoted to each project makes a lot of sense when you're accumulating paper-based materials; it may be low-tech, but it's an elegant solution nonetheless. Simplicity and ease of handling make for a good general-reference filing system—one that lets you feel comfortable about creating a folder for scraps of paper from a meeting.

笔记本中的活页纸选用纸制活页笔记本的一大优势是，你可以把单独的一页纸或者几页纸专门用于计划某一个独立的工作项目。多年来，我一直坚持使用一个中等型号的笔记本，前面记录“工作”清单，后面是“工作辅助性资料”的栏目。在后页的部分中，我一直坚持保存了几页空白纸张，用于捕捉那些我可能对于清单中的各项工作所产生的一些随想和灵感，或者便于制订计划和斟酌细节的问题。 Pages in Notebooks A great advantage of paper-based loose-leaf notebooks is that you can dedicate a whole page or group of pages to an individual project. For years I maintained a midsize notebook with a "Projects" list in front and a "Project Support" section toward the back, where I always had some blank pages to capture any random thinking or plans and details about projects on my list. 上述的每一种方法，对于有关工作的思考过程进行管理时，都可能取得显著的效果。关键在于：你必须根据工作本身的实质，坚持不断地搜寻那些可能隐藏在工作备忘录中的任何角落的行动步骤，并且根据你的需要经常地回顾和检查。 Each of the methods described above can be effective in organizing project thinking. The key is that you must consistently look for any action steps inherent in your project notes, and review the notes themselves as often as you think is necessary, given the nature of the project. 此外，为防止整个系统染上“陈腐”的病毒，一旦备忘录中的某些内容推动了竞争力或者变成了不切实际的幻想时，你一定也希望马上清除它。我发现捕捉这些想法具有很大的价值，主要是因为它们不断地促进我的思维过程，而并不是由于我最终采用了这些想法（其实大部分都没有！）。但是我尽力不让那些陈旧的思想徘徊的太久。 You'll also want to clear out many of your notes once they become inactive or unreal, to keep the whole system from catching the "stale" virus. I've found a lot of value in capturing these types of thoughts, more for the way it consistently helps my thinking process than because I end up using every idea (most I don't!). But I try to make sure not to let my old thoughts stay around too long, pretending they're useful when they're not.

管理非行动性的资料 Organizing Nonactionable Data 有趣的是，大多数人的个人管理系统所遇到的最严重的问题是：他们把一些可以付诸行动的事务与大量具有价值、但没有附加行动的资料和数据混为一谈。因此，拥有一个完整而连贯的结构，用于管理那些我们工作和生活中的非行动性事务，这将同管理各种行动和行动提示信息一样具有同等的重要性。当非行动性事务没有得到恰如其分的处理时，它们将阻塞整个管理系统的进程。 Interestingly, one of the biggest problems with most people's personal management systems is that

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they blend a few actionable things with a large amount of data and material that has value but no action attached. Having good, consistent structures with which to manage the nonactionable items in our work and lives is as important as managing our action and project reminders. When the nonactionable items aren't properly managed, they clog up the whole process. 非行动性事务可以划分为两类：参考资料和提示信息，一些事情当前并不需要采取任何的行动，但日后可能有此种需求。 Unactionable items fall into two large categories: reference materials and reminders of things that need no action now but might at a later date. 参考资料 Reference Materials 一般来说，办公桌上所堆积着的和你生活中所遇到的大量资料都属于参考资料。这些资料不需要你采取任何行动，但是出于各种原因，你却可能希望保存它们。你需要作出的决定就是：存在哪里。这类决定大部分应该由个人或者企业根据法律、逻辑或者个人喜好来决断。而你应该为参考资料付出的是，根据你的需要或者喜好，由于资料的数量过多或者过少，对系统进行调整。 Much of what comes across your desk and into your life in general is reference material. There's no action required, but it's information that you want to keep, for a variety of reasons. Your major decisions will be how much to keep, how much room to dedicate to it, what form it should be stored in, and where. Much of that will be a personal or organizational judgment call based upon legal or logistical concerns or personal preferences. The only time you should have attention on your reference material is when you need to change your system in some way because you have too much or too little information, given your needs or preferences. 大多数人对他们处理的材料所产生的心理障碍是，它还只是“材料”，即他们还末判断出哪此可以采取行动，哪此不需要。一旦你明确了它们各自的界限，留作参考资料的事物应该即无影响力，又不存在没有了结的工作，它仅仅充当你的资料库而已。接着，你惟一需要作出的决定是你希望拥有一个多大的资料库。当你充分地运用了这个行动管理方法之后，你会变成一只硕大无比的北美老鼠（善于贮藏物品），只要你的空间（包括具体的和数字形式的）能够承受。当我增大了电脑中的硬盘的容量，我也随之保存了更多的电子邮件。既然增加了那些参考资料的数量不会给你增加任何的精神负担，那当然是多多益善了。 The problem most people have psychologically with all their stuff is that it's still "stuff"—that is, they haven't decided what's actionable and what's not. Once you've made a clean distinction about which is which, what's left as reference should have no pull or incompletion associated with it—it's just your library. Your only decision then is how big a library you want. When you've fully implemented this action-management methodology, you can be as big a packrat as your space (physical and digital) will allow. As I've increased the size of the hard disk in my computer, I've kept that much more e-mail in my archives. The more the merrier, as far as I'm concerned, since increasing the volume of pure reference material adds no psychic weight. 参考资料的系统的种类 The Variety of Reference Systems 管理参考资料的方法有很多，可供选择的管理工具也非常丰富，下面我们简单地讲座一下最常用的几种： 1、一般性参考资料的归档——书面形式和电子邮件类

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2、粗分类的归档管理 3、台式旋转架和联络管理器 4、图书馆和档案馆 There are a number of ways to organize reference material, and many types of tools to use. What follows is a brief discussion of some of the most common. * General-reference filing—paper and e-mail * Large-category filing * Rolodexes and contact managers * Libraries and archives

一般性参考资料的归档我曾经说过，一个运行良好的归档系统对于加工处理和管理各种事物，是举足轻重的。在整理数据巨大的纸面资料库，它是一个不可缺少的工具，因为出于各种原因这些资料对你都具有一定的价值。理想的情况是，当你动手处理“工作篮”时，已经建立起了一个一般性参考资料的归档系统。在保存即使是一张日后你希望查阅的单独的纸牌时，也应该感到有条不紊。你的系统必须简单易行的，你信手就可以把文件存进这个按照字母顺序排列的参考资料的系统中去，工作时它就放在你的身边。如果系统还没有达到这种效果，那请阅读第 4 章有关该话题的内容。 General-Reference Filing As I've said, a good filing system is critical for processing and organizing your stuff. It's also a must for dealing with the sometimes huge volume of paper-based materials that are valuable for you for one reason or another. Ideally you will already have set up a general-reference filing system as you were processing "in." You need to feel comfortable storing even a single piece of paper that you might want to refer to later, and your system must be informal and accessible enough that it's a snap to file it away in your alphabetized general-reference system, right at hand where you work. If you're not set up that way yet, look back at chapter 4 for help on this topic. 你的归档系统应该是一个简洁的数据库，而不是有关你各项行动、工作、重要事宜或者潜在用户提示信息。 Your filing system should be a simple library of data, easily retrievable—not your reminder for actions, projects, priorities, or prospects. 大多数人一般最终拥有 200-400 个书面形式的一般性参考资料文件夹，以及 30-100 个电子邮件参考资料文件夹。 Most people seem to wind up with 200 to 400 paper-based general-reference files and 30 to 100 e-mail reference folders.

粗分类的归档管理对于任何一个主题来说，如果需要超过 50 个文件夹，那应该分配给它专门的区域或者抽屉，并且拥有该主题自己的按照字母排序的独立系统。比如，如果你正在负责一项有关公司合并的项目，需要保存大量的文件资料，也许你希望腾空 2 个或 3 个文件夹来专门存放在这一过程中所需要的一切资料。如果你喜欢园艺、航海或者烹饪，也许你需要至少整整一个文件柜来存储这些爱好的资料吧。 Large-Category Filing Any topic that requires more than fifty file folders should probably be given its own section or drawer, with its own alpha-sorted system. For instance, if you're managing a corporate merger and need to keep hold of a lot of the paperwork, you may want to

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dedicate two or three whole file cabinets to all the documentation required in the due-diligence process. If gardening or sailing or cooking is your passion, you may need at least a whole file drawer for those designated hobbies. 记住，如果你关注的“焦点区域”拥有一些辅助资料，而这些辅助性资料很可能混入其他的“焦点区域”。这样话，你可能陷入进退两难的境地：是把信息存入一般性参考资料呢？还是放进专门的参考资料听文件夹呢？当你阅读到一篇有关木制篱笆的美妙文章时，你一心希望将它保存起来，那么，它应该纳入保存“园艺的文件柜呢，还是同其它有关家庭问题的信息一道存放在一般性参考资料的系统当中呢？一般来说，除了有限的几个独立的话题以外，最好还是坚持使用一个一般性参考资料系统。 Bear in mind that if your "area of focus" has support material that could blend into other "areas of focus," you may run into the dilemma of whether to store the information in general reference or in the specialized reference files. When you read a great article about wood fencing and want to keep it, does that go in your "Garden" cabinet or in the general system with other information about home-related projects? As a general rule, it's best to stick with one general-reference system except for a very limited number of discrete topics.

台式旋转架和联络管理器大多数你希望保存的资料和你周围的人员有着直接的联系。你需要保存各种各样的联络信息家庭和办公室的电话号码及地址、手机号码、传真号码、电子邮件的地址等。此外，如果你认为有价值，也许你还希望保存有关生日、朋友和同事的家庭成员的姓名、爱好、最喜欢的酒类和食品的名字等诸如此类的信息。从一种更加严格的专业角度来说，也许你还需要记录雇佣日期、业绩检查的日期、目标和目的，以及潜在的一些促进员工发展的资料。 Rolodexes and Contact Managers Much of the information that you need to keep is directly related to people in your network. You need to track contact information of all sorts—home and office phone numbers and addresses, cell-phone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail addresses, and so on. In addition, if you find it useful, you may want to maintain information about birthdays, names of friends' and colleagues' family members, hobbies, favorite wines and foods, and the like. In a more rigorous professional vein, you may need or want to track hire dates, performance-review dates, goals and objectives, and other potentially relevant data for staff development purposes. 恐怕在过去 50 年中，在市场上所出售的各种计划手册中，电话/地址部份（连同日程表）是使用最为广泛的内容。每个人都需要记录电话号码。值得指出的是，其实这部分纯粹就是参考资料，无需采取任何行动，这仅仅是你未来可能需要获取的信息。 The telephone/address section of most of the organizers sold in the last fifty years is probably (along with the calendar) their most commonly used component. Everyone needs to keep track of phone numbers. It's instructive to note that this is purely and simply reference material. No action is required—this is just information that you might need to access in the future. 因此，除了你个人需求的逻辑问题外，对于如何管理来说，毫无神秘可言。我再重申一次，只有当人们试图让他们的台式旋转架来充当提示物的角色时，提醒他们需要做的事情时，问题才会不请自到，这种做法是行不通的。只要所有你所认识的人的行动都已经落实在你的行动提示信息清单中了，这时电话地址系统只可能是一个中立的通讯录，而不可能充当其它任何角色。

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So there's no big mystery about how to organize it, aside from the logistics for your individual needs. Again, the only problem comes up when people try to make their Rolodexes serve as tools for reminding them about things they need to do. That doesn't work. As long as all the actions relative to people you know have been identified and tracked in your action reminder lists, there's no role for telephone and address systems to fill other than being a neutral address book. 问题最后：你到底需要保存多少信息？在哪保存？用什么工具？完美系统是不存在的。不过，当小型数字工具越来越容易操作并且和大型数据库相连接，你就可以更加自如地掌握更多的信息了。 The only issue then becomes how much information you need to keep and where and in what equipment you need to keep it in order to have it accessible when you want it. Nothing's perfect in that regard, but as the small digital tools become easier to use and connect to larger databases, you'll be able to have more information at hand with the same or less effort.

图书馆/档案馆：在个人的层次上信息可能在多个层次上具有价值。如果你愿意进行更深层次的挖掘，你可能会获取更多更有用的信息。由于你的需求层次以及对资料的接受程度都在不断的变化之中。因此，保存多少资料、需要多详细，以及采用何种形式都将是一个不断变化的问题。相对于你的个人管理和工作效率而言，这并不是一个核心问题，只要你所有的工作和行为都已经存放在一个你能定期管理的系统之中。那么，各种形式的参考资料都将根据你折特殊爱好和需求，尽在掌握之中。 Libraries and Archives: Personalized Levels Information that might be useful lives at many levels. You could probably find out pretty much anything if you were willing to dig deep enough. The question of how much to keep, how close, and in what form, will be a changing reality, given the variables of your needs and your particular comfort levels with data. Relative to your personal organization and productivity, this is not a core issue, so long as all of your projects and actions are in a control system that you work with regularly. Reference material in all its forms then becomes nothing more or less than material to capture and create access to according to your particular proclivities and requirements. 如果资料纯粹是为了参考，那么，惟一的问题是它是不是值得付出时间和地点来保存它 If material is purely for reference, the only issue is whether it's worth the time and space required to keep it. 保持某种程度上的连贯性和一致性都将使事情变得简单化，你利用所有的时间来解决什么样的事情呢？这些事情必须记入你那无所不在的计划手册或掌上电脑中。你需要为会议和非现场的事件作一些什么样的特殊准备呢？应该把它们装进你的公文包、背包、书包或者钱包之中。当人在办公室里工作时，你需要一些什么东西呢？这应该纳入你的个人分档系统或者你那处于联网状态的电脑里。那些对于你的工作来说，比较罕见的情况呢？它们的相关资料可以存在这个部门的归档文件中或者远处的贮藏室里。在互联网上，你能随时获取哪些有价值的信息呢？对于这些信息，你不用采取任何行动，除非当你与网络断开时时需要查阅它们。在这种情况下，你应该在联网的时候把这个资料打印出来然后存入一个可以随身携带的文件夹中。 Some degree of consistency will always make things easier. What kinds of things do you need with you all the time? Those must go into your ubiquitous planner or PDA. What do you need

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specifically for meetings or off-site events? That should be put into your briefcase, pack, satchel, or purse. What might you need when you're working in your office? That should be put into your personal filing system or your networked computer. What about rare situations relative to your job? Material needed for those could be archived in departmental files or off-site storage. What could you find anytime you might need it, on the Web? You don't need to do anything with that information, unless you need it when you're away from a Web connection, in which case you should print the data out when you're online and store it in a file you can take with you. 你明白了吗？为什么个人对参考资料的管理实际上仅仅是一个逻辑性的问题。把可以付诸实施的行动与非行动性资料加以区分，这才是获取成功的关键性因素。一旦你掌握了这一技能，你就可以充分地享受这种自由，你愿意管理多少参考资料就管理多少，随心所欲。这完全是一种取决于个人的决定。但也应该考虑你由此获得的价值，与为捕捉和保存这一信息所付出的时间与心血的比率。 Do you see how that personal organization of reference material is simply a logistical issue? Distinguishing actionable things from nonactionable ones is the key success factor in this arena. Once you've done that, you have total freedom to manage and organize as much or as little reference material as you want. It's a highly individual decision that ought to be based on the ratio of the value received to the time and effort required to capture and maintain it.

将来某时/也许在你的管理体系中，最后一件需要对付的事情是些你希望早一日再次评估的事情。这事情可以是：你打算将来在某个时间安排一次特殊的旅行，也可以是你希望阅读的书籍，你可能在下一财年希望解决的项目，以及那些你渴望培养的技能和才干，为了能够全面地实施这种管理模式，你需要给这些搁置再议的事务留出一些位置。 The last thing to deal with in your organization system is how to track things that you may want to reassess in the future. These could range from a special trip you might want to take one day, to books you might want to read, to projects you might want to tackle in the next fiscal year, to skills and talents you might want to develop. For a full implementation of this model you'll need some sort of "back burner" or "on hold" component. 我们有几种方法可以把事情安排到日后再进行查询，它们全都能够清除掉那些现在正游荡在你的屏幕上以及你大脑中的“幽灵”。你可以把这些内容放置在“将来某时/也许”清单中。或者在你的日程表中或者书面形式的“备忘录”中加以标明。 There are several ways to stage things for later review, all of which will work to get them off your current radar and your mind. You can put the items on various versions of "Someday/Maybe" lists or trigger them on your calendar or in a paper-based "tickler" system. 将来某时/也许清单并非是可以随手丢弃的。也许它们最终被证明是一些你从末涉及到的、最有趣的或者最富于事情 Someday/Maybe's are not throwaway items. They may be some of the most interesting and creative things you'll ever get involved with. “将来某时/也许”清单 "Someday/Maybe" List 当你忙于收集大脑中的随机存储器中的事务时，如果来一次彻底的大扫除，你就很有可

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能发现，有时你对遇到的情况感到束手无策，拿不准自己的想法。在这一类型中，最为典型的情况有“学习西班牙语”、“为玛西弄一匹马”、“攀登华盛顿山”以及“盖一间客房”等。 It's highly likely that if you did a complete mind-sweep when you were collecting things out of your psychic RAM, you came up with some things you're not sure you want to commit to. "Learn Spanish," "Get Marcie a horse," "Climb Mt, Washington," and "Build a guest cottage" are typical projects that fall into this category. 如果你还没有完成这项工作，我建议无论选择哪一种类型的管理系统，你都应该创建一个“将来某时/也许”清单。这样你就可以把涌上心头的各种事情统统塞到这个清单中去。很可能你将会发现，仅仅拥有这样的一个清单，并且开始一项项地增添内容，就无形中启发了你去创造出各种富有想法。 If you haven't already done it, I recommend that you create a "Someday/Maybe" list in whatever organizing system you've chosen. Then give yourself permission to populate that list with all the items of that type that have occurred to you so far. You'll probably discover that simply having the list and starting to fill it out will cause you to come up with all kinds of creative ideas. 你也许还会不无惊奇地发现，清单上所列的某些内容的实现了，而你几乎并没有为此做过些什么刻意的努力。如果你承认，想象力具有引发感觉和表现变化的神奇力量，那么你就能够比较容易地理解了：将一个“将来某时/也许”清单摆放在你的清醒意识面前，它将为你的工作和生活增添许多的有趣的冒险经历。如果我们已经认识到了某些机遇的可能性，那么，一旦它们出现时，我们就有可能紧紧抓住这些机会。当然啦，这是我自己长久以来的亲身经历：学习演奏长笛和驾驶帆船的经历都是源自于这类清单。除了你的工作篮，你还拥有 2 个极为丰富的资源，可以为你的“将来某时/也许”清单挖掘出一些资料来：你那富于创意的想像力和当前工作的清单。 You may also be surprised to find that some of the things you write on the list will actually come to pass, almost without your making any conscious effort to make them happen. If you acknowledge the power of the imagination to foster changes in perception and performance, it's easy to see how having a "Someday/Maybe" list out in front of your conscious mind could potentially add many wonderful adventures to your life and work. We're likely to seize opportunities when they arise if we've already identified and captured them as a possibility. That has certainly been my own experience: learning to play the flute and how to sail big boats both started in this category for me. In addition to your in-basket, there are two rich sources to tap for your "Someday/Maybe" list: your creative imagination and your list of current projects.

为你创造性的想像空间开列一个详细的目录如果你有时间、金钱和可能性，有朝一日，你真心实意地希望做的事情是什么呢？把它们逐一地记录在“将来某时/也许”的清单上。典型的类型包括有： 1、为你的家庭弄到或者建造房屋 2、开始培养的业余爱好 3、计划学习的技能 4、挖掘富于的表达方法 5、需要购买的服装的附属物品 6、希望获得的玩具 7、打算外出旅行

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8、希望参加的组织 9、打算参与的服务性工作 10、想看的事情和想去做的事情 Make an Inventory of Your Creative Imaginings What are the things you really might want to do someday if you have the time, money, and inclination? Write them on your have "Someday/ Maybe" list. Typical categories include: * Things to get or build for your home * Hobbies to take up * Skills to learn * Creative expressions to explore * Clothes and accessories to buy * Toys (gear!) to acquire * Trips to take * Organizations to join * Service projects to contribute to * Things to see and do

重新评估你当前的各种工作现在是一个良好的时机，可以从一个全新的高度（即从你工作和目标的立场）出发，回顾检查你的“工作”清单，并且考虑你是否可能把当前的各种承诺和责任转移到“将来某时/也许”清单中。如果通过自我反省使你认识到，“工作”清单中的某一个选项有可能在今后几个月或者更长的时间内，没有抓住你的注意力的可能性，那你干脆把它转入到这个“将来某时/也许”的清单中来。 Reassess Your Current Projects Now's a good time to review your "Projects" list from a more elevated perspective (that is, the stand-point of your job and goals) and consider whether you might transfer some of your current commitments to "Someday/Maybe." If on reflection you realize that an optional project doesn't have a chance of getting your attention for the next months or more, move it to this list.

我们解决问题的力量在于我们不去处理某些情况的能力。 ——亚力士多德 What lies in our power to do, lies in our power not to do. —Aristotle “将来某时/也许”的特殊类别 Special Categories of "Someday/Maybe" 极有可能的是，你的一些特殊的兴趣可能涉及到许多具体有可行性的行动。收集这些想法可能是非常令人开心的事。比如： *食品—食谱、菜单、葡萄酒等 *孩子们——同他们一起做的事情 *想读的书 *想买的光盘 *想买/租的录像带 *要参与的文化活动 *善于礼品的一些想法 *对修整花园的想法

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*希望浏览的网站 *周末的外出旅行 *有关会议的想法 *关于聚会的想法 *念头——五花八门（意思是，你也不清楚应该归属于哪个类别） More than likely you have some special interests that involve lots of possible things to do. It can be fun to collect these on lists. For instance: * Food—recipes, menus, restaurants, wines * Children—things to do with them * Books to read * CDs to buy * Videos to buy/rent * Cultural events to attend * Gift ideas * Garden ideas * Web sites to surf * Weekend trips to take * Meeting ideas * Party ideas * Ideas—Misc. (meaning you don't know where else to put them!) 这类清单可能是位于参考资料和“将来某时/也许”清单之间的一个交叉区域内。说它是参考资料，因为你可以做到仅仅收集它们，并且添加到上等葡萄酒、餐厅、书籍的清单中去，并依照你的意愿进行查询；说它属于“将来某时/也许”，是因为你也许希望经常浏览这些内容，以提醒自己在某些情况下尝试一种或者更多的想法。 These kinds of lists can be a cross between reference and "Someday/Maybe"—reference because you can just collect and add to lists of good wines or restaurants or books, to consult as you like; "Someday/Maybe" because you might want to review the listed items on a regular basis to remind yourself to try one or more of them at some point. 无论如何，这可以成为另一个充足的理由：为什么要设立一个管理系统，可以有助于捕捉到那些能为生活增添价值，并使其变得多姿多彩、情趣盎然的各种事物，而不至于因为那些尚未决定和解决的事物阻塞你大脑和工作空间。 In any case, this is another great reason to have an organizing system that makes it easy to capture things that may add value and variety and interest to your life—without clogging your mind and work space with undecided, unfinished business.

堆积“保存及回顾”文档的危险、 The Danger of "Hold and Review" Files and Piles 许多人都有堆积如山的“保存及回顾”文件夹或者一个塞得满满的抽屉，它基本上属于 “将来某时/也许“的范畴。他们对自己说：“一旦我有空闲时间，我也许希望看一看这部分的内容。”乍看起来，这个“保存及回顾”文件夹似乎是存放东西的一个极为方便的场所。但从个人角度来说，我不建议采用这种系统。事实上在我接所触的情况中，我的客房只是“保存” 但并不“回顾”。他们对这一大堆资料麻木不仁，而且充满抵触情绪。如果你无法做到始终如

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一地自觉关注“将来某时/也许”清单，它的价值势必会完全丧失。 Many people have created some sort of "Hold and Review" pile or file (or whole drawer) that vaguely fits within the category of "Someday/Maybe." They tell themselves, "When I have time, I may like to get to this," and a "Hold and Review" file seems a convenient place to put it. I personally don't recommend this particular kind of subsystem, because in virtually every case I have come across, the client "held" but didn't "review," and there was numbness and resistance about the stack. The value of "someday/maybe" disappears if you don't put your conscious awareness back on it with some consistency. 此外，一个管理良好的“将来某时/也许”清单系统与一个包罗万象的“储物箱”之产，仍然存在着巨大的差异。通常情况下，这个储物箱中的大部分资料需要清理掉，其中的一些应该归入“阅读/回顾”中，另一些可以作为参考资料加以保留，还有一些属于日程表或者备忘录文件夹，以便一个月后或者是下一季度再来查阅。此外，还有一些情况确实需要你安排下一步的行动措施。也有很多时候，当我仔细地清理了某个人的“保存及回顾”抽屉或文件夹后，却发现抽屉中已经是空了。 Also, there's a big difference between something that's managed well, as a "Someday/Maybe" list, and something that's just a catchall bucket for "stuff." Usually much of that stuff needs to be tossed, some of it needs to go into "Read/Review," some needs to be filed as reference, some belongs on the calendar or in a tickler file (see page 173) for review in a month or perhaps at the beginning of the next quarter, and some actually has next actions on it. Many times, after appropriately processing someone's "Hold and Review" drawer or file, I've discovered there was nothing left in it! 使日程表成为日后的选择 Using the Calendar for Future Options 你的日程表可以成为暂时放置提示信息的一个极为便捷的地方，你也许希望日后再考虑这个事情的对策。我培训过的大多数人并没有能够完完全全地接受他们的日程表，不然他们大概早已经在那里输入更多的信息了。 Your calendar can be a very handy place to park reminders of things you might want to consider doing in the future. Most of the people I've coached were not nearly as comfortable with their calendars as they could have been; otherwise they probably would have found many more things to put in there. 日程表的三个用途之一就是记录具体某一天的信息。它所包括的事物范围广泛、种类繁多，然而最具有的使用方法是，在那里记录下你希望从大脑中清除出去、日后再重新评估的事情。你会有数不胜数的事情要考虑、下面是其中的几项： 1、激活计划的启动器 2、你可能希望参与的活动 3、促进作出决定的催化剂 One of the three uses of a calendar is for day-specific information. This category can include a number of things, but one of the most creative ways to utilize this function is to enter things that you want to take off your mind and reassess at some later date. Here are a few of the myriad things you should consider inserting: * Triggers for activating projects * Events you might want to participate in

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* Decision catalysts

激活计划的启动器如果你手头有一项工作目前的确不需要作任何考虑，但是它又值得你在将来某个时间做出标记。这时，你可以选择一个合适的日期，并把有关此计划的提示信息记入那一天的日程表中。对于那些你希望在某一天得到提醒的事情，应该放入具体某一天（相对于具体某一时间）的日程表中；那么当那一天到来时，你可以阅读这个提示信息，并把它作为当前的一项内容插入你的“工作”清单中。典型的例子可以是：特殊活动，预留一定的是前期准备时间（产品发布，集资活动等）你需要进行筹备的常规活动，如预算回顾、年会、计划活动或者会议（比如，你什么时候应该把下一年的“年度销售会议”添加到你的“工作”清单中去呢？） 3、在一些有关重要人物的重要日子里，你可能打算有所举动（生日、纪念日以及有关节日的礼品赠送等） Triggers for Activating Projects If you have a project that you don't really need to think about now but that deserves a flag at some point in the future, you can pick an appropriate date and put a reminder about the project in your calendar for that day. It should go in some day-specific (versus time-specific) calendar slot for the things you want to be reminded of on that day; then when the day arrives, you see the reminder and insert the item as an active project on your "Projects" list. Typical candidates for this treatment are: * Special events with a certain lead time for handling (product launches, fund-raising drives, etc.) * Regular events that you need to prepare for, such as budget reviews, annual conferences, planning events, or meetings (e.g., when should you add next year's "annual sales conference" to your "Projects" list?) * Key dates for significant people that you might want to do something about (birthdays, anniversaries, holiday gift-giving, etc.)

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你可能希望参与的活动也许你经常收到有关研究会、会议、演讲和社交文化活动的通知，你可能希望当活动临近时再作决定。因此，你先确定出一个“临近”的时间，并在日程表中这个适当的日期上设置一个启动装置，如： 1、 “明天商会举办的早餐会” 2、 “老虎”伍兹的季票今天大减价 3、 “今晚 8 点，公共广播事务局有关澳大利亚的特别报道” 4、 “下周六教学举办的烧烤野餐会” 如果你突然想到了任何希望输入系统的事情，那么，现在就行动起来吧。 Events You Might Want to Participate In You probably get notices constantly about seminars, conferences, speeches, and social and cultural events that you may want to decide about attending as the time gets closer. So figure out when that "closer" time is and put a trigger in your calendar on the appropriate date—for example: "Chamber of Commerce breakfast tomorrow?" "Tigers season tickets go on sale today" "PBS special on Australia tonight 8:00 P.M." "Church BBQ next Saturday" 185

If you can think of any jogs like these that you'd like to put into your system, do it right now.

促进作出决定的催化剂你可能偶尔需要作出一个非常重要的决定，但是又无法（或不希望）立刻就决定下来。这没有关系，只要你已经能够断定，你所需要的附加信息来自于你自身，而不是外部（比如，你希望搁置这个问题）。（为了制定决策而需要的外部资料应该列入“下一步行动”或者“等待”的清单之中。）然而，为了获得一张你可以暂不作决定的通行证，你最好撒出一张自己完全信赖的安全网，它可确保在将来促使你对该问题给予恰当的关注。一个日程表的提示信息可以承担这个重任。 Decision Catalysts Once in a while there may be a significant decision that you need to make but can't (or don't want to) make right away. That's fine, as long as you've concluded that the additional information you need has to come from an internal rather than an external source (e.g., you need to sleep on it). (Obviously, external data you need in order to make a decision should go on your "Next Actions" or "Waiting For" lists.) But in order to move to a level of OKness about not deciding, you'd better put out a safetynet that you can trust to get you to focus on the issue appropriately in the future. A calendar reminder can serve that purpose.* （*If you're using a group-accessible calendar, you must maintain discretion about these kinds of triggers. Digital calendars usually have "private" categorization functions you can use for entries you don't necessarily want everyone to see.）如果你决定不进行任何决策的话，这没有关系，只要你拥有一个无需决策判断的系统。在这个范畴中，一些典型的决定包括 1、雇佣/解雇 2、合并/获取/销售/处置 3、改换工作/职业 Some typical decision areas in this category include: * Hire/fire * Merge/acquire/sell/divest * Change job/career 我知道，这个话题极为重要，值得多花一些篇幅。但是，你可以继续自省：“我是不是应该为一些重大的决定设置未来的启动装置呢？这样一来，把它们暂放在一旁，就不会令我们感到不自在了？”如果有，那就在日程表中记录下提示信息，以备后查。 This is a big topic to devote so little space to, I know, but go ahead and ask yourself, "Is there any major decision for which I should create a future trigger, so I can feel comfortable just 'hanging out' with it for now?" If there is, put some reminder in your calendar to revisit the issue. “备忘录”文件夹 The "Tickler" File 有一种堪称一流的方法，可以管理那些目前无需行动，但日后可能有此要求的事物，这就是“备忘录”文件夹。它是日程表的一种三维立体版本，允许保留你希望注意记住的东西，不是现在，而是将来。它可以成为一个极端高效的工具，让你建立起自己的邮递系统，“发送”信息给你自己，并在未来某个指定的时间接收到该信息。 One elegant way to manage nonactionable items that may need an action in the future is the "tickler" file.* （*Also referred to as a "suspense," "bring forward," or "follow-up" file.） A three-dimensional version of a calendar, it allows you to hold physical reminders of things that

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you want to see or remember—not now, but in the future. It can be an extremely functional tool, allowing you to in effect set up your own post office and "mail" things to yourself for receipt on a designated future date. I myself have used a tickler file for years and can't imagine being without it. 近年来，我自己一直在使用备忘录文件夹，如果没有它，那真是难以想像。从本质上讲，备忘录就是非常简单的文件夹系统，允许你安排好书面资料和其它具体形式的提示物，以便它们在日后你希望参阅这些资料的某一天，能够“自动”地出现在你的工作篮中。 Essentially the tickler is a simple file-folder system that allows you to distribute paper and other physical reminders in such a way that whatever you want to see on a particular date in the future "automatically" shows up that day in your in-basket. 如果你有一个秘书或者助手，你至少可以把一部分工作委托给他去做，假设他也同样建造了一个类似的管理系统。典型的例子有： “在我开会的那天早上，把这个议事日程交给我。” “既然星期三的会议上才会用到这个，那么，星期一时再把它交给我让我考虑一下。” “在去香港前两周时，提醒我一下，我们来安排一下具体细节。” If you have a secretary or assistant, you can entrust at least a part of this task to him or her, assuming that he/she has some working version of this or a similar system. Typical examples would be: * "Hand me this agenda the morning of the day I have the meeting." * "Give this back to me on Monday to rethink, since it applies to a meeting on Wednesday." * "Remind me about the Hong Kong trip two weeks ahead, and we'll plan the logistics." 接下来，在这一周的每一天中，那一天的专用文件夹都会被取出来查阅。只要合适，你可以差遣其他人尽可能多地处理一些事务。我建议，如果你可以使其纳入你的生活轨迹，你一定要坚持保留一个自己专用的备忘文件夹。这个文件夹可以发挥许多的功能，至少你可能希望在助手的责任范围之外，亲自出马来处理一些情况。我利用我自己的备忘录文件夹来管理我旅行时的车票以及确认的信息：一些局面形式的旅行指南、议事日程和地图；从邮件中收取的提示信息；各类导购信息，诸如此类。 Then every day of the week, that day's folder is pulled and reviewed. While you can (and probably should) utilize staff to handle as much of this as is appropriate, I recommend that, if you can integrate it into your life-style, you maintain your own tickler file. There are many useful functions it can perform, at least some of which you may want to avail yourself of outside the pale of your assistant's responsibilities. I use my tickler file to manage my travel tickets and confirmations; paper-based travel directions, agendas, and maps; reminders of event notifications that come in the mail; information about "might-want-to-buy" kinds of things I want to reconsider in the future; and so forth. 概要：你每天仅需花费 1 秒钟的时间，就可以让备忘录文件夹运转起来。而你从中获取的成就将远远大于个人的投入。

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Bottom line: the tickler file demands only a one-second-per-day new behavior to make it work, and it has a payoff value logarithmically greater than the personal investment.

建立一个备忘录文件夹你需要准备 43 个文件夹：31 天每天一个，注明从“1”到“31”的序列号，另外的 12 个上面写上一年中 12 月的名称。把每天使用的文件夹放置在前面，最前端放的那个应该标明第二天的日期(如果今天是 10 月 5 号，那第一个文件的编码应该是“6”)。随后的每日文件夹代表着本月中剩余的日子。在“31”号文件夹后紧跟着下一月的月份级别文件夹。再往后，是编号“1”至“5”的每日工作文件夹。接着是剩余的月级文件夹（12 月至 1 月）。每天，把第二天的文件中的内容放入工作篮中后，再把这个已经的文件夹排列到后面，重新归档（在那时，它赌注是 11 月 6 日，而不是 10 月 6 日）。按照同样的方法，当下一个月的文件夹排到最前端时，（在 10 月 31 日你清空每日文件夹后，坚接着看到的就是“11 月” 文件夹，而所有的每日文件夹按照“1”至“31”的顺序紧随其后）把它清空，再次排在那些月级文件夹的尾部，它将代表着新一年的 11 月份。这是一个“永恒不变”的文件夹，也就是说，在任何给定的时间，它都保存着今后 31 天和 12 个月的文件夹。（用 PDA 的话，一个 calandar 软件就搞定，不用弄的这么复杂，但对某些情况不适用） Setting Up a Tickler File You need forty-three folders—thirty-one daily files labeled "1" through "31," and twelve more labeled with the names of the months of the year. The daily files are kept in front, beginning with the file for tomorrow's date (if today is October 5, then the first file would be "6"). The succeeding daily files represent the days of the rest of the month ("6" through "31"). Behind the "31" file is the monthly file for the next month ("November"), and behind that are the daily files "1" though "5." Following that are the rest of the monthly files ("December" through "October"). The next daily file is emptied into your in-basket every day, and then the folder is refiled at the back of the dailies (at which point, instead of October 6, it represents November 6). In the same way, when the next monthly file reaches the front (on October 31 after you empty the daily file, the "November" file will be the next one, with the daily files "1" through "31" behind it), it's emptied into the in-basket and refiled at the back of the monthlies to represent November a year from now. This is a "perpetual" file, meaning that at any given time it contains files for the next thirty-one days and the next twelve months. 对于你的备忘录系统而言，采用文件夹的最大好处是，它们允许你存储货真价实的文件资料（在某个日期你需要填写的表格，需要回顾的备忘录以及必须落实行动的电话留言）。 The big advantage of using file folders for your tickler system is that they allow you to store actual documents (the form that needs to be filled out on a certain day, the memo that needs to be reviewed then, the telephone note that needs action on a specific date, etc.). 为了促使这个系统正常运转，你必须做到每日更新。如果你忘记清空每日文件夹，你就不会再依赖这个系统来处理重要的资料，而不得不寻找其它途径来管理你的事务。如果你即将离开这个城市（或者在周末无法查看这些文件夹），那你必须在离开之前确保你将核查在你离开那段时间内的文件夹。 In order for the system to work, you must update it every day. If you forget to empty the daily file, you won't trust the system to handle important data, and you'll have to manage those things some other way. If you leave town (or don't access the file on the weekend), you must be sure to check the folders for the days you'll be away, before you go.

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备忘录式文件夹范例

核查清单：富于创造性的提示信息 Checklists: Creative Reminders 在个人管理系统中，最后一个值得注意的话题是，关注和补充你的核查清单，这里包含了构成各项工作、事件、价值、兴趣和责任的潜在成份。 The last topic in personal system organization that deserves some attention is the care and feeding of checklists, those recipes of potential ingredients for projects, events, and areas of value, interest, and responsibility. 通常情况下，在团队或者公司内部进行一次圆满的咨询，将会产生最具创造性的备查清单。细致而周到的备查清单也可显示出日后面试新人和培训员工时的一些重点方向。 The most creative checklists are often generated at the back end of a good consulting process with a team or company. Good ones also show up as areas of focus for training staff or hiring into job slots. 当我与客户一起清理他们的工作篮，检查他们记在心上挥之不去的其他事情时，经常会遇到这类琐碎的“自我备忘录”： “定期进行体育锻炼” “确保每一次培训时，我们都有足够的评估表格。” “多抽出些时间来陪陪孩子。” “为部门准备更多的计划” When I'm clearing in-baskets with clients and reviewing other things they're concerned about, we often run across little "Memos to Self" like: * Exercise more regularly. * Make sure we have evaluation forms for each training. * Spend more quality time with my kids. * Do more proactive planning for the division.

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* Maintain good morale with my team. * Ensure we are in alignment with corporate strategy. * Keep the client billing process up to date. 面对你内心这些含糊不清的承诺和兴趣，你应该怎么办呢？ What should you do with these "fuzzier" kinds of internal commitments and areas of attention? 首先，理清那些内心深处的计划和行动 First, Clarify Inherent Projects and Actions 对于大多数这类“资料”而言，某一计划和行动仍然需要我们的明确定义。对于许多人来说，完全可以把“定期参加体育锻炼”转化为“建立定期运动的计划（工作）”；和“给萨莉打个电话问一下私人教练的情况。（实际行动）”。在这种情况下，内在的计划和行动仍然需要进一步的细分以纳入个人管理体系。 For much of this kind of "stuff," there is still a project and/or an action that needs to be defined. "Exercise more regularly" really translates for many people into "Set up regular exercise program" (project) and "Call Sally for suggestions about personal trainers" (real action step). In such cases, inherent projects and actions still need to be clarified and organized into a personal system. 然而，还存在一些情况，它们并不完全符合这一范畴。 But there are some things that don't quite fit into that category. 规划工作和责任范畴内的关键性区域 Blueprinting Key Areas of Work and Responsibility 像“保持良好的身体状况”这类计划也许仍然需要编制成某种清单概要，以便于定期回顾和检查。任何时候，在你的大脑中，都有多个层面的结果和标准在起作用。如果能够掌握这些情况，总不失为一个好主意吧。 Objectives like "Maintain good physical conditioning" or "Physical health and vitality" may still need to be built into some sort of overview checklist that will be reviewed regularly. You have multiple layers of outcomes and standards playing on your psyche and your choices at any point in time, and knowing what those are, at all the different levels, is always a good idea. 我在前面曾经建议过，你的“工作”至少可以定义为 6 个级别，每一级别都应该拥有专门的确认手段和评估方法。对你所承担的重要工作和责任来说。每一级别分别拥有的完整而详细的目录便成为了一个了不起的备忘清单。它可包括 “事业上的目标” “服务” “家庭” “人会关系” “社区团体” “健康和精力” “财政资源” “创造性的表达手段” I suggested earlier that there are at least six levels of your "work" that could be defined, and that each level deserves its own acknowledgment and evaluation. A complete inventory of everything you hold important and are committed to on each of those levels would represent an awesome checklist. It might include:

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* Career goals * Service * Family * Relationships * Community * Health and energy * Financial resources * Creative expression 然而，沿着这个级别逐步下行，你也许希望，在工作范畴之内，针对你的责任范围、员工、价值标准等一切关键领域都存在一些提示信息。这类清单可能以下几点： “团队士气” “工作流程” “时间进程” “人员问题” “工作量” “交流沟通” And then moving down a level, within your job, you might want some reminders of your key areas of responsibility, your staff, your values, and so on. A list of these might contain points like: * Team morale * Processes * Timelines * Staff issues * Workload * Communication 反过来，所有这些条目全都可以纳入到你个人管理系统的清单中去。根据需要给你提个醒，以保证你的航船能沿着正确的方向平稳的前进。 All of these items could in turn be included on the lists in your personal system, as reminders to you, as needed, to keep the ship on course, on an even keel. 情况越是异常，控制力越应该加强 The More Novel the Situation, the More Control Is Required 我们核对清单和进行外部控制的，与我们对责任范畴的熟悉程序相关。如果你坚持做某一事情已经相当长的时间。而且没有外部压力迫使你进行某种改变，这时，恐怕你只需要施加最小程度的管理措施，就能够保证以平稳的速度向前进。你知道什么时候事情一定会发生，以及如何促使它们的发生，你目前的系统状况良好。尽管事情往往并非如此。 The degree to which any of us needs to maintain checklists and external controls is directly related to our unfamiliarity with the area of responsibility. If you've been doing what you're doing for a long time, and there's no pressure on you to change in that area, you probably need minimal external personal organization to stay on cruise control. You know when things must happen, and how to make them happen, and your system is fine, status quo. Often, though, that's not the case. 许多时候，你需要某种形式的核查清单来帮助你抓住工作的重点，直到你对情况熟悉起

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来。比如，如果你公司的 CEO 突然失踪，你不得不立即填补他的空缺，你就需要立刻过目一些资料，以掌握这项工作最为紧迫的方方面面。如果你刚刚接受了一个新职位的任命，其中的一些新的责任对你来说相当的陌生，那你一定希望拥有一个控制和管理的动作模式，哪怕只是在最初的几个月也好。 Many times you'll want some sort of checklist to help you maintain a focus until you're more familiar with what you're doing. If your CEO suddenly disappeared, for example, and you had instantly to fill his shoes, you'd need some overviews and outlines in front of you for a while to ensure that you had all the mission-critical aspects of the job handled. And if you've just been hired into a new position, with new responsibilities that are relatively unfamiliar to you, you'll want a framework of control and, structure, if only for the first few months. 曾经有很多次，我需要暂时开列一张清单，上面写着我不得不处理的一些起任务，直到一切理顺。比如，当我和妻子决定为我们经营多年的生意创造一个全新的经营模式时，我承担了一些前所末有的职责，如财会、电脑操作和维护、市场营销、法律事务和管理。几个月来，我必须坚持认真地把这些责任范围内的核查清单经常摆在面前，填补所有的空白，尽最大努力经营好这一过渡时期。当生意在某种程度上稳定下来以后，我就不再需要这个核查清单了。 There have been times when I needed to make a list of areas that I had to handle, temporarily, until things were under control. For instance, when my wife and I decided to create a brand-new structure for a business we'd been involved with for many years, I took on areas of responsibility I'd never had to deal with before— namely, accounting, computers, marketing, legal, and administration. For several months I needed to keep a checklist of those responsibilities in front of me to ensure that I filled in the blanks everywhere and managed the transition as well as I could. After the business got onto "cruise control" to some degree, I no longer needed that list. 核查清单功效显著，它使你明白哪些情况不用担心。 Checklists can be highly useful to let you know what you don't need to be concerned about. 各级核查清单 Checklists at All Levels 大胆地创建各种形式的核查清单。可能性是无穷的。从“生活的核心价值”到“旅游的有关事宜”。列出清单，特别是当它们出现在你的眼前时，这种方法是你生活中可以实施的最强有力的、同时也是最简单明了的途径。 Be open to creating any kind of checklist as the urge strikes you. The possibilities are endless—from "Core Life Values" to "Things to Take Camping." Making lists, ad hoc, as they occur to you, is one of the most powerful yet subtlest and simplest procedures that you can install in your life. 为了让你的思维迸出火花，下面是我所见到过的并已经采用多年一个核查清单： “个人主张（如有关价值观的个人陈述）” “工作责任范畴” “旅行核查清单” “每周回顾” “培训计划的组成要素”（当推出某项计划时，一切需要处理的情况，从前期到后期）

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“客户” “会议核查清单”（当准备召开一个会议时，需要筹备的所有的事情） “焦点区域”（生活中的重要角色和责任） “我生活/工作中的关键性人物”（定期评估人际关系，以推动事态的发展，捕捉新的机遇） “管理图表”（需要管理和维持的输出领域和关键性人物） “个人发展”（应该定期评估的情况以确保个人平衡与发展） To spark your creative thinking, here's a list of some of the topics of checklists I've seen and used over the years: * Personal Affirmations (i.e., personal value statements) * Job Areas of Responsibility (key responsibility areas) * Travel Checklist (everything to take on or do before a trip) * Weekly Review (everything to review and/or update on a weekly basis) * Training Program Components (all the things to handle when putting on an event, front to back) * Clients * Conference Checklist (everything to handle when putting on a conference) * Focus Areas (key life roles and responsibilities) * Key People in My Life/Work (relationships to assess regularly for completion and opportunity development) * Organization Chart (key people and areas of output to manage and maintain) * Personal Development (things to evaluate regularly to ensure personal balance and progress) 慢慢地习惯于接受各种清单，即要明确，又要持久，并乐于根据要求创建和消除某些内容。合理而恰当地运用核查清单，它们可以成为提高工作效率的非常有用的资产。 Get comfortable with checklists, both ad hoc and more permanent. Be ready to create and eliminate them as required. Appropriately used, they can be a tremendous asset in personal productivity. 如果你已经收集到生活和工作中所有的未尽事宜的话，并且已经逐项的进行了处理，明确了它们的价值和需要并采取了适当的行动，，最后还把结果纳入了一个完整的系统（这个系统包括了对当前和“将来某时”的所有工作计划的最新概述，无论事情大小），那么你就已经为从轻松提高工作效率这门艺术进入到了下一步——回顾检查阶段作好了充分的准备。 If in fact you have now collected everything that represents an open loop in your life and work, processed each one of those items in terms of what it means to you and what actions are required, and organized the results into a complete system that holds a current and complete overview—large and small—of all your present and "someday" projects, then you're ready for the next phase of implementation in the art of stress-free productivity—the review process.

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第 8 章检查阶段：回过头看看 Reviewing: Keeping Your System Functional 整个工作流程管理方法的宗旨并不是让你的大脑偷懒，而是想尽办法增进你的工作品质，提高行动的效率。然而为了获取这份自由，你的大脑必须时刻忙碌着。你必须获得这份承诺：目前实施的行动是你必须这样做的，而你未进行的那些工作，对你来说也无关紧要。遵循一定的规律回顾检查你的管理系统，并使其内容不断地更新，功效正常发挥，这是赢得控制权和支配的权的先决条件。 THE PURPOSE OF this whole method of workflow management is not to let your brain become lax, but rather to enable it to move toward more elegant and productive activity. In order to earn that freedom, however, your brain must engage on some consistent basis with all your commitments and activities. You must be assured that you're doing what you need to be doing, and that it's OK to be not doing what you're not doing. Reviewing your system on a regular basis and keeping it current and functional are pre-requisites for that kind of control. 例如，你手上有一堆电话要打。一旦你的清单并不能包括你所有需要打的电话，你的大脑就不再信任这个系统了，因此，它也不能从低水准的脑力劳动中解脱出来了。结果你的大脑又不得不重新担负起记忆、加工处理和提醒的责任，也就会像以前一样低效率的运转。 If you have a list of calls you must make, for example, the minute that list is not totally current with all the calls you need to make, your brain will not trust the system, and it won't get relief from its lower-level mental tasks. It will have to take back the job of remembering, processing, and reminding, which, as you should know by now, it doesn't do very effectively. 所有这一切意味着，你的系统绝不能处于静止不动的状态。为了帮助你作出正确的选择，这个系统必须时时更新，紧跟事态的发展。此外，它还应该从不同的角度针对你的生活与工作进行持续不断并且恰当的评价。 All of this means your system cannot be static. In order to support appropriate action choices, it must be kept up to date. And it should trigger consistent and appropriate evaluation of your life and work at several horizons. 在这一阶段，你需要处理两种主要情况： 1、你需要关注哪部分的内容？什么时候？ 2、为了确保整个系统持续运转，解放你的大脑，使之能够从事更高层次的思考和组织管理活动，你需要采取什么行动？多久一次？ There are two major issues that need to be handled at this point: * What do you look at in all this, and when? * What do you need to do, and how often, to ensure that all of it works as a consistent system, freeing you to think and manage at a higher level? 一次真正意义上的回顾检查活动，将使你的思维变得主动、新鲜。这类思维可以是精力集中的产物，也可能源于心血来潮。持之以恒地浏览回顾所有行动和工作的清单，也将刺激这种思维的产生。 A real review process will lead to enhanced and proactive new thinking in key areas of your life and work. Such thinking emerges from both focused concentration and serendipitous brainstorming, which will be triggered and galvanized by a consistent personal review of your

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inventory of actions and projects.

要看什么？什么时候？What to Look At, When 自己的个人管理系统和清单必须包括你希望查阅的行动方案，需要时便可信手拈来。事实上，这只是一些基本常识，但是很少人能够把它做的完美。 Your personal system and behaviors need to be established in such a way that you can see all the action options you need to see, when you need to see them. This is really just common sense, but few people actually have their processes and their organization honed to the point where they are as functional as they could be. 当你的手头上有一部电话和一些可以自由支配的时间，这时你应该至少扫一眼那张你需要处理的电话清单。你可以抓住一件最重要的去处理，也可以做到一个事情都不去碰，总之游刃有余。当你正准备去参加与老板或者合伙人的讨论时，花一分钟浏览一下日程上所记录的与他未了的事宜，你会看到自己正在发挥这段时间的最佳功效。当你打算去干洗店取回衣物时，首先快速地检查一下还有没有可以在途中解决的差事。 When you have access to a phone and any discretionary time, you ought to at least glance at the list of all the phone calls you need to make, and then either direct yourself to the best one to handle or give yourself permission to feel OK about not bothering with any of them. When you're about to go in for a discussion with your boss or your partner, take a moment to review the outstanding agendas you have with him or her, so you'll know that you're using your time most effectively. When you need to pick up something at the dry cleaner's, first quickly review all the other errands that you might be able to do en route. 人们经常问我：“你花多少时间来回顾检查你的系统？”我的回答是：“只要我能够对当前的行动感觉良好就足够了。” 在现实生活中，常常是几秒几秒的时间堆积起来的。然而大多数人并没有意识到，从某种意义上来余，我的行动清单就是我的办公室。这如同你的工作台上放着即时贴和电话留言本一样，我的“下一步行动”清单的情况也是这样。假设你已经彻底地完成了收集、加工、组织管理一切事物的步骤，这时你很可能只需要在这里或者那里花上几分钟回顾一下你的系统，搜索每天的提示信息。 People often ask me, "How much time do you spend looking at your system?" My answer is simply, "As much time as I need to to feel comfortable about what I'm doing." In actuality it's an accumulation of two seconds here, three seconds there. What most people don't realize is that my lists are in one sense my office. Just as you might have Post-its and stacks of phone slips at your workstation, so do I on my "Next Actions" lists. Assuming that you've completely collected, processed, and organized your stuff, you'll most likely take only a few brief moments here and there to access your system for day-to-day reminders. 只要你保证在适当的时间查阅适当的资料，每天几秒钟也就是回顾检查所需要的全部时间。 A few seconds a day is usually all you need for review, as long as you're looking at the right things at the right time. 首先看一看你的日程表 Looking at Your Calendar First 恐怕，你翻阅最频繁的要数你的工作日历了。你需要确认最为重要而艰巨的工作，并估

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测一下哪些工作必须搞定。当然，你首先需要了解时间和空间这两大因素。比如，你知道自己从上午 8 点一直到晚上 6 点，不得不开上一整天的会，中间只有半小时时间吃午饭。了解了这一情况，你就可以对其他的事情作出必要的安排。 Your most frequent review will probably be of your daily calendar, and your daily tickler folder if you're maintaining one, to see the "hard landscape" and assess what has to get done. You need to know the time-and-space parameters first. Knowing that you have wall-to-wall meetings from 8:00 A.M. through 6:00 P.M., for example, with barely a half-hour break for lunch, will help you make necessary decisions about any other activities. 然后看一看你的行动清单 . . . Then Your Action Lists 当你检查了所有将受到时间限制的活动，并对它们进行了适当的安排之后，接下来你浏览最多的恐怕要数那些在当前条件下可以实施的行动清单了。例如，如果目前你在办公室中，你就可以看一下你的电话清单、需要计算机处理的工作，以及其他办公室内的事务。但是这并不意味着你将完成清单上所有的内容。你仅仅需要把清单上的工作与其他工作进行比较，确保你的最终选择一定是最佳方案。你应该充满自信：自己并没有遗漏任何重要的事情。 After you review all your day- and time-specific commitments and handle whatever you need to about them, your next most frequent area for review will be the lists of all the actions you could possibly do in your current context. If you're in your office, for instance, you'll look at your lists of calls, computer actions, and in-office things to do. This doesn't necessarily mean you will actually be doing anything on those lists; you'll just evaluate them against the flow of other work coming at you to ensure that you make the best choices about what to deal with. You need to feel confident that you're not missing anything critical. 坦白地说，如果你的工作日历清楚明白，那它们将是你管理系统中每隔几天就需要参照的惟一内容。事实上，我已经有许多天没有翻阅任何清单目录了，这是因为在前期阶段，我的日程表早就一清二楚了，我根本不需要再去看清单了。 Frankly, if your calendar is trustworthy and your action lists are current, they may be the only things in the system you'll need to refer to more than every couple of days. There have been many days when I didn't need to look at any of my lists, in fact, because it was clear from the front end—my calendar—what I wouldn't be able to do. 在适当条件下，进行适当的回顾 The Right Review in the Right Context 也许你需要在任何时间查阅你的任何一份清单。当你和配偶劳碌奔波了一天归来，最终放松下来的时候，你希望确定你们共同经营的家庭事务，这时你当然想看一眼你为对方记录下来的各种日程安排。如果你的老板突然走进你的办公室，打算与你谈谈当前的工作，你能够立刻拿出最新的工作清单和准备的话题，这显然将大大提高你的工作效率。 You may need to access any one of your lists at any time. When you and your spouse are decompressing at the end of the day, and you want to be sure you'll take care of the "business" the two of you manage together about home and family, you'll want to look at your accumulated agendas for him or her. On the other hand, if your boss pops in for a face-to-face conversation about current realities and priorities, it will be highly functional for you to have your "Projects" list up to date and your "Agenda" list for him or her right at hand.

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更新你的系统 Updating Your System 为了真正确保整个管理系统值得依赖，关键的技巧就是从一个更高的角度入手，定期地恢复你的心智、更新你的系统。然而，如果你的工作清单早已经被远远的甩到了现实的后面，要达到这一目标就非常困难了。你不能自欺欺人。如果系统过时了，你的大脑就再一次陷入了低层次的记忆劳动。 The real trick to ensuring the trustworthiness of the whole organization system lies in regularly refreshing your psyche and your system from a more elevated perspective. That's impossible to do, however, if your lists fall too far behind your reality. You won't be able to fool yourself about this: if your system is out of date, your brain will be forced to fully engage again at the lower level of remembering. 恐怕这是一个最大的挑战。一旦你体验到了拥有一个清晰的大脑是怎样的一种滋味，领悟到事事处于你的控制之下是多么的惬意。这时你是不是又能够为了维持这样的状态而采取相应的措施呢？许多年以来，我与许多人共同地研究和实施了这种工作方法，结论是，维持这一过程最神奇而关键的要素就是每周回顾检查。 This is perhaps the biggest challenge of all. Once you've tasted what it's like to have a clear head and feel in control of everything that's going on, can you do what you need to to maintain that as an operational standard? The many years I've spent researching and implementing this methodology with countless people have proved to me that the magic key to the sustainability of the process is the Weekly Review. 每周回顾检查的力量 The Power of the Weekly Review 大多数人无论最初有多么好的基础，恐怕也不能跟上紧张而快速的生活节奏。我们许多人似乎天性就是这样，总会让自己陷入各种事情中不能自拔。工作时，我们把一天的时间安排的满满的，一个会议接一个会议；业余时间里，我们还会有不断的冒出种种想法。我们身不由已的卷入种种纠纷当中，而这些任务同时又具有一种潜在的力量，可以促进我们的创造性思维发生发展。 If you're like me and most other people, no matter how good your intentions may be, you're going to have the world come at you faster than you can keep up. Many of us seem to have it in our natures consistently to entangle ourselves in more than we have the ability to handle. We book ourselves back to back in meetings all day, go to after-hours events that generate ideas and commitments we need to deal with, and get embroiled in engagements and projects that have the potential to spin our creative intelligence into cosmic orbits. 正是这种旋风式的生活模式，造就了每周回顾检查的卓越功效，这种功效在捕捉信息、再次评估及重新安排时间的过程中逐渐加强，使你保持平衡。因此，当你试图完成每一天的工作计划时，根本不可能同时完成这个极为必要的再分组活动。（这段到底在说啥） That whirlwind of activity is precisely what makes the Weekly Review so valuable. It builds in some capturing, reevaluation, and reprocessing time to keep you in bal ance. There is simply no way to do this necessary regrouping while you're trying to get everyday work done. 回顾检查活动还将在你每周处理新信息时，在直觉上磨练你对重要工作的判断力。你必

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须学会说不，更快地面对更多的事物，保持举重若轻，轻松自如。划定某一专门的时间段进行全盘思考，这将对简化你的工作大有帮助。 The Weekly Review will also sharpen your intuitive focus on your important projects as you deal with the flood of new input and potential distractions coming at you the rest of the week. You're going to have to learn to say no—faster, and to more things—in order to stay afloat and comfortable. Having some dedicated time in which to at least get up to the project level of thinking goes a long way toward making that easier. 每一天，你都将吸纳许多机会，这大大超过你的系统的承受力 You will invariably take in more opportunities than your system can process on a daily basis. 什么是每周回顾检查 What Is the Weekly Review? 非常简单，每周回顾检查就是为了再次清空大脑而必须采取的行动。它贯穿于工作管理流程中的所有阶段：收集、加工、组织、回顾，直到你能够确认：“我目前已经完全掌握了我没有处理的一切事情。一旦我决定处理，马上就可以投入工作。” Very simply, the Weekly Review is whatever you need to do to get your head empty again. It's going through the five phases of workflow management—collecting, processing, organizing, and reviewing all your outstanding involvements—until you can honestly say, "I absolutely know right now everything I'm not doing but could be doing if I decided to." 从事情的本质来说，下面的这个练习有助于你达到这一目标： From a nitty-gritty, practical standpoint, here is the drill that can get you there:

散页纸搜罗出各样的零碎绝版、名片、收据，以及所有收藏在你的办公桌、衣服、缝隙中的纸片，把它们统统收入到你的工作篮中，以备处理。 Loose Papers Pull out all miscellaneous scraps of paper, business cards, receipts, and so on that have crept into the crevices of your desk, clothing, and accessories. Put it all into your in-basket for processing.

你的笔记检查所有的日志、会议记录和记事本上的内容。适当地开列出有关行动目录、工作、等待事宜、日程表上安排的活动和“将来某时/也许”等清单。然后，把所有的参考资料进行归档整理，制定一个“阅读/更新”的栏目。注意，对自己一定要严格。开始着手处理你所遇到的一切有关交流、工作、新创意、新信息的记录和想法，同时清理掉没用的垃圾。 Process Your Notes Review any journal entries, meeting notes, or miscellaneous notes scribbled on notebook paper. List action items, projects, waiting-fors, calendar events, and someday/ maybes, as appropriate. File any reference notes and materials. Stage your "Read/Renew" material. Be ruthless with yourself, processing all notes and thoughts relative to interactions, projects, new initiatives, and input that have come your way since your last download, and purging those not needed.

前一天日程表上的数据仔细检查日程表上已经过时的那些日期，搜寻未完成的工作、参考信息等诸如此类的资料，并将它们重新纳入到你当前运行的系统中。注意，务必做到把你上周的日程表无一漏网地归档保存。

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Previous Calendar Data Review past calendar dates in detail for remaining action items, reference information, and so on, and transfer that data into the active system. Be able to archive your last week's calendar with nothing left uncaptured.

即将使用的日程表游览一下你将来的事情安排情况（长期的和短期的）。掌握那些针对即将发生的事情所作出的安排和准备。 Upcoming Calendar Look at future calendar events (long- and short-term). Capture actions about arrangements and preparations for any upcoming events.

清空大脑以笔录的方式记下一切新工作、行动目录、“等待事宜”、“将来某时/也许”，以及那些你目前还未捕捉到的事务。 Empty Your Head Put in writing (in appropriate categories) any new projects, action items, waiting-fors, someday/maybes, and so forth that you haven't yet captured.

回顾“工作”（和更重要的结果）清单逐一地评估所有的工作任务、目标和当前情况，以确保在你目前的管理系统中，每一种情况至少存在一个启动器型的行动。 Review "Projects" (and Larger Outcome) Lists Evaluate the status of projects, goals, and outcomes one by one, ensuring that at least one current kick-start action for each is in your system.

回顾“下一步行动”清单在已经完成的行动上标记号，检查下面一些行动的提示信息。 Review "Next Actions"Lists Mark off completed actions. Review for reminders of further action steps to capture.

回顾“等待事宜”清单记录所有需要跟踪处理的情况，核对已经收回的项目。 Review "Waiting For" List Record appropriate actions for any needed follow-up. Check off received items.

回顾所有相关的项目还有没有一些需要解决而还没动手的工作呢？ Review Any Relevant Checklists Is there anything you haven't done that you need to do?

回顾“将来某时/也许”清单核查些有可能转入当前运作系统的事情，并把它们移到“工作”目录下，删除所有你不再感兴趣的事情。 Review "Someday/Maybe" List Check for any projects that may have become active and transfer them to "Projects." Delete items no longer of interest.

回顾“悬而未决”和辅助资料浏览所有处于运行状态中的辅助性资料，有助于激发新的行动方案、促进任务的完成、产生新的等待事项。 Review "Pending" and Support Files Browse through all work-in-progress support material to trigger new actions, completions, and waiting-fors.

要富于创新意识和开拓精神是不是在你的脑中经常会冒出一些新鲜的、巧妙、富有创意、发人深省、风险十足的念头可以添加到你的管理系统之中呢？ Be Creative and Courageous Are there any new, wonderful, harebrained, creative, thought-provoking, risk-taking ideas you can add to your system?

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这个回顾检查的程序虽然只是一种基本常识，但是很少有人能够做完善。它意味着我们应该尽可能地定期地恢复头脑的清醒，以保持一种轻松的控制状态。 This review process is common sense, but few of us do it as well as we could, and that means as regularly as we should to keep a clear mind and a sense of relaxed control. “观点”是人们对付当前信息过载问题的一种极为有效的解决办法，这是一个凭直觉处理的

过程：摒弃无足轻重的资料，精简至本质的、相关的、可以控制的最小量。在任何时间和地点，观点都将成为最罕见的资料。 ——保罗萨福 "Point of view" is that qulnt-essentially human solution to information overload, an intuitive process of reducing things to an essential relevant and manageable minimum. . . . In a world of hyperabundant content, point of view will become the scarcest of resources. —Paul Saffo 在恰当的时间和地点进行回顾 The Right Time and Place for the Review 每周的回顾检查十分重要，因此，你应该培养起良好的习惯，创造一个适当的环境，运用正确的工具加以支持。一旦建立起一个稳定的舒适的区域，你将不再为强迫自己做什么回顾检查而感到烦恼和忧虑，因为它已经成为你个人做事的标准了。 The Weekly Review is so critical that it behooves you to establish good habits, environments, and tools to support it. Once your comfort zone has been established for the kind of relaxed control that Getting Things Done is all about, you won't have to worry too much about making yourself do your review—you'll have to to get back to your personal standards again. 到那时，你所需要做的就是，每周想办法抽出几个小时，让自己离开事务的干扰，并不是退出这个区域，而是至少升华到“1 万英尺”高度。 Until then, do whatever you need to, once a week, to trick yourself into backing away from the daily grind for a couple of hours—not to zone out, but to rise up at least to "10,000 feet" and catch up. 如果你还可以享受到独立工作空间的奢侈，逃离一天中人与人之间的应酬的困扰；如果你的工作时间也是周一至周五的固定时间段，那我建议你每周五下午制出个小时的时间，专门用于回顾检查。之所以选这个时间，主要是因为下面三个原因： 1、对于这一周的事物你很可能还记忆犹新，这使你能够进行完整的剖析和回顾 2、你总是发现有这样一些事情，它们要求你在工作时间必须立刻找到某些人。这样一来，你还来得及在他们周未外出渡假前与他们取得联系 3、清理一下精神上的储藏室是一件大好事，之后你就可以安心地享受周末的休闲时光。 If you have the luxury of an office or work space that can be somewhat isolated from the people and interactions of the day, and if you have anything resembling a typical Monday-to-Friday workweek, I recommend that you block out two hours early every Friday afternoon for the review. Three factors make this an ideal time: * The events of the week are likely to be still fresh enough for you to be able to do a complete postmortem ("Oh, yeah, I need to make sure I get back to her about..."). * When you (invariably) uncover actions that require reaching people at work, you'll still have

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time to do that before they leave for the weekend. * It's great to clear your psychic decks so you can go into the weekend ready for refreshment and recreation, with nothing on your mind. 然而，你也许属于根本无法拥有正常周末的一类人。比如，在周六和周日，我经常要处理同周三一样多的事情。不过我能够享受到频繁的长途飞行，这提供了一个理想的机会来弥补我的损失。我的一位好友兼客户在世界上最大的一家航空公司任职，他习惯于利用每周日夜里在家里的办公室放松，并处理一周内各种大小会议上记录的数以百计的笔记和备忘录。 You may be the kind of person, however, who doesn't have normal weekends. I, for example, often have as much to do on Saturday and Sunday as on Wednesday. But I do have the luxury(?) of frequent long plane trips, which provide an ideal opportunity for me to catch up. A good friend and client of mine, an executive in the world's largest aerospace company, has his own Sunday-night ritual of relaxing in his home office and processing the hundreds of notes he's generated during his week of back-to-back meetings. 无论你的生活方式属于哪一种，都必须建立一个每周重新组织安排的工作程序。也许你已经拥有了这种程序（或者接近于这种模式），那么调整这一习惯，把它纳入更高层次的回顾过程中来。 Whatever your life-style, you need a weekly regrouping ritual. You likely have something like this (or close to it) already. If so, leverage the habit by adding into it a higher-altitude review process. 有些人发现他们很难抽出时间进行回顾检查，因为工作和家庭环境中随时都有可能出现新的问题。我所见过的压力最重的专业人士要数那些在工作时必须随叫随到并且能够迅速作出重要反应的人。下班后，他们还要回家应付几个 10 岁以下的孩子，和同样奔波了一天、满身疲惫的配偶。当中一些人比较幸运，因为他们至少在路上还拥有一个小时的时间。 The people who find it hardest to make time for this review are those who have constantly on-demand work and home environments, with zero built-in time or space for regrouping. The most stressed professionals I have met are the ones who have to be mission-critically reactive at work (e.g., high-level equities traders and chiefs of staff) and then go home to a couple of under-ten-year-old children and a spouse who also works. The more fortunate of them have a one-hour train commute. 这类人面临的最大挑战是：如果他对每天的工作缺乏清晰而直接的了解，就必须建立一个始终连贯的重新部署的程序。要么在每周五晚上在办公桌边上再干几个小时；要么在家里建立一个令人放松的可以正常工作的空间。 If you recognize yourself in that picture, your greatest challenge will be to build in a consistent process of regrouping, when your world is not directly in your face. You'll need to either accept the requirement of an after-hours time at your desk on a Friday night or establish a relaxed but at-work kind of location and time at home.

管理层人员的回顾时间我培训过许多的管理人员，我指导他们在每周五的日程安排中抽出 2 个小时的时间。对于他们来说，最大的问题莫过于在高质量的思考和紧急处理突发事件之间选择一种平衡。然而，那些职务级别最高、最有见识、最精明能干的人全都能够意识

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到这样做的价值所在：牺牲表面上看似紧迫的事情，去追求真正具有重要性的事情——创建自己安全的时间小岛。 Executive Operational Review Time I've coached many executives to block out two hours on their calendars on Fridays. For them the biggest problem is how to balance quality thinking and catch-up time with the urgent demands of mission-critical interactions. This is a tough call. The most senior and savvy of them, however, know the value of sacrificing the seemingly urgent for the truly important, and they create their islands of time for some version of this process. 在你工作时，你最绝妙的往往不会出现。 Your best thoughts about work won't happen while you're at work. 甚至连那些已经把反思时间融入到自己工作当中的管理人员仍然常常不由自主或不耐烦地处理一些细枝未节的东西，以弥补一些处于“1 万英尺“水平的问题。一边是一个接一个的会议，一边是端一杯红酒，漫步于夕阳下的池塘边。这两种截然相反的状态确实要求你在日常工作的控制和管理上需要更高一级的反思和重新部署的技能。如果你认为所有的事情都已经得到了彻底的确认、澄清、评估、付诸实施了，大概你是在同自己开玩笑吧。 Even the executives who have integrated a consistent reflective time for their work, though, often seem to give short shrift to the more mundane review and catch-up process at the "10,000-foot" level. Between wall-to-wall meetings and ambling around your koi pond with a chardonnay at sunset, there's got to be a slightly elevated level of reflection and regrouping required for operational control and focus. If you think you have all your open loops fully identified, clarified, assessed, and actionalized, you're probably kidding yourself.

“大局”的回顾 The "Bigger Picture" Reviews 是的，某些时候，你必须阐明更重要的预期结果是什么，长期的目标是什么，前景和原则又都是什么，它们最终驱动并检验你所作出的决定。 Yes, at some point you must clarify the larger outcomes, the long-term goals, the visions and principles that ultimately drive and test your decisions. 在你的工作中，关键性的目标和目的是什么呢？一年或者三年后，哪些事情应该完全到位了呢？你的事业将发展到哪一个阶段？这种生活方式是不是令你满意？从更深的层次和更长远的角度来看，你是不是正在做你真正希望或者需要做的事情呢？ What are your key goals and objectives in your work? What should you have in place a year or three years from now? How is your career going? Is this the life-style that is most fulfilling to you? Are you doing what you really want or need to do, from a deeper and longer-term perspective? 本书所清晰表达的重点并不是那些处于“不足 3 万英尺”至“5 万英尺”的情况，而是敦促你着眼于更高的视野，帮助你获得成功，使你能够更好地将日常的小目标融入生活的大目标中来。当你能够更加敏捷地整理“遗产”以及“1 万英尺”高度左右的工作与生活时，一定还要时不时地再次拜访其它高度的事宜，保持拥有一个真正清醒的头脑。 The explicit focus of this book is not at those "30,000-" to "50,000+-foot" levels. Urging you to operate from a higher perspective is, however, its implicit purpose—to assist you in making your

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total life expression more fulfilling and better aligned with the bigger game we're all about. As you increase the speed and agility with which you clear the "runway" and "10,000-foot" levels of your life and work, be sure to revisit the other levels you're engaged in, now and then, to maintain a truly clear head.

思考是工作和生活的精髓，同时也是最难做到的事情。帝国的创建者们在争分夺秒地算计着，而其它人却在嬉戏。如果你不是自觉地去努力进行这种自我指导的思维过程，那么你就是在向懒惰屈服让步，你将永远丧失控制自己生活的能力。 ----------戴维凯克奇 Thinking is the very essence of and the most difficult thing to do in, business and in life. Empire builders spend hour-after-hour on mental work. . . while others party. If you're not consciously aware of putting forth the effort to exert self-guided integrated thinking . . . then you're giving in to laziness and no longer control your life. —David Kekich 对于各个层次的工作和生活，你需要多久进行一次回顾呢？这个问题只有你自己才能回答。在这个关键时候，我必须肯定的原则是： How often you ought to challenge yourself with that type of wide-ranging review is something only you can know. The principle I must affirm at this juncture is this: 你必须在适当的阶段评估，作出正确的决定，并且间隔得当，以便能使你的工作和生活井然有序。 You need to assess your life and work at the appropriate horizons, making the appropriate decisions, at the appropriate intervals, in order to really come clean. 由此，我们看到了个人收集、加工处理、组织管理和回顾检查方法的最终目的，以及一个最具有挑战性的问题：星期三上午 9 点 22 分你在做什么呢？ Which brings us to the ultimate point and challenge of all this personal collecting, processing, organizing, and reviewing methodology: It's 9:22 A.M. Wednesday morning—what do you do?

第九章行动阶段：选最佳方案 Doing: Making the Best Action Choices 谈到真切而辛苦的每个工作日和时刻，你是怎么选择行动方案的呢？ WHEN IT COMES to your real-time, plow-through, get-it-done work-day, how do you decide what to do at any given point? 如同我前面曾经提到的那样，我的回答非常简单，即相信你自己的意愿，或者你的精神。如果你对这些字眼过敏的话，就尝试着换一下吧：你的本能反应，你的直觉。 As I've said, my simple answer is, trust your heart. Or your spirit. Or, if you're allergic to those kinds of words, try these: your gut, the seat of your pants, your intuition. 你必须依赖于你的直觉，最终是这样，平常也是如此。你可以通过做许多事来增强这种信任感。 Ultimately and always you must trust your intuition. There are many things you can do,

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however, that can increase that trust. 这并不意味着让你的生活随心所欲，当然，除非事实确实如此。实际上，我曾经一度在我的生活中极度推行这一做法，而且而且我可以证明其极有价值，如果不是一定是必要的话。（听之任之的方法有很多。你可以不去理睬这个真实的世界，忽视它的现实状况，抛弃对宇

宙万物的信任。我曾经这样做过，这真是一种神奇的经历。然而我并不希望任何人去尝试这种放弃。向你内心深处的感知力低头让步，它的联盟才智和实用价值才是一种更高的境界。信任你自己以及智慧的源泉，是自由和个人成就最好的表现。） That doesn't mean you throw your life to the winds—unless, of course, it does. I actually went down that route myself with some vengeance at one point in my life, and I can attest that the lessons were valuable, if not necessarily necessary.* (*There are various ways to give it all up. You can ignore the physical world and its realities and trust in the universe. I did that, and it was a powerful experience. And one I wouldn't wish on anyone. Surrendering to your inner awareness, however, and its intelligence and practicality in the worlds you live in, is the higher ground. Trusting yourself and the source of your intelligence is a more elegant version of freedom and personal productivity.) 如同在第 2 章概括出来的那样，我已经发现，有 3 个方面的评估标准对行动的决策过程极有帮助： 1、选择当前行动的 4 个标准 2、评估每日工作的 3 个标准 3、回顾检查的 6 个层次 As outlined in chapter 2 (pages 48-53), I have found three priority frameworks to be enormously helpful in the context of deciding actions: * The four-criteria model for choosing actions in the moment * The threefold model for evaluating daily work * The six-level model for reviewing your own work 这些标准或模式碰巧以相反的次序排列出来，即与典型的由上至下的战略观点恰恰相反。为了遵循本书提供的管理方法的精髓，我发现再次由下至上开展工作将大有益处。也就是说，我将从那些最为平凡的小事入手。 These happen to be shown in reverse hierarchical order—that is, the reverse of the typical strategic top-down perspective. In keeping with the nature of the Getting Things Done methodology, I have found it useful to once again work from the bottom, up, meaning I'll start with the most mundane levels.

选择当前行动的 4 个标准 The Four-Criteria Model for Choosing Actions in the Moment

1、 2、 3、 4、

记住，当你决策下一步行动方案时，是依据下面的 4 重标准进行的：环境时间精力重要性

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Remember that you make your action choices based on the following four criteria, in order: 1 | Context 2 | Time available 3 | Energy available 4 | Priority 为了能够充分利用其优势，在安排系统和行为时取得阳理想的效果，让我们对这些因素逐项地进行分析。 Let's examine each of these in the light of how you can best structure your systems and behaviors to take advantage of its dynamics. 环境 Context 在任何时候，你首先考虑的是你能够做些什么，你身处什么地方?手头上拥有什么样的工具？是不是有一部电话？你是否能见到你需要见的人，与他面对面地谈论有关日程表上三项内容的安排？是否正在一家商店里购物？你是不是无法办成某件事，仅仅是因为你没有出现在一个适当的地点或者手上缺乏适当的工具呢？别再为此担心了。 At any point in time, the first thing to consider is, what could you possibly do, where you are, with the tools you have? Do you have a phone? Do you have access to the person you need to talk with face-to-face about three agenda items? Are you at the store where you need to buy something? If you can't do the action because you're not in the appropriate location or don't have the appropriate tool, don't worry about it. 我前面已经谈过了，你应该根据环境来安排你的行动提示信息——“打电话”，“在家里”，“在计算机旁”，“外出”，“与乔相关的事”，“有关员工会议的安排”，以及诸如此类的事情。既然环境在你选择行动方案时是发挥作用的首要标准。因此，按照环境分类整理的清单可以避免对活动的重新评估。如果在你的工作清单中的事情堆积如山，而事实上它们当中有许多都无法在同一地点解决掉，你不得不强迫自己反复地考虑所有的情况。 As I've said, you should always organize your action reminders by context—"Calls," "At Home," "At Computer," "Errands," "Agenda for Joe," "Agenda for Staff Meeting," and so on. Since context is the first criterion that comes into play in your choice of actions, context-sorted lists prevent unnecessary reassessments about what to do. If you have a bunch of things to do on one to-do list, but you actually can't do many of them in the same context, you force yourself to continually keep reconsidering all of them. 如果碰上了交通堵塞，你就只能靠手机进行联络了，那你就会希望能够随手拉出一个 “打电话”的清单。总之，你的各种行动清单应该能够根据你在某一时间的具体要求，招之则来，挥之则去。 If you're stuck in traffic, and the only actions you can take are calls on your cell phone, you want to be able to pull out just your "Calls" list. Your action lists should fold in or out, based on what you could possibly do at any time. 根据环境需要来组织安排你所有的活动，这种做法能够迫使你面对所有的事物时作出最重要的决策。我自己所有的行动清单都是按照这种方法建立起来的，因此，在我把某一项工作列入到具体的某一清单之前，不得不先判断它下面的步骤（处理这件事要不要一台电脑？

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一部电话？需要到商店去吗？）那些行动清单乱七八糟的人也经常使他们陷入下一步行动决策的混乱之中。 A second real benefit accrues from organizing all your actions by the physical context needed: that in itself forces you to make the all-important determination about the next physical action on your stuff. All of my action lists are set up this way, so I have to decide on the very next physical action before I can know which list to put an item on (is this something that requires the computer? a phone? being in a store?). People who give themselves a "Misc." action list (i.e., one not specific to a context) often let themselves slide in the next-action decision, too. 我经常鼓励我的客户，当他们开始清理工作篮时，首先要把清单的种类安排到位，这样可以使他们首先能够把握整体进程。 I frequently encourage clients to structure their list categories early on as they're processing their in-baskets, because that automatically grounds their projects in the real things that need to get done to get them moving.

时间 Time Available 决定行动的第二个因素是，在你不得不转向另一项工作之前，你到底拥有多少时间呢？如果 10 分钟后你必须参加一个会议，那么你在这一段时间内进行的活动必须和你拥有几个小时所作出的选择大不相同。 The second factor in choosing an action is how much time you have before you have to do something else. If your meeting is starting in ten minutes, you'll most likely select a different action to do right now than you would if the next couple of hours were clear. 显而易见的是，了解一下手头上可以自由安排的时间会大有帮助。一个存储着你所有行动提示清单将最大限度地为你提供下一步行动的信息，而且使你更加轻松地为空闲时间安排恰当的活动。换句话说，如果你下一次会议之前有 10 分钟的时间，你完全可以选一件花费 10 分钟就能解决掉的事情来处理。如果你的清单上只摆着那些“重大”或者“重要”的工作，恐怕无论哪一件事都无法利用这短短的 10 分钟时间来搞定。如果你必须这些小事，那最有效的方法就是利用每天无数的“神奇的小时段”。 Obviously, it's good to know how much time you have at hand (hence the emphasis on calendar and watch). A total-life action-reminder inventory will give you maximum information about what you need to do, and make it much easier to match your actions to the windows you have. In other words, if you have ten minutes before that next meeting, find a ten-minute thing to do. If your lists have only the "big" or "important" things on them, no item listed may be possible to handle in a ten-minute period. If you're going to have to do those shorter action things anyway, the most productive way to get them done is to utilize the little "weird time" windows that occur throughout the day. 精力 Energy Available 尽管有时你可以通过变换环境、重新定位工作重点来增强体力和精力。但是你也仅仅能够做到这些。每当一天快要结束时，经过一天漫长的工作，恐怕你就连给客户打个电话都感到力不从心了。但你完全可以选择给航空公司打个电话订个机票，或者看看报纸。 Although you can increase your energy level at times by changing your context and redirecting

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your focus, you can do only so much. The tail end of a day taken up mostly by a marathon budget-planning session is probably not the best time to call a prospective client or start drafting a performance-review policy. It might be better to call the airline to change a reservation, process some expense receipts, or skim a trade journal.

我们都可能遇到这种情况：有时，思维敏捷；有时，应该远离思考。 ——Deniel Cohen We all have times *when we think more effectively, and times when we should not be thinking at all. —Daniel Cohen 这就如同当你拥有了全部行动方案的选择权时，你可以充分利用各种长短不一的时间段。而当你对需要所有事情心中有数时，你也可以根据身体状况和精神状态去安排各项活动。 Just as having all your next-action options available allowsyou to take advantage of various time slots, knowing about everything you're going to need to process and do at some point will allow you to match productive activity with your vitality level. 我建议你一定要持之以恒地保留这样一份行动清单，上面记载的都是一些消耗较少脑力的事情。当你精神疲惫、体力不支时，可以去应付它们。这类事情包括闲时浏览（杂志、文章和目录），把你需要的电话或者地址等通讯资料收录到电脑中，文件夹的整理，笔记本电脑中的资料的备份，甚至仅仅是给花浇浇水。无论任何事，这个琐碎的事早晚都得做。 I recommend that you always keep an inventory of things that need to be done that require very little mental or creative horsepower. When you're in one of those low-energy states, do them. Casual reading (magazines, articles, and catalogs), telephone/address data that need to be inputted onto your computer, file purging, backing up your laptop, even just watering your plants and filling your stapler—these are some of the myriad things that you've got to deal with sometime anyway. 这也就是你的个人管理系统为什么要界线分明的理由：即使当你并非处于巅峰状态时，它也可以使你能够轻松自如地保持较高的效率。如果在你感到疲劳时，需要资料杂乱无章，各种收据满天飞，归档系统毫无条理，你干脆一逃了之。结果，你往往会感觉更糟糕、心情更郁闷。因此，你一定要注意经常留一些轻松的小事在手头上。 This is one of the best reasons for having very clean edges to your personal management system: it makes it easy to continue doing productive activity when you're not in top form. If you're in a low-energymode and your reading material is disorganized, your receipts are all over the place, your filing system is chaotic, and your in-basket is dysfunctional, it just seems like too much work to do to find and organize the tasks at hand; so you simply avoid doing anything at all and then you feel even worse. One of the best ways to increase your energy is to close some of your loops. So always be sure to have some easy loops to close, right at hand. 即使你并非处于最佳状态中，也没有理由变得松懈、低效。 There is no reason not to be highly productive, even when you're not in top form. 选择行动的 3 个首要标准（环境、时间和精力）充分说明了我们确实需要一个完整的系

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统来存储下一步行动方案的提示信息。有时，当你处于某一状态时，根本无法进行这种决策性的思考，这时你应该从已经清晰描绘出来的行动方案中选择符合当前情况的事情加以处理。 These first three criteria for choosing action (context, time, and energy) bespeak the need for a complete next-action reminder system. Sometimes you won't be in a mode to do that kind of thinking; it needs to have already been done. If it is, you can operate much more "in your zone" and choose from delineated actions that fit the situation. 重要性 Priority 决策行动的下一个标准就是相对重要性：“在所有剩余的这些选择中，对我来说，哪一项最重要？ Given the context you're in and the time and energy you have, the obvious next criterion for action choice is relative priority: "Out of all my remaining options, what is the most important thing for me to do?" “我怎么样来决定哪些事情是最重要的呢？”这个经常能够从与我一起工作的那些人那里听到。他们经常承担着超负荷的工作量，这才引发了这个问题。他们很清楚，必须做出一些十分艰难的选择，有一些事情也许他们根本办不到。 "How do I decide my priorities?" is a question I frequently hear from people I'm working with. It springs from their experience of having more on their plate to do than they can comfortably handle. They know that some hard choices have to be made, and that some things may not get done at all. 除非你对工作了如指掌，否则，你不可能对抉择感到胸有成竹。 It is impossible to feel good about your choices unless you are clear about what your work really is. 在一天的忙碌结束的时候，为了能够坦然地面对你未能处理的那些事情，必须清醒地决定责任、目标和价值观。此外，维系人际关系的重要性也必将影响你的决策过程。 At the end of the day, in order to feel good about what you didn't get done, you must have made some conscious decisions about your responsibilities, goals, and values. That process invariably includes an often complex interplay with the goals, values, and directions of your organization and of the other significant people in your life, and with the importance of those relationships to you.

评估每日工作的 3 个标准 The Threefold Model for Evaluating Daily Work 确立事物的先后次序，也就是假设某些事情将比其他的重要。但是这种重要性是相对于什么而言的呢？在这种情况下，答案就是相对于你的工作而言，即从你自己以及从其他人那里接受的工作。这就是在你思维模式中引入下面两种框架的原因了。它们就是定义你的工作的。请记住，尽管这一方法论多数应用在你职业关注的焦点区域，但是，我使用的“工作” 一词是从普遍意义上讲的。它涵盖了你所承诺的要促成的一切事情，无论是个人生活还是从职业的角度来考虑。 Setting priorities assumes that some things will be more important than others, but important relative to what? In this context, the answer is, to your work—that is, the job you have accepted from yourself and/or from others. This is where the next two frameworks need to be brought to

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bear in your thinking. They're about defining your work. Keep in mind that though much of this methodology will be within the arena of your professional focus, I'm using "work" in the universal sense, to mean anything you have a commitment to making happen, personally as well as professionally. 对于多数专业人士来说，日复一日的工作本身就已经成为了一种艰苦的挑战。当我们为创建一个效率杰出的管理系统而苦苦奋斗的时候，理解到上述的这一特点颇有帮助。就像我在前面曾经解释过的那样，在一天的工作中，在任何一个时间点，你所下面的 3 种活动之一： 1、处理预先明确的工作 2、处理随时出现的新工作 3、安排下一步的工作。 These days, daily work activity itself presents a relatively new type of challenge to most professionals, something that it's helpful to understand as we endeavor to build the most productive systems. As I explained earlier, during the course of the workday, at any point in time, you'll be engaged in one of three types of activities: * Doing predefined work * Doing work as it shows up * Defining your work 也许你正忙于解决行动清单上的事情，或者在对付不断冒出来的新问题，或者处理着不断输入的新信息，以决定接下来的安排，要么立刻动手，要么晚些时候再说。 You may be doing things on your action lists, doing things as they come up, or processing incoming inputs to determine what work that needs to be done, either then or later, from your lists. 这原本是一个基本常识，然而却有许多人围绕着第二项活动纠缠不休，似乎对付临时任务更容易一些，而对其他两项置之不理。这种做法对他们大为不利。 This is common sense. But many people let themselves get wrapped around the second activity—dealing with things that show up ad hoc—much too easily, and let the other two slide, to their detriment. 比如，星期一上午 10 点 16 分你正在办公室里。你刚刚接听了一个不期而至的电话，是一个颇有潜力的用户打来的，足足谈了半个小时，你还草草地做了长达 3 页的记录。11 点时，也就是半个小时后，你还有一个预定的员工会议需要参加。头一天晚上，你陪岳父母一同外出了，直到现在还感觉有些头晕脑涨、精神不振。（你告诉你的岳父说，你今天要给他带回什么东西来着？）你的助手刚刚把 6 个电话留言在了你的面前。两天后，你还要参加一个战略决策会议，而你还没有的思路和想法呢。今天早上，在你开车上班的路上，汽油表的警告灯亮了。早些时候，当你在大厅遇到你的老板的时候，她向你暗示，在今天正午 3 点的会议之前她找你谈谈，你对她昨天通过电子邮件发给你的备忘录有什么感想。 Let's say it's 10:26 A.M. Monday, and you're in your office. You've just ended a half-hour unexpected phone call with a prospective client. You have three pages of scribbled notes from the conversation. There's a meeting scheduled with your staff at eleven, about half an hour from now. You were out late last night with your spouse's parents and are still a little frayed around the edges (you told your father-in-law you'd get back to him about. . .what?). Your assistant just laid six telephone messages in front of you. You have a major strategic-planning session coming up in two

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days, for which you have yet to formulate your ideas. The oil light in your car came on as you drove to work this morning. And your boss hinted as you passed her earlier in the hall that she'd like your thoughts on the memo she e-mailed you yesterday, before this afternoon's three o'clock meeting. 在星期一上午 10 点 26 分时，你的系统是不是已经建立起来了，能够最大限度地支持你应付这个局面呢？如果你仍然把某些情况存在头脑之中，如果你仍然在苦苦挣扎，试图拼命抓住你清单中“最关键性”的问题，那么我认为答案便是否定的。 Are your systems set up to maximally support dealing with this reality, at 10:26 on Monday morning? If you're still keeping things in your head, and if you're still trying to capture only the "critical" stuff on your lists, I suggest that the answer is no. 我已经注意到了，对于某些尚未明了的问题，人们在其组织、管理、回顾检查以及评估时往往感到不能得心应手，反而更容易对付那些突发的、迫在眉睫的事情。人们不知不就卷入了“忙碌”和“紧急”之中无法自拔，特别是当你的办公桌、电子邮箱以及大脑中到处充斥着没有解决的问题时。 I've noticed that people are actually more comfortable dealing with surprises and crises than they are taking control of processing, organizing, reviewing, and assessing that part of their work that is not as self-evident. It's easy to get sucked into "busy" and "urgent" mode, especially when you have a lot of unprocessed and relatively out-of-control work on your desk, in your e-mail, and on your mind. 通常，你更容易被卷入到随时冒出来的紧急情况之中，而不是按部就班地去处理你的工作篮、电子邮件和其他悬而未决的问题。 It is often easier to get wrapped up in the urgent demands of the moment than to deal with your in-basket, e-mail, and the rest of your open loops. 事实上，在我的生活和工作中，大多数事情都是在一瞬间冒出来的，通常它们都自然而然地成为了最为紧迫的事情。这对于某些专业人士来说，没有一点的夸张。因为他们的工作性质要求他们能够当机立断地处理那些突然冒出来的新工作和新问题。比如，当你的老板希望几分钟的时间，你就必须予以关注。一位高级管理人员要求你处理某个紧急情况，这一下打乱了你一天的工作安排，成了头等大事。在执行一位大客户的订单时，你发现了一个严重的问题，你不得不立即把情况搞清楚。 In fact, much of our life and work just shows up in the moment, and it usually becomes the priority when it does. It's indeed true for most professionals that the nature of their job requires them to be instantly available to handle new work as it appears in many forms. For instance, you need to pay attention to your boss when he shows up and wants a few minutes of your time. You get a request from a senior executive that suddenly takes precedence over anything else you thought you needed to do today. You find out about a serious problem with fulfilling a major customer's order, and you have to take care of it right away. 这些紧急的决断都是可以理解的。然而，当你没有对清单上的其他工作进行检查，重新审议时，你的焦虑情绪就会不断增加了。清单上定义出的工作接二连三地被牺牲掉，而只有当你清楚地认识哪些工作还没有完成时，才可能忍受这种牺牲。这就要求对工作篮进行定期

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处理明确你的工作，并且始终坚持检查预定工作的完整清单。 These are all understandable judgment calls. But the angst begins to mount when the other actions on your lists are not reviewed and renegotiated by you or between you and everyone else. The constant sacrifices of not doing the work you have defined on your lists can be tolerated only if you know what you're not doing. That requires regular processing of your in-basket (defining your work) and consistent review of complete lists of all your predetermined work. 如果在出现某些突发事件时立即动手解决，而不是按部就班地按照清单逐项地办理，如果你的选择是根据你的头脑作出的清醒决定，那么你就已经尽你所能地发挥出了最佳水平。然而，大多数人在如何阐明、管理以及重议能力方面还有特进一步提高。如果让自己陷入各种突发事件当中，同时又对没能那些事情仍然耿耿于怀，你一定会精神沮丧、焦虑不安。人们经常将压力和效率低归罪于这些“意外的事件”。但如果你清楚地认识到目前的行动和尚未能实施的任务，那么意外事件也就成为了你发挥创造力，展示个人才能的一个好机会。 If choosing to do work that just showed up instead of doing work you predefined is a conscious choice, based on your best call, that's playing the game the best way you can. Most people, however, have major improvements to make in how they clarify, manage, and renegotiate their total inventory of projects and actions. If you let yourself get caught up in the urgencies of the moment, without feeling comfortable about what you're not dealing with, the result is frustration and anxiety. Too often the stress and lowered effectiveness are blamed on the "surprises." If you know what you're doing, and what you're not doing, surprises are just another opportunity to be creative and excel. 如果工作篮和行动清单长时间地遭受冷落，那么，潜伏于这些事情地的某些问题，往往将在日后以紧急情况的面目浮出水面，从而进一步地增加了突发事件，简直就是火上浇油。 In addition, when the in-basket and the action lists get ignored for too long, random things lying in them tend to surfacen as emergencies later on, adding more ad hoc work-as-it-shows-up to fuel the fire. 许多人借口处理这些几乎是不间断地出现的、而且必须立即采取对策的事件，逃避他们自己应该安排、管理全部工作清单的责任。当你对个人管理系统失去控制力的时候，往往经不住诱惑，去应付手头上那些并非十分重要的事情，并以此为借口逃避堆积如山的工作。 Many people use the inevitablity of an almost infinite stream of immediately evident things to do as a way to avoid the responsibilities of defining their work and managing their total inventory. It's easy to get seduced into not-quite-so-critical stuff that is right at hand, especially if your in-basket and your personal organization are out of control. Too often "managing by wandering around" is an excuse for getting away from amorphous piles of stuff. 这也就是为什么我们需要“知识工作”规则的原因所在。当今世界要求人们规定工作的界限，管理和控制数量庞大的悬而未决的事务，但大多数人并没有在这种环境中成熟成长起来。一旦你培养起这种技能和习惯，对输入的信息进行加工处理，并输送到一个界定严格的系统中去，你就能够更加信赖判断，哪些事情应该去做，哪些应该立刻停办理，而转做其他的工作。 This is where the need for knowledge-work athletics really shows up. Most people did not grow up in a world where defining the edges of work and managing huge numbers of open loops were

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required. But when you've developed the skill and, habits of processing input rapidly into a rigorously defined system, it becomes much easier to trust your judgment calls about the dance of what to do, what to stop doing, and what to do instead. 随时平衡的做法 The Moment-to-Moment Balancing Act 当你已经处于“黑带水平”时，你可以像闪电一样从一只脚转换到另一只脚，并再次回到原位，比如，当你处理工作篮时，助手走进来，告诉你有一个情况需要你立刻处理一下。别着急！你的那份工作还在那里，连同其他所有需要处理的事件堆放在一起，当你回来时还可以随手捡起来。在你打电话的等候空隙中，可以扫一眼你的行动清单，了解一下打完电话后可以着手办理的下一步工作。当你等候会议开始时，可以下你随身携带的“阅读/回顾”文件袋。当你与老板的谈话打乱你原有的安排，让你去参加下一个会议前的时间缩短到 12 分钟时，你仍然可以不费力地把一段时间的功效发挥得淋漓尽致。 At the black-belt level, you can shift like lightning from one foot to the other and back again. While you're processing your in-basket, for example, your assistant comes in to tell you about a situation that needs immediate attention. No sweat—your tray is still there, with everything still to be processed in one stack, ready to be picked up again when you can get back to it. While you're on hold on the phone, you can be reviewing your action lists and getting a sense of what you're going to do when the call is done. While you wait for a meeting to start, you can work down the "Read/Review" stack you've brought with you. And when the conversation you weren't expecting with your boss shrinks the time you have before your next meeting to twelve minutes, you can easily find a way to use that window to good advantage.

对突发事件置若罔闻（即使有可能做到这一点），这好比在一个缺乏机遇、丧失主动性和多样性的空间里生活，而它们才是构成“生活”的真正元素。 ——（Stephen Covey） To ignore the unexpected (even if it were possible) would be to live without opportunity, spontaneity, and the rich moments of which "life" is made. —Stephen Covey 当然你一次只能完成这些工作中的一项内容。如果你停下手头的工作，与办公室中的某一个人攀谈起来，你就无法解决清单上的工作或者处理刚刚出现的情况。这时富于挑战性的问题便是：对自己作出的决定充满信心。 You can do only one of these work activities at a time. If you stop to talk to someone in his or her office, you're not working off your lists or processing incoming stuff. The challenge is to feel confident about what you have decided to do. 那么你应该怎样决定呢？这再一次牵扯到你的直觉。与其他工作相比，这件出乎预料的事情有多么重要呢？你能够在多长时间内容忍工作篮不闻不问，对应该检查的工作置若罔闻，却仍然相信自己所做的一切决策都是正确而明智的呢？ So how do you decide? This again will involve your intuitive judgments—how important is the unexpected work, against all the rest? How long can you let your in-basket go unprocessed and all your stuff unreviewed and trust that you're making good decisions about what to do?

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人们常常抱怨说是接二连三的干扰阻碍了他们完成工作。然而，在现实生活中干扰和打断原本就是难以避免的。当你能够熟练地“消灭”掉刚刚冒出来的新问题，并且将组织管理工作落实到位，充分地利用随时出现的“不可思议的时间空隙”时，你就能够敏捷地周旋于一个又一个任务之中。比如，你可以在等待电话会议接通的时间里浏览一下电子邮件。但是你必须要学会在多种不同的工作之间跳跃，保持一种健康的平衡。你还可以根据你对工作性质和认识程度加以校正和调整。 People often complain about the interruptions that prevent them from doing their work. But interruptions are unavoidable in life. When you become elegant at dispatching what's coming in and are organized enough to take advantage of the "weird time" windows that show up, you can switch between one task and the other rapidly. You can be processing e-mails while you're on hold on a conference call. But you must learn to dance among many tasks to keep a healthy balance of your workflow. Your choices will still have to be calibrated against your own clarity about the nature and goals of your work. 应付意外事件的是你的竞争优势。但是如果你无法加紧弥补耽误的工作，使局势处于你的控制之下，而仅仅被手头上的工作纠缠不清，这将严重地损害你的工作成效。为了弄清楚是否应该停止手上的工作而去处理其他的事情，你需要对这项工作的要求以及如何将它融入其他场合中心中有数。而可以达到这一水准的惟一就是：立足于多个层面，对生活和工作进行正确的评估。 Your ability to deal with surprise is your competitive edge. But at a certain point, if you're not catching up and getting things under control, staying busy with only the work at hand will undermine your effectiveness. And ultimately, in order to know whether you should stop what you're doing and do something else, you'll need to have to have a good sense of what your job requires and how that fits into the other contexts of your life. The only way you can have that is to evaluate your life and work appropriately at multiple horizons. 当特殊的情况出现时，去解决它们。这并不是因为在这条道路上的抵触情绪最少，而是因为相对于其他的事情而言，这是你最需要处理的问题。 Do ad hoc work as it shows up, not because it is the path of least resistance, but because it is the thing you need to do, vis-à-vis all the rest.

回顾检查的 6 个层次 The Six-Level Model for Reviewing Your Own Work 我们已经在第 2 章里讨论过，工作中的 6 个层次可以参照高度进行考虑： 1、 5 万英尺以上：生活 2、 4 万英尺：3~5 年的计划 3、 3 万英尺：1~2 年的目标 4、 2 万英尺：责任范围 5、 1 万英尺：当前的工作 6、跑道：目前的行动 The six levels of work as we saw in chapter 2 (pages 51-53) may be thought of in terms of altitude: * 50,000+feet: Life * 40,000 feet: Three- to five-year visions

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* 30,000 feet: One- to two-year goals * 20,000 feet: Areas of responsibility * 10,000 feet: Current projects * Runway: Current actions 其中每一个层次都应该不断地提高，并与上一级一脉相承。换句话说，所有的事宜应该在这个等级中自上而下地排列。如果你打算打某个电话，而这与你的生活目标或者价值观发生冲突，这时你应该毫不迟疑地维护自己所立场，取消这个行动。如果你的工作安排与你所设立的目标背道而驰，如果你真心希望快速有效地达到目标，就应该重新定义重点和意图。 It makes sense that each of these levels should enhance and align with the ones above it. In other words, your priorities will sit in a hierarchy from the top down. Ultimately, if the phone call you're supposed to make clashes with your life purpose or values, to be in sync with yourself you won't make it. If your job structure doesn't match up with where you need to be a year from now, you should rethink how you've framed your areas of focus and responsibilities, if you want to get where you're going most efficiently. 让我们一起来看一下有关由下至上管理方法的第一个实例。你需要打的这个电话（行动）事关你目前加紧促成的一批生意（工作）。这个电话关系到提高你的销售数量（责任）。这批生意可能是你在销售方面有所进展和突破（工作目标）的一个良机。因为你所在的公司渴望进军这个全新的市场领域（机构的前景）。这将促使你在经济和事业不断地接近你奋斗追求的目标（生活）。 Let's look at that first example from the bottom up. The phone call you need to make (action) is about the deal you're working on (project), which would increase sales (responsibility). This particular deal would give you the opportunity to move up in the sales force (job goal) because of the new market your company wants to penetrate (organization vision). And that would get you closer to the way you want to be living, both financially and professionally (life).

你的工作是发现你的工作，然后全身心地投入基中 ——佛（这个有点恶） Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it. —Buddha 换一个角度来看，你已经下定决心打算成为自己的老板，发挥你在某一领域中得天独厚的资源和才能。因此，你自己开创了一番事业（前景），并制定了短期内的几个具体的目标（工作目标）。这赋予你一些重要的角色去担当。同时，还需要即刻取得某些成效（工作）。只要时机成熟，以上这些工作的每一项都要求你采取一些具体的措施（下一步行动）。 Or, from the other direction, you've decided that you want to be your own boss and unlock some of your unique assets and talents in a particular area that resonates with you (life). So you create a business for yourself (vision), with some short-term key operational objectives (job goal). That gives you some critical roles you need to fulfill to get it rolling (responsibility), with some immediate outcomes to achieve (projects). On each of those projects you'll have things you need to do, as soon as you can do them (next actions). 达到成功境界最健康的方法，莫过于全面平衡地管理好各个层面的事务。无论处于哪一

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层次，关键在于立即找出所有不完善的地方以及承诺的责任。如果你不能做到全面地接受现实情况，缺乏对其进行客观的评价，那么，抛开缰绳、奔向彼岸就永远不会是一件轻松的事情。你的自动应答机中都存储了哪些内容？你为孩子制订了哪些计划？你在办公室中的岗位职责包括哪些内容？在今后的几个月或者几年内，激励你革新或者引发你创造的动力是什么呢？这些都是埋藏在你心里尚未问题，尽管人们往往需要进行更深层次的挖掘和透彻的反省才可能确立更为远大的目标，捕捉到内心深处微妙的意向。 The healthiest approach for relaxed control and inspired productivity is to manage all the levels in a balanced fashion. At any of these levels, it's critical to identify all the open loops, all the incompletions, and all the commitments that you have right now, as best you can. Without an acceptance and an objective assessment of what's true in the present, it's always difficult to cast off for new shores. What's on your answering machine? What are your projects relative to your kids? What are you responsible for in the office? What's pushing on you to change or attracting you to create in the next months or years? These are all open loops in your psyche, though often it takes deeper and more introspective processes to identify the bigger goals and subtler inclinations. 洞察生活中的真实状况是一件令人不可思议的事情，对现实情况的正确观察所能带来的神奇作用总是令我为之震惊。检查一下个人经济状况的细节，搞清楚你打算购买的这个公司的历史资料，或者在一起人际关系的纠纷中了解一下到底谁对谁说了哪些话，即使无法立竿见影地解决问题，也会对你大有帮助。 There is magic in being in the present in your life. I'm always amazed at the power of clear observation simply about what's going on, what's true. Finding out the exact details of your personal finances, clarifying the historical data about the company you're buying, or getting the facts about who really said what to whom in an interpersonal conflict can be constructive, if not downright healing.

取得成功的最佳场所是你目前的位置以及现在的工作。 ——Charles Schwab The best place to succeed is where you are with what you have. —Charles Schwab 把事情搞定，并且对此感觉良好。这意味着心甘情愿地去认知和管理进入你意识的所有事物。要想掌握摆脱压力、提高效率的艺术，这一点是不可缺少的。 Getting things done, and feeling good about it, means being willing to recognize, acknowledge, and appropriately manage all the things that have your consciousness engaged. Mastering the art of stress-free productivity requires it. 自上而下地开始工作 Working from the Bottom Up 为了能够对你的生活进行高效的调整，不妨尝试从上至下开启思维：想一想，为什么你存在于这个星球上？弄明白什么样的生活和工作方式最有助于你圆满地履行这个合同？哪种类型的人际关系有助于推动这个方向的进程？目前需要把哪些事情落实到位？采取哪些措施后，才能够启动对上面每一个问题的回答？ In order to create productive alignment in your life, you could quite reasonably start with a clarification from the top down. Decide why you're on the planet. Figure out what kind of life and

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work and life-style would best allow you to fulfill that contract. What kind of job and personal relationships would support that direction? What key things would you need to put in place and make happen right now, and what could you do physically as soon as possible, to kick-start each of those? 你永远不会缺乏阐明任何重要问题的机会。多关注那个召唤你需要的方面。 You're never lacking in opportunities to clarify your priorities at any level. Pay attention to which horizon is calling you. 实际上，在任何时候，你都可以接近于任何一个层面的。我总在手头上准备一些可能强化我对各个层面关注的事情。我从不缺乏需要展望的前景，有待重新估价的目标，等候确认或者创建的工作。窍门就是学会如何在恰当的时候对必要的工作予以关注，坚持确保你和你的系统处于平衡状态。 In truth, you can approach your priorities from any level, at any time. I always have something that I could do constructively to enhance my awareness and focus on each level. I'm never lacking in more visions to elaborate, goals to reassess, projects to identify or create, or actions to decide on. The trick is to learn to pay attention to the ones you need to at the appropriate time, to keep you and your systems in balance. 因为所有的事情最终将受到高一级层面中重要问题的推动，因此，首先在较高层面明确事务的优劣主次是最为有效的方法。比如，如果你花费了大量的时间来区分各项工作的次序，随后才发现这个排序未能体现你原有的意图，你很可能“已经”浪费掉了宝贵的时间和精力。而这些时间和精力原本是可以用来定义另一个渴望完成的工作。问题在于：在实施阶段，如果你感觉不到自己对控制力的话，在内心深处缺乏对自身管理能力的信任感，在这种情况下，由上而下的自我管理往往导致沮丧和郁闷。 Because everything will ultimately be driven by the priorities of the level above it, any formulation of your priorities would obviously most efficiently begin at the top. For example, if you spend time prioritizing your work and then later discover that it's not the work you think you ought to be doing, you may have "wasted" time and energy that could have been better spent defining the next job you really want. The problem is that without a sense of control at the implementation levels (current projects and actions), and without inner trust in your own ability to manage those levels appropriately, trying to manage yourself from the top down often creates frustration. 当底层已经陷入失控时，仍然试图按照由上而下的顺序，将有可能成为效率最为低下的方法。 Trying to manage from the top down, when the bottom is out of control, may be the least effective approach. 从一个实用的角度来分析，我建议从下至上地加以推行。我曾经从方向指导和价值待续两个角度对客户进行培训。说实话，让一个人首先紧紧控制住他或者她当前生活中的一切细节，然后再以此为基础，提升工作重点，这种做法效果更显著。 From a practical perspective, I suggest going from the bottom up instead. I've coached people from both directions, and in terms of lasting value, I can honestly say that getting someone in control of the details of his or her current physical world, and then elevating the focus from there,

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has never missed. 从下至上开展工作的主要理由是，它首先帮助你充分作好精神准备，允许你把创造力聚集于那些意义更加深远的前景上。而确认这些诱人的展望很可能是对你自身一个十分艰巨的挑战。此外，这种方法具有高度的灵活性和自由度它包括一个思考和组织管理的过程。无论针对什么问题，这个实践过程都具有普遍意义和良好的效果。因此，无论你目前从事何种工作，这种方法都是值得学习和借鉴的。改变你的想法吧！这种管理程序有助于你以最快捷的速度调整一切。认识到自己具有这种能力，无疑为你大干一番事业亮起了绿灯，令人力量倍增。 The primary reason to work from this bottom-up direction is that it clears the psychic decks to begin with, allowing your creative attention to focus on the more meaningful and elusive visions that you may need to challenge yourself to identify. Also, this particular method has a high degree of flexibility and freedom, and it includes a thinking and organizing practice that is universal and effective no matter what it's focused on. That makes it worth learning, no matter what the actual content you're dealing with at the moment may be. Change your mind, and this process will help you adjust with maximum speed. And knowing that you have that ability will give you permission to play a bigger game. It's truly empowering. “五万英尺以下层次”，显而易见地成了人们确立事务次序时最为重要的区域。但是经验告诉我，当我们理解和实施在各个层面所承担的工作时（特别是跑道和 1 万英尺以下的事情），我们可以获得更大的自由度、更丰富的资源，以开展我们渴求的更加重要的工作。尽管自下而上的管理方法并不是一个重要的优先概念，但从实践的角度来看，这是人们在力求达到平衡、高效和舒适的生活水准时，起关键作用的因素。 While the "50,000-foot level" is obviously the most important context within which to set priorities, experience has shown me that when we understand and implement all the levels of work in which we are engaged, especially the runway and 10,000-foot levels, we gain greater freedom and resources to do the bigger work that we're all about. Although a bottom-up approach is not a key conceptual priority, from a practical perspective it's a critical factor in achieving a balanced, productive, and comfortable life.

跑道：首先你需要保证行动清单完整无缺，这本身就可能是一项十分艰巨的任务。那些专注于收集和落实这些行动的人发现，有许多的事情早就被他们放错了位置或者干脆被彻底忽视了。 Runway The first thing to do is make sure your action lists are complete, which in itself can be quite a task. Those who focus on gathering and objectifying all of those items discover that there are many they've forgotten, misplaced, or just not recognized. 如果除了你的日程安排以外，你归纳出的各种行动和等待事宜少于 50 件（其中包括有关各种人员和会议的安排），那么我就对你是否网罗到全部的资料深表怀疑了。如果你完全遵循了第 2 章中我建议的各个步骤和做法，你可能已经对它们有所了解了。如果没有，而且你真诚地希望将这个层面上的活动保持在最新的状态，那么请你留出一定的时间，实践第 4 章至第 6 章的内容。 Aside from your calendar, if you don't have at least fifty next actions and waiting-fors, including all the agendas for people and meetings, I would be skeptical about whether you really had all of

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them. If you've followed through rigorously with the steps and suggestions in part 2, though, you may have them already. If not, and you do want to get this level up-to-date, set aside some time to work through chapters 4 through 6 in real implementation mode. 当你完全能够控制住当前的局面时，你就自然地对这一时刻的优先事项有一种深刻的认识，这种认识你几乎不能从其它渠道感悟至。 When you've finished getting this level of control current, you'll automatically have a more grounded sense of immediate priorities, which is almost impossible to achieve otherwise. 1 万英尺完成你的“工作”清单。这个清单是不是你所承诺的一切需要一步以上才能够搞定的事情呢？这将限定每周工作的分界线，允许你的思维活动享受更久的间歇时间。 10,000 Feet Finalize your "Projects" list. Does it truly capture all the commitments you have that will require more than one action to get done? That will define the boundaries of the kind of week-to-week operational world you're in and allow you to relax your thinking for longer intervals. 掌握当前各个层面工作的完整目录，将自然地产生更清晰的工作重点、更全面的合作以及更强烈的优先感。 Taking the inventory of your current work at all levels will automatically produce greater focus, alignment, and sense of priorities. 如果你规划了一个完整的清单，涵盖了你在这个层次的工作和生活中希望达到的所有目标，你将发现还存在一些需要解决、但你以前未能认识到的事情。仅仅创建起这个具有客观性的行动目录，就可以为你的闲暇时间决定下面的行动提供一个更为坚实的基础。每当人们更新“工作”清单后，很快就会发现，他们所关心的某些事情的处理时机已经到了。 If you make a complete list of all of the things you want to have happen in your life and work at this level, you'll discover that there are actions you need to do that you hadn't realized. Just creating this objective inventory will give you a firmer basis on which to make decisions about what to do when you have discretionary time. Invariably when people get their "Projects" list up-to-date, they discover there are several things that could be done readily to move things they care about forward. Very few people have this clear data defined and available to themselves in some objective form. Before any discussion about what should be done this afternoon can take place, this information must be at hand. 再重申一次，如果始终坚持将本书中的方法论贯彻于实践工作中，你的“工作”清单便会在需要时大显身手。对于我们培训的大多数用户来说，他们通常在花费 10-15 小时来完成收集、加工处理和组织管理阶段的任务后，就能够完全地依赖于活动目录的完整性了。 Again, if you've been putting into practice the methodology of Getting Things Done, your "Projects" list will be where it needs to be. For most of our coaching clients, it takes ten to fifteen hours of collecting, processing, and organizing to get to the point of trusting the thoroughness of their inventory.

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2 万英尺这一层次是“当前工作的责任范围”。从职业的角度来讲，这关系到你当前的位置和工作。从个人角度来看，它在家庭、社区中所充当的角色，以及你作为一个发挥个体所承担的责任。 20,000 Feet This is the level of "current job responsibilities." What are the "hats" you wear? Professionally, this would relate to your current position and work. Personally, it would include the roles you've taken on in your family, in your community, and of course with yourself as a functioning person. 也许你已经明确了其中的某些角色并。如果你最近刚刚接任了一个新职位，而这个责任区域存在着新的协议或者合同，这一定会是一个良好的开端。如果你在过去已经参与了阐明价值观的培训，此后又增添了一些新的内容，那么把它们补充进去。 You may have some of these roles already defined and written out. If you've recently taken a new position and there's an agreement or contract about your areas of responsibility, that would certainly be a good start. If you've done any kind of personal goal-setting and values-clarifying exercises in the past and still have any materials you created then, add those to the mix. 下面我建议你设立并保持一个叫“重点区域”的清单。一般它都会被进一步划分为有关 “职业方面”和“个人方面”的两个次级清单。这是你为自我管理模式所建立起来的用途最大的核查清单之一。它不像“工作”清单那样要求你进行每周一次的检查和调整；很有可能，回顾的时间间隔较长时，反而能够发挥更强的功效。根据生活和工作中重要区域变化的速度，可以每隔 3 个月的时间启动各项潜在的新工作。 Next I recommend that you make and keep a list called "Areas of Focus." You might like to separate this into "Professional" and "Personal" sublists, in which case you'll want to use them both equally for a consistent review This is one of the most useful checklists you can create for your own self-management. It won't require the kind of once-a-week recalibration that the "Projects" list will; more likely it will have meaning on a longer recursion cycle. Depending on the speed of change in some of the more important areas of your life and work, this should be used as a trigger for potential new projects every one to three months. 如果你对你的工作缺乏十足的把握，那么，它总会让你感到难以招架。 If you're not totally sure what your job is, it will always feel overwhelming. 大概在你的工作中存着 4~7 个关键性的责任区域，在个人生活领域中，数目也大致如此。你的工作可能员工培训、系统设计、长期计划、行政支持、市场营销和时间安排的有关事宜或者负责设备、计划实施、质量监测、资产管理等的工作。如果你自己经营企业，那么你所需要关注的将远远多于你在某个机构中负责某项专门工作时的数量。在你生活的其他方面很可能还包括一些焦点区域，如教育子女、与人合作、教堂、健康、社区服务、家政、财务管理、自我发展、创造性表达等。 You probably have somewhere between four and seven key areas of responsibility in your work, and a similar number personally. Your job may include things like staff development, systems design, long-range planning, administrative support, marketing, and scheduling, or responsibility for facilities, fulfillment, quality control, asset management, and so on. If you're your own business, your attention will be on many more areas than if you have a very specialized function in a large organization. The rest of your life might entail areas of focus such as parenting, partnering,

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church, health, community service, home management, financial management, self-development, creative expression, and so forth. 设置“重点区域”的目的在于确保所有的工作和下一步行动都得到明确的界定，这样一来，你可以恰到好处地管理各个责任范畴。如果你打算逐项当前的行动和今后的计划并进行客观的评价，那么你一定会挖掘出一些需要添加到“工作”清单中的新内容。当回顾检查这个清单时，也许你认为某些区域的运转一切正常；也许会再一次认识到某个区域中的某种情况长久以来一直在“困扰”你，应该立刻为此设立专题进行解决。还记得我们以前提到过的“启动装置”的清单吗？实际上，“重点区域”只不过是“启动装置”清单的一个更加抽象和精练的翻版。 The operational purpose of the "Areas of Focus" list is to ensure that you have all your projects and next actions defined, so you can manage your responsibilities appropriately. If you were to create an accounting of those and evaluate them objectively, in terms of what you're doing and should be doing, you'll undoubtedly uncover projects you need to add to your "Projects" list. You may, in reviewing the list, decide that some areas are just fine and are being taken care of. Then again, you may realize that something has been "bugging" you in one area and that a project should be created to shore it up. "Areas of Focus" is really just a more abstract and refined version of the "Triggers" list we covered earlier. 在过去的 20 年中，我所培训的每一个客户在有关这一层面的交谈中至少挖掘出一个重要的漏洞。比如，一位经理或者行政管理者经常顶着的“帽子”就是“员工培训”。经过反思，大多数人认识到，他们需要在这个领域增添一两项内容，如“更新回顾业绩的程序”。 Every client I have coached in the last twenty years has uncovered at least one important gap at this level of discussion. For instance, a common "hat" a manager or executive wears is "staff development." Upon reflection, most realize they need to add a project or two in that area, such as "Upgrade our performance-review process." 针对“重要程度”开展的讨论，必须包含你与其他人在这一层次上达成的一致。如果这个“工作状况描述”的核查清单已经完全到位，而且时效性强，你会感到更加放松。 A discussion of "priorities" would have to incorporate all of these levels of current agreements between yourself and others. If you get this "job description" checklist in play and keep it current, you'll probably be more relaxed and in control than most people in our culture. It will certainly go a long way toward moving you from hope to trust as you make the necessary on-the-run choices about what to do. 3 万~5 万英尺以上前面 3 个较低层面主要针对的是事物当前的状态——你的各种行动、工作、责任区，由此向上主要涉及的则是指导方向和目标取向方面的问题。在这一高度上，我们还需要考虑一个行动目录，但是其内容更倾向于“我目前的哪些行动有助于达到我的预期目标，以及我如何才能实现这个目标呢？”这个目录范围广泛。在职业生涯中，为你的工作从 1 年期的目标（3 万英尺）到 3 年期的预测；而在你个人领域中，涉及从个人纯收益（4 万英尺）到凭直觉判断你的生活目的，以及如何最为有效地体现出这个目标来（5 万英尺以上） 30,000 to 50,000+ Feet Whereas the three lower levels have mostly to do with the current state of things—your actions, projects, and areas of responsibility—from here up the factors of the future

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and your direction and intentions are primary. There is still an inventory to take at these plateaus, but it's more about "What is true right now about where I've decided I'm going and how I'm going to get there?" This can range from one-year goals in your job ("30,000 feet") to a three-year vision for your career and personal net worth ("40,000 feet") to intuiting your life purpose and how to maximize its expression ("50,000+ feet"). 当你无法确信自己的目标时，你永远不可能清楚什么时候可以感到满足。 When you're not sure where you're going, you'll never know when enough is enough. 我把最上面的 3 个层次合并在一起，是因为把这些层面分门别类地挑选出来并非是一件容易的事。此外，既然本书重点是实施技巧，而不是如何定义目标和前景，因此，我不这里进行严格的测试。这个调查可能贯穿到一些复杂的潜在领域，包括商业战略、机构拓展、事业规划、生活方向和价值取向。 I'm blending the three uppermost levels together here because situations often can't easily be pigeonholed into one or another of these categories. Also, since Getting Things Done is more about the art of implementation than about how to define goals and vision, I won't offer a rigorous examination here. But by its very nature this investigation can broach potentially deep and complex arenas, which could include business strategy, organization development, career planning, and life direction and values. 我们的主要目的在于，抓住那些引发行动的原始动机。你的进取方向和目标是否应该改变，根据深刻的思考、分析和直觉，这可以成为另一个讨论的话题。很可能你就可以发现一些情况，它们有助于对当前的工作及其重要性的看法。 For our purposes, the focus is on capturing what motivators exist for you in current reality that determine the inventory of what your work actually is, right now. Whether your directions and goals should be changed—based on deeper thinking, analysis, and intuition—could be another discussion. Even so, there are probably some things you can identify right now that can help you get current in your own thinking about your work and what's important in it. 凭直觉想象一下 12~18 月后可能出现的画面，那时你的工作会是什么样的？会引发什么样的变化？在这个难以捉摸的层面上，也许你应该放弃某些个人方面的事情，也许某些人际关系和系统应该得到逐步的发展和完善，以促成这种转变。今天的职场变幻莫测，工作自身也是个变化无常的目标，为了使你能够保持勃勃生机，也许有些工作需要得到界定。 If you were to intuitively frame a picture of what you think you might be doing twelve to eighteen months from now, or what the nature of your job will look like at that point, what would that trigger? At this level, which is subtler, there may be things personally you need to let go of, and people and systems that may need to be developed to allow the transition. And as the job itself is a moving target, given the shifting sands of the professional world these days, there may need to be projects defined to ensure viability of the outputs in your area. 在个人生活的圈子里，你希望考虑这样一些事情，如：我的事业可能停滞不前，除非我向老板阐明我个人的志向；明年我的孩子打算从事哪些新活动，而我需要为此改变哪些原有的作法；还有我需要进行哪些准备才能保证我可以应付刚刚发现的健康问题。 In the personal arena, this is where you would want to consider things like: "My career is going to

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stagnate unless I assert my own goals more specifically to my boss (or my boss's boss)." Or "What new things are my children going to be doing next year, and what do I need to do differently because of that?" Or "What preparation do I need to ensure that I can deal with this health problem we've just uncovered?" 你很可能从一个更长远的角度来评估：事业发展到何种程度了？个人生活进展如何？对于市场环境的种种变化，你的公司采取了哪些应对措施，这对于你个人有何种影响？这些是 1 年~5 年层面的问题。当我提出这个问题时，每个人的回答都是不同的，但意义同样的重大。 Through a longer scope you might assess: How is your career going? How is your personal life moving along? What is your organization doing relative to changes in the environment, and what impact does that have on you? These are the one-to-five-year-horizon questions that, when I ask them, elicit different and important kinds of answers from everyone. 不久前我培训了一位在一家大型国际银行中任职的员工。几个月来，通过实践这个管理方法，他已经完全控制了每天工作的运行状况。他认为目前投资创办自己的高科技公司的时机已经成熟了。这个想法压在他心里已经多年，但一直没有办法开始行动。但是从“跑道” 这一层面入手由下而上地一步步推进增强了这个计划的可行性，似乎一切都自然的水到渠成。 Not long ago I coached someone in a large international bank who, after a few months of implementing this methodology and getting control of his day-to-day inventory of work, decided the time was right to invest in his own start-up high-tech firm. The thought had been too intimidating for him to address initially, but working from the "runway level" up made it much more accessible and a natural consequence of thinking at this horizon. 如果你目前参与了任何一项为时 1 年以上的活动（婚姻、孩子、一项事业、一家公司、一种艺术形式），沿着这个方向思考问题，将会对你有很大的帮助。 If you're involved in anything that has a future of longer than a year (marriage, kids, a career, a company, an art form), you would do well to think about what you might need to be doing to manage things along that vector. 在这你可以向自己提出的问题是： 1、我们机构的长期目标是和目的是什么？为了履行我的责任，我需要落实哪些相关的工作？ 2、我为自己设定的长期目标和目的是什么？有哪些工作我必须首先落实呢？ 3、还发生了哪些可能影响到我有选择的重大事情呢？ Questions to ask yourself here are: * What are the longer-term goals and objectives in my organization, and what projects do I need to have in place related to them to fulfill my responsibilities? * What longer-term goals and objectives have I set for myself, and what projects do I need to have in place to make them happen? * What other significant things are happening that could affect my options about what you I'm doing? 下面是在这一层面的谈论中显露出来的一些具体问题：

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鉴于公司内部的工作重点不断的转移，你的工作性质随之发生变化。你将员工培训外包给别的公司，而不是由公司内部解决。 2、你认为事业目标是什么。你可以预测到，一年以后你将从事一份不同的工作。你需要确保在这一年中顺利地过渡，与此同时，尽力寻求调任或者升迁的其他可能性。 3、考虑到全球化和扩张的趋势，本机构的方向是什么。你预见在不久的将来，你将进行大量的跨国施旅行。考虑到你对生活方式的个人喜好，你需要思考一下如何重新调整自己的事业发展计划。 4、生活方式的喜好和不断变化的需要。当你的孩子逐渐长大，你留在家里陪伴他们的需要就会减少，同时你对投资和退休计划的兴趣却会增加。 Here are some examples of the kinds of issues that show up at this level of conversation: * The changing nature of your job, given the shifting priorities of the company. Instead of managing the production of your own training programs in-house, you're going to outsource them to vendors. * The direction in which you feel you need to move in your career. You see yourself doing a different kind of job a year from now, and you need to make a transition out of the one you have while exploring the options for a transfer or promotion. * The organization direction, given globalization and expansion. You see a lot of major international travel looming on the horizon for you, and given your life-style preferences, you need to consider how to readjust your career plans. * Life-style preferences and changing needs. As your kids get older, your need to be at home with them is diminishing, and your interest in investment and retirement planning is growing. 1、

当处于顶级层面的思维过程时，你必须提出一些最为根本的问题。你的公司为什么存在呢？你自己为什么存在呢？无论是从个人生活还是组织机构方面来说，驱使你作出选择的那种藏于你生命中的 DNA 是什么呢？这就是“大局”，有无数的书籍、教师和实例专门指导你掌握这个要素。 At the topmost level of thinking, you'll need to ask some of the ultimate questions. Why does your company exist? Why do you exist? What is the core DNA of your existence, personally and/or organizationally, that drives your choices. This is the "big picture" stuff with which hundreds of books and gurus and models are devoted to helping you grapple. “为什么呢？”这是一个重大的问题，我们每一个人都在为之奋斗。 "Why?": this is the great question with which we all struggle. 你可以明确生活和工作中其他各个层面的事务，把它们全部安排的井然有序。然而，如果在长远的大目标方面驶离了航向，你的心态私生活质量一定会受到很大影响。(奇怪的句子) You can have all the other levels of your life and work shipshape, defined, and organized to a T. Still, if you're the slightest bit off course in terms of what at the deepest level you want or are called to be doing, you're going to be uncomfortable.

把有关重要事务的思考暂时赶出大脑 Getting Priority Thinking Off Your Mind

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如果你还未动手，那么，至少抽出几分钟的时间随笔记录一些阅读本章时的心得吧。无论突然迸发出什么样的思想火花，请你把它们记录下来，然后把它们赶出你的大脑。 Take at least a few minutes, if you haven't already done so, to jot down some informal notes about things that occurred to you while you've been reading this chapter. Whatever popped into your mind at these more elevated levels of your inner radar, write it down and get it out of your head. 然后筛选处理这些备忘录。这时你必须判断一下，你所情况是否是你真心希望推进的。如果不是，就直接扔掉，或者放入“将来某时/也许”清单，或者存在一个叫“在未来某一时候，我有可能实现的梦想和目标”的目录中也许你希望继续积累这类有关未来的梦想，因此你更愿意接受较为正规的训练。比如，与你的合伙人共同草拟一份商业计划，同你的配偶一起设计并记录下来你们对一种梦想向往，为你自己今后 3 年的事业发展制定一个具体的计划，或者仅仅是聘请一个私人教练，请他引导你全盘掌握这些思考的五一节。如果是这样，你可以把结果放进“工作”清单中，判定下面的行动。接下来，要么动手落实，要么指派给别人处理，或者将行动提示信息归入恰当的清单之中。 Then process those notes. Decide whether what you wrote down is something you really want to move on or not. If not, throw the note away, or put it on a "Someday/Maybe" list or in a folder called "Dreams and Goals I Might Get Around to at Some Point." Perhaps you want to continue accumulating more of this kind of future thinking and would like to do the exercise with more formality—for example, by drafting a new business plan with your partners, designing and writing out your idea of a dream life with your spouse, creating a more specific career map for the next three years for yourself, or just getting a personal coach who can lead you through those discussions and thought processes. If so, put that outcome on your "Projects" list, and decide the next action. Then do it, hand it off to get done, or put the action reminder on the appropriate list. 完成下面的工作以后，你也许希望把工作的重心转移一下。仔细考虑到下那些已经确定了的、但还要进一步充实内容的具体工作。你要保证目前已经为那类“纵向”的思考准备就绪了。 With that done, you may want to turn your focus to developmental thinking about specific projects that have been identified but not fleshed out as fully as you'd like. You'll want to ensure that you're set up for that kind of "vertical" processing.

第 10 章创造性地思考工作 Getting Projects Under Control 从第 4 章到第 9 章中，我介绍了为清理你的大脑，并有助于你凭直觉来决定完成某件工作所需要的所有技巧和方法。这就是水平层面，你需要对生活中处于这个层面的各种事务给予关注并付出行动。我们要关注的最后一个环节是垂直层面，即深层次地挖掘创造性的思维，这将再一次精练和激励我们制定计划的过程。 CHAPTERS 4 THROUGH 9 have given you all the tricks and methods you need to clear your head and make intuitive choices about what to do when. That's the horizontal level—what needs your attention and action across the horizontal landscape of your life. The last piece of the puzzle is the vertical level—the digging deep and pie-in-the-sky thinking that can leverage your creative brainpower. That gets us back to refining and energizing our project planning.

需要更多的、非计划模式 The Need for More Informal Planning 224

当我与许多的专家学者工作多年以后，我完全可以很有把握地说：实际上，我们所有的人都可以对于工作和生活进行更随意的、更频繁的规划设计。如果我们确实这样做了，它将大大地减轻我们的精神压力，并以最小的努力换取巨大的成果。 After years of working with thousands of professionals down in the trenches, I can safely say that virtually all of us could be doing more planning, more informally and more often, about our projects and our lives. And if we did, it would relieve a lot of pressure on our psyches and produce an enormous amount of creative output with minimal effort. 我发现，在计划方面可以获得最大改善的机会并非是由那些专职的工和经理们时常使用的高度精密复杂的工程和组织管理技术（如甘特图表）得来的。大多数需要这类技术的人早已经它们，或者至少可以接受这培训，学习软件和知识。真正的需求是更多地抓住并利用我们富有创造性、预见性的思维。 I've discovered that the biggest improvement opportunity in planning does not consist of techniques for the highly elaborate and complex kinds of project organizing that professional project managers sometimes use (like GANTT charts). Most of the people who need those already have them, or at least have access to the training and software required to learn about them. The real need is to capture and utilize more of the creative, proactive thinking we do—or could do. 而缺乏这种高效的增值思维的最主要原因，就是我们缺乏一系列完善的系统。这些系统管理着我们的思考所引发出的那些潜在的、不可限量的信息。这也就是为什么我的操作方法是自下而上进行的。如果你感觉的行动计划已经失控，你就会抵制进一步细微的策划活动，产生一种下意识的退缩感。然而，当你开始应用这些方法时，你可能发现它们释放出巨大的创造力并激发了建设性思维。如果你的管理系统和工作习惯已经准备就绪，随时可以吸纳这些奇思妙想，你的工作效率就会立刻提高。 The major reason for the lack of this kind of effective value-added thinking is the dearth of systems for managing the potentially infinite amount of detail that could show up as a result. This is why my approach tends to be bottom-up. If you feel out of control with your current actionable commitments, you'll resist focused planning. An unconscious pushback occurs. As you begin to apply these methods, however, you may find that they free up enormous creative and constructive thinking. If you have systems and habits ready to leverage your ideas, your productivity can expand exponentially. 任何一项成功的工作在进行到中途时，看起来都如同一场灾难 The middle of every successful project looks like a disaster. —Rosabeth Moss Cantor 在第 3 章中，我已经详细介绍了从想法转入现实时所需要进行策划的 5 个阶段。 In chapter 3, I covered in some detail the five phases of project planning that take something from the idea stage into physical reality. 你需要建立起各种系统，运用各种技巧，来帮助你更频繁、更轻松、更深层次地思考你面对的各种情况。 You need to set up systems and tricks that get you to think about your projects and situations more

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frequently, more easily, and in more depth. 下面就是一些实用的技巧和方法，可以简化我所推荐的自然而非正式的策划程序。尽管这些建议都基于基本常识，但是人们往往没能最大限度地遵循它们。因此，你应该随时把这些想法付诸实践，而不是将它们束之高阁，等到正式会议时才手忙脚乱地端出来。 What follows is a compilation of practical tips and techniques to facilitate the natural, informal planning processes I recommend. Although these suggestions are all based on common sense, they're not followed nearly as frequently as they could be. Put them to use whenever and as often as you can, instead of saving up your thinking for big formal meetings.

你目前应该策划哪些工作呢？Which Projects Should You Be Planning? 在明确大多数任务的预期结果时，你并不需要进行某种形式的前期计划，只需要在脑子里想一下，这些事情的一步方案就会自然产生了。比如，“检查汽车”所需要的惟一计划就是查询电话本，找出最近的一家检查站的电话号码，然后打电话，约时间。 Most of the outcomes you have identified for your "Projects" list will not need any kind of front-end planning, other than the sort you do in your head, quickly and naturally, to come up with a next action on them. The only planning needed for "Get car inspected," for example, would be to decide to check the phone book for the nearest inspection location and call and set up a time. 然而，有两种类型的工作至少值得我们进行某种形式的安排策划：1、即使你已经决定了下一步行动，却仍然吸引你注意力的事务；2、还有一些情况，有关它们的具体潜在价值和帮助的想法和细节刚刚出现。 There are two types of projects, however, that deserve at least some sort of planning activity: (1) those that still have your attention even after you've determined their next actions, and (2) those about which potentially useful ideas and supportive detail just show up. 第一种类型——你知道，这些事情的其他一些方面还有特进一步的确定和安排。因此，除了明确下一步的行动，你还需要一个更加彻底的解决方法。针对这些事情，你应该进一步具体地采用自然计划模式中的另外 4 个阶段，选用一个或者多个阶段：目的和原则、前景展望/预期结果、集思广益或者组织管理。 The first type—the projects that you know have other things about them that must be decided on and organized—will need a more detailed approach than just identifying a next action. For these you'll need a more specific application of one or more of the other four phases of the natural planning model: purpose and principles, vision/outcome, brainstorming, and/or organizing. 第二种类型——有关这类事情的想法刚刚露出一个头来，特别是在海滩上、汽车中或者会议上，需要一个恰当的场所把它们统统地装进来。这样一来，这些念头可以暂时地在那里 “小住”一段时间以备不时之需。 The second type—the projects for which ideas just show up, ad hoc, on a beach or in a car or in a meeting—need to have an appropriate place into which these associated ideas can be captured. Then they can reside there for later use as needed. 某些工作的策划过程要求采取下一步的行动

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Projects That Need Next Actions About Planning 你目前大概可以想起几项工作，你希望这些计划更具体些、内容更翔实些，并且完全处于你的控制之中。也许你马上要去参加一个重要的会议，必须准备好会议日程安排以及一些相关的资料；或者你刚刚接受了一个协调合作人年会的任务，你不得不尽快地使各种组织安排到位，开始把一些具体的重要工作分派给别人；或者你需要向人力资源部门描述一下一个新职位的工作要求。如果这些工作还没完全落实，现在就开始启动每一项所需的下一个行动步骤吧。把它纳入恰当的行动清单中去，然后推进更深层次的策划。 There are probably a few projects you can think of right now, off the top of your head, that you know you want to get more objectified, fleshed out, and under control. Perhaps you have an important meeting coming up and you know you have to prepare an agenda and materials for it. Or you've just inherited the job of coordinating the annual associates' conference, and you've got to get it organized as soon as possible so you can start delegating significant pieces. Or you've got to clarify a job description for a new position on your team to give to Human Resources. If you haven't done it already, get a next action now that will start the planning process for each of these, and put it on the appropriate action list. Then proceed with further planning steps. 典型的策划步骤 Typical Planning Steps 策划步骤一般是：集思广益、组织安排、召开会议以及搜集信息。 The most common types of planning-oriented actions will be your own brainstorming and organizing, setting up meetings, and gathering information.

集思广益：有一些目前占据你注意力的工作，需要你发散思维，开动脑筋；特别是当你作出决定，又对下一步行动了解的并不完全清楚时，这种要求尤为突出。对于这些事情，你都应该传回一个下一步行动，如“关于 X 事件的草拟计划。” Brainstorming Some of the projects that have your attention right now will require you to do your own free-form thinking; this is especially true of those for which you were not clear about what the next action would be when you made that decision. These should all have a next action, such as "Draft ideas re X." 你应该决定在什么场合如何实施这一行动。只有这样，你才可能知道应该把它纳入到相关的行动清单中去。在进行这类推敲时，是在电脑上还是把它记录到纸上才能够取得最佳的呢？我很可能选择它们中的一种，这完全凭你的直觉。对于我来说，要么把它记录到“在电脑旁”清单中，要么记录在“任何地点”清单上（因为只要我手中有笔和纸，我就可以在任何地点记下我的思考过程）。 You need to decide where and how you want to do that action, in order to know which action list to put it on. Do you do this kind of thinking best on a computer, or by hand-writing your thoughts on paper? I may choose either medium, depending on what my intuition tells me. For me this next action would go either on my "At Computer" list or on "Anywhere" (because I can draw mind-maps wherever I am, as long as I have pen and paper).

组织安排：也许你已经为某些工作搜集到了足够的辅助资料，现在你只需要将它们整理一下，使存储形式趋于条理化。在这种情况下，你的下一步行动很可能像这样——“组织整理 X 计划的备忘录”。如果你必须在办公室里才能处理这件事，那这个行动就应该记在“在

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办公室时”的行动清单上；如果你把这些策划备忘录存入了文件夹和手岫中，或者是笔记本电脑中，带着它四处奔波，这时“安排管理”的行动自然可以纳入“任何地点”的清单中；如果你打算用手书写，则它可以放进“各色混杂”的行动清单中；如果你希望用一个文字处理器、绘图仪或者工作计划软件，这样“在电脑旁”清单就派上用场了。 Organizing You may have some projects for which you have already collected notes and miscellaneous support materials, and you just need to sort through them and get them into a more structured form. In this case, your next action would likely be "Organize Project X notes." If you have to be in your office to do that (because that's where the files are, and you don't want to carry them around), that action should go on your "At Office" action list. If you're carrying the project notes around with you in a folder, or in a portable organizer or on a laptop, then the "Organize ..." action would go on an "Anywhere" or "Misc." action list if you're going to do it by hand, or on "At Computer" if you're going to use a word processor, outliner, or project-planning software.

召开会议通常，当你同你希望参与策划此事的人共同开会讨论时，往往能够取得一定的进展。这常常意味着给全组人员或者一个助手发一封电邮，或者给某个关键人物一个电话来敲定一个时间。 Setting Up Meetings Often, progress will be made on project thinking when you set up a meeting with the people you'd like to have involved in the brainstorming. That usually means sending an e-mail to the whole group or to an assistant to get it calendared, or making a phone call to the first person to nail down a time. 机构团体中提高效率的最大障碍是高级管理层缺乏决策能力。为了推动事情向前发展，有没有必要召开一次会议叱？应该与谁合作呢？ One of the greatest blocks to organizational productivity is the lack of decision by a senior person about the necessity of a meeting, and with whom, to move an important issue forward.

搜集信息有时策划环节的下一项任务就是挖掘更多的资料。也许你需要同某人打电话聊一下，掌握他的情况（“给比尔打个电话，了解一下他对经理会议的看法”）; 或者你需要浏览一下你刚刚接手的有关去年会议的备忘录（“回顾有关合作人会议的历年存档资料”）；或者你希望在互联网上浏览一番，体验一下对于你当前探讨的新议题，外界存在着何种争议（“研发公司的销售管理人员的情况”）。 Gathering Information Sometimes the next task on project thinking is to gather more data. Maybe you need to talk to someone to get his or her input ("Call Bill re his thoughts on the managers' meeting"). Or you need to look through the files you just inherited from last year's conference ("Review Associate Conference archive files"). Or you want to surf the Web to get a sense of what's happening "out there" on a new topic you're exploring ("R&D search firms for sales executives"). 随心所欲的策划工作 Random Project Thinking 不要错过任何一个可能具有潜在价值的想法和创意。许多时候，当你处于一个与策划工作不相干的地点时，你头脑中冒出一些点子来。比如当你正要去商店买东西时，会突然想到一个在下次员工会议上用的绝妙念头；或者你正在做饭时，大脑中突然出现一个点子——在即将开的大会上，送给每个与会者一个精美的手提包。

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Don't lose any ideas about projects that could potentially be useful. Many times you'll think of something you don't want to forget when you're a place that has nothing to do with the project. You're driving to the store, for example, and you think of a great way that you might want to start off the next staff meeting. Or you're stirring the spaghetti sauce in the kitchen and it occurs to you that you might want to give out nice tote bags to participants in the upcoming conference. Or you're watching the evening news when you suddenly remember another key person you might want to include in the advisory council you're putting together. 如果这些事情并非是那些可以直接跃上行动清单的下一步措施，你仍然有必要捕捉它们并进行合理的安排。当然，确保收集系统万无一失的工具是：工作篮、记事本、纸片以及各种可以带在身上的这类东西。你需要保存所有的想法念头和创意，直到日后决定处置他们。 If these aren't specifically next actions that can go directly on your action lists, you'll still need to capture and organize them somewhere that makes sense. Of course the most critical tools for ensuring that nothing gets lost is your collection system—your in-basket, pad, and paper (or equivalents) at work and at home, and in a portable version (an index card) while you're out and about. You need to hold all your ideas until you later decide what to do with them.

支撑策划思考的工具和体系 Tools and Structures That Support Project Thinking 无论哪一层次的想法露头时，手头上要是拥有理想的工具可以随时把它们收纳进来。一旦你捕捉到这些想法，无论以后什么时候希望拿出来参考，都会大有用途。 No matter at what level project ideas show up, it's great to have good tools always close at hand for capturing them as they occur. Once they've been captured, it's useful to have access to them whenever you need to refer to them. 思考工具 Thinking Tools 获取想法、增强生产力的最重要的绝招之一就是利用“形式决定功效”这一哲学（良好的工具能够激发高品质的思维）。当我在机场候机时，随意把玩着掌上电脑就曾引发我最具创造力的想法！ One of the great secrets to getting ideas and increasing your productivity is utilizing the function-follows-form phenomenon—great tools can trigger good thinking. (I've come up with some of my most productive thoughts when playing with my Palm organizer in an airport, waiting for a flight!) 如果你不能立刻记录下这些东西，要想集中精神去思考某一个问题，几分钟还行，时间一长就困难了。而使用工具把思维保留下来，就能长久地听任你的思想任意驰骋。 If you aren't writing anything down, it's extremely difficult to stay focused on anything for more than a few minutes, especially if you're by yourself. But when you utilize physical tools to keep your thinking anchored, you can stay engaged constructively for hours. 运气影响一切。让你的鱼钩总是被鱼儿咬住吧，即使是在一条可能拥有最少鱼儿的小溪里。 Luck affects everything. Let your hook always be cast; in the stream where you least expect it there will be a fish.

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—Ovid

用于书面记录的工具 Writing Instruments 在手头上随时准备一些方便好用的书写工具，这样你永远不会因为缺乏工具而在潜意识里对思考产生抵触。如果不具备良好的书写工具，我就不能投入地考虑各种问题和情况。 Keep good writing tools around all the time so you never have any unconscious resistance to thinking due to not having anything to capture it with. If I don't have some thing to write with, I can sense that I'm not as comfortable letting myself think about projects and situations. 相反，有时一个绝妙主意的诞生，仅仅源于我一心想用一下我那漂亮的圆珠笔！也许你不像我这样，会受一个书写工具的驱使。但是，如果你也有这样的倾向，那就成全自己，在高质量的书写工具上进行一些投资吧。 Conversely, I have done some great thinking and planning at times just because I wanted to use my nice-looking, smooth-writing ballpoint pen! You may not be inspired by cool gear like I am, but if you are, do yourself a favor and invest in quality writing tools. 功能往往紧随形式。为自己创造出捕捉思想的良好条件，这些想法会在你意识不到时浮现出来。 Function often follows form. Give yourself a context for capturing thoughts, and thoughts will occur that you don't yet know you have. 建议你在工作台上放上几支漂亮的圆珠笔，因为你很可能希望在那里做一些记录，特别是在家中的各个电话旁。 I also suggest that you keep nice ballpoint pens at the stations where you're likely to want to take notes—particularly near the phones around your house. 纸张和记事本 Paper and Pads 除了书写工具外，还应该准备一些实用的记事本。标准记事本功效不凡，因为你可以轻松地撕下记录着想法和事情的那几页，放入你的工作篮中，直到日后有机会慢慢处理。有时你也希望保存一些天马行空的想法和念头，可以把五花八门的纸页分类存到不同的文件夹中，以免重新记录它们的麻烦。 In addition to writing tools, you should always have functional pads of paper close at hand. Legal pads work well because you can easily tear off pages with ideas and notes and toss them into your in-basket until you get a chance to process them. Also you will often want to keep some of your informal mind-maps, and you can put those separate pieces of paper in appropriate file folders without having to rewrite them. 离你最近的记事本在哪？把它们放的更近一些。 Where is your closest pad? Keep it closer. 黑板架和白板 Easels and Whiteboards 如果你有足够的空间，黑板和白板倒是非常实用的思考工具。它们为你提供了充足的空间，可以在上面草草记上几笔心头闪现的想法。此外，录你在思考某一主题时，它们还可以

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使你的想法一直活生生地展现在你的眼前。在办公室和会议室中配备一些白板将会很有用，而且越大越好。如果你有几个孩子，我建议你在他们的卧室中也装上一个。注意手中准备一些充足的水笔，当你打算在白板上写些什么的时候，却发现所有的笔都不能用了，那多让人丧气。 If you have room for them, whiteboards and/or easel pads are very functional thinking tools to use from time to time. They give you plenty of space on which to jot down ideas, and it can be useful to keep them up in front of you for while, as you incu bate on a topic. Whiteboards are great to have on a wall in your office and in meeting rooms, and the bigger the better. If you have children, I recommend that you install one in their bedrooms (I wish I'd grown up with the encouragement to have as many ideas as I could!). Be sure to keep plenty of fresh markers on hand; it's frustrating to want to start writing on a whiteboard and find that all the markers are dry and useless.

在我听到自己说话之前，我如何能够了解到我的所思所想呢？ ——E。M。Forster How do I know what I think, until I hear what I say? —E. M. Forster 每当两个人或者更多的人聚集在一起开会时，谁都可以在任何地方写上几笔，别人也可以一目了然。即使几分钟后你擦去了这些思想火花，刚才把它们记录下来的过程本身就可以加速富有建设性的思维。这令其他的工具都自叹不如。 Whenever two or more people are gathered for a meeting, someone should start writing somewhere where the other(s) can see. Even if you erase your thoughts after a few minutes, just the act of writing them down facilitates a constructive thinking process like nothing else. (I've found it immensely helpful at times to draw informal diagrams and notes on paper tablecloths, place mats, or even napkins in restaurants, if I didn't have my own pad of paper at hand.) 计算机 The Computer 我喜欢运用笔记本电脑来进行思考。当我把有得考虑的事情以某种数字模式存储起来，便于今后的编辑、剪贴以及投入各种各样的应用之中，这实在太让人振奋了。一旦启动计算机，坐在屏幕前，我发现大脑的思维就会活跃起来。这也成为另一个充分的理由：你必须掌握一定的录入和键盘操作技能，以便灵活自如地驾驭计算机，即使这不算快乐。让你的电脑充当一个思考的界面。 Many times I like to think on my laptop, in my word processor. There are so many things I might want to do later on with my thinking, and it feels terrific to already have it in some digital form for later editing and cutting and pasting into various other applications. Once I've booted up and the screen is ready in front of me, I find that thinking just automatically starts to happen. This is another good reason to ensure that your typing and keyboard skills are sufficient to make engaging with the computer at least easy, if not downright fun. Leverage your computer as a think station. 支撑结构 The Support Structures 除了拥有得心应手且无处不在的工具以外，一个可以随时猎取思考过程的模板也有利于提高效率。这就像在你的面前摆出纸和笔时可以激发你的灵感一样，拥有用于管理工作细节

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的良好的工具和地点，也同样可以加速你所需要的那种直线型的。 In addition to good tools ubiquitously at hand, it is productive to have accessible formats into which project thinking can be captured. Much as a pen and paper in front of you supports brain-storming, having good tools and places for organizing project details facilitates the more linear planning that many projects need. 根据需要创建文件夹或者活页夹 Create File Folders or Loose-Leaf Pages as Needed 一个简单而容易操作的一般性参考资料归档系统放在身边，不仅对于管理一般性工作流程来说很重要，而且对于方案策划来说也同样能有非常重要的作用。通常情况下，正是由于一些相关的数据、备忘录和资料的触动，某些方案才找到方向，也正是出于这个原因，一旦你掌握了有关某一个主题的一些信息，你就希望立刻建立起一个相关的文件夹。如果你的归档系统过于正规（或者不存在），肯定会错过许多机会，你以你完全可以在早期阶段确定工作的焦点。会议上某一话题刚浮出水面，你带着该议题的备忘录回来后，马上动手建立一个文件夹，把资料全部放进去（当然，是在你搜罗到具体的行动方案后）。 A good general-reference filing system, right at hand and easy to use, is not only critical to manage the general workflow process, but highly functional for project thinking as well. Often a project begins to emerge when it's triggered by relevant data, notes, and miscellaneous materials, and for this reason, you'll want to create a folder for a topic as soon as you have something to put in it. If your filing system is too formal (or nonexistent), you'll probably miss many opportunities to generate a project focus sufficiently early. As soon as you return from that first meeting with your initial notes about a topic that has just emerged on the horizon, create a file and store them in it right away (after you have gleaned any next actions, of course). 有许多次，在培训客户时，我发现当他们仅仅创建了某个主题文件夹，并放入可以搜集到的备忘录和其他具有潜在价值的相关资料后，就可以大大地提高他们对事物的控制力。 Many times, in coaching clients, I find that the mere act of creating a file for a topic into which we can organize random notes and potentially relevant materials gives them a significantly improved sense of control. It's a way of physically, visibly, and psychologically getting their "arms around it." 如果你对笔记本或者计划手册情有独钟的话，一定要存储足够的备用纸张，这样每当一个主题或者议题出现时，你就可以马上为它配备上一页。某些计划日后也许必须由加注的小标签来统领这一部分的内容，甚至会占据一个完整的记事簿，对于它们来说，起步的方法有所不同。然而你大部分的工作也就仅仅需要一两页，保存需要跟踪的几个想法即可。 If you like to work with a loose-leaf notebook or planner, it's good to keep an inventory of fresh note paper or graph paper that you can use to set up a page on a theme or project as it shows up. While some projects may later deserve a whole tabbed section or even an entire notebook of their own, they don't start out that way. And most of your projects may need only a page or two to hold the few ideas you need to track. 如果缺乏一个良好的系统来存储你的坏主意的话，恐怕你的那些好主意也会无家可归。 If you don't have a good system for filing bad ideas, you probably don't have one for filing good ones, either.

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软件工具 Software Tools 从某种意义上来说，软件是人们在挖掘优秀的“工作管理”工具时将要探寻的黑洞。对于大多数人需要处理的 98%的事务来说，那些专门为工作管理而设计的软件过于烦琐了，人们必须付出大量的精力才能使之真正运转起来。因此，它们只适合那些在工作中确实存在这种需要的少数专业人士。而对于大多数人来说，偶尔随意地用一下这些软件反而更自由。就像我前面提到过的一样，我从未见过任何两个在细节分析和管理安排方面需要花费同等气力的工作。因此，要想设计出一种能够满足大多数情况的要求的应用软件是非常困难的。 Software is in one sense a dark black hole to explore in search of good "project management" tools. For the most part, the applications that are specifically designed for project organizing are way too complex, with too much horsepower to really be functional for 98 percent of what most people need to manage. They're appropriate only for the very small percentage of the professional world that actually needs them. The rest of us usually find bits and pieces of applications more informal and project-friendly. As I've noted, I have never seen any two projects that needed the same amount of detailing and structure to get them under control. So it would be difficult to create any one application that would suffice for the majority.

数字式的概要当你希望整理一下有关某项工作而产生的想法时，可以选择任何一种包含等级划分功能的简单明了的应用软件。我过去用 Symantec 公司的 Grandview 软件，而现在我一般用 Word 来处理这类工作计划。 Digital Outlining Most of what anyone needs to structure his or her thinking about projects can be found in any kind of application that has a simple hierarchical outlining function. I used to use a Symantec program called Grandview, and now I often use Microsoft Word for just this kind of project planning. Here's a piece of an outline I created for one of our own planning sessions: 概括式应用软件的优势在于，它完全可以按照你的需要变得复杂或者简单。目前市场上大量的软件程序都可以提供这类基本级别分类的功能。关键在于找到一种使你感觉良好的软件，然后迅速地掌握它的功能。直到不再为如何操作这个程序烦恼时，你才可能摆脱那种启动电脑时常常出现的抵触情绪。 The great thing about outlining applications is that they can be as complex or as simple as required. There are numerous software programs that provide this kind of basic hierarchical structuring. The trick is to find one that you feel comfortable with, so you can rapidly get familiar with how to insert headings and sub-headings and move them around as needed. Until you can stop focusing on how to use the program, you'll resist booting it up and using it to think and organize. 事实上，存储这类思维的地点不重要，只要它简单易行，便于输入和回顾信息就行了。集思广益的应用软件。 It doesn't really matter where you put this kind of thinking, so long as it's easily accessible so you can input and review it as needed.

头脑风暴应用软件人们已经专门开发出几种应用软件来简化开动脑筋的过程。“灵感” （Inspiration）就是其中之一，它是以托尼的心智理论为依据的。这个软件的确显示出一些极具价值的特点，但对于我自己来说，我通常用纸和笔来应付这种快速且非正式的思考过程。 Brainstorming Applications Several applications have been developed specifically to facilitate the brainstorming process. "Inspiration" was one, based on the mind-mapping techniques of Tony

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Buzan. It had some useful features, but me, I've gone back to paper and cool pen for the kind of rapid, informal thinking I usually need to do. 很大程度上，我们并不需要详细记录下来思维过程中的每个细节，但我可以从这个自然状态的过程中推导出结论。那些陈旧老套的工具像电子白板和电子手写工具，最终恐怕都无法满足制造商的初衷。我们不需要像保存由创造性思维所引发出的内容那样，一丝不茍地保存每一个思考过程。收集、加工处理和安排组织这几个步骤要求迥异，而完成它们的工具也有所区别，你完全可以把一些想法丢给文字处理软件来解决。 The problem with digitizing brainstorming is that for the most part we don't need to save what we brainstorm in the way we brainstormed it—the critical thing is the conclusions we develop from that raw thinking. The slick brainstorming-capture tools, like electronic whiteboards and digital handwriting-copying gear, ultimately will probably not be as successful as the manufacturers hoped. We don't need to save creative thinking so much as we do the structures we generate from it. There are significant differences among collecting and processing and organizing, and different tools are usually required for them. You might as well dump ideas into a word processor.

工作策划型应用软件我在前面提到过，大多数策划型应用软件对于我需要进行思考计划的活动来说，过于严谨和精确了。多年以来，我看到人们不断地尝试这些程序，接着又一个一个地放弃掉了。当这些程序获得令人满意的效果时，往往是由于它是为了达到某一家公司或者产业的具体要求而量身订做的。 Project-Planning Applications As I've mentioned, most projectplanning software is too rigorous for the majority of the project thinking and planning we need to do. Over the years I've seen these programs more often tried and discontinued than utilized as a consistent tool. When they're used successfully, they're usually highly customized to fit very specific requirements for the company or the industry. 我期待在未来的几年里，能够看到人们着眼于思维和计划的自然模式，开发出一些结构要求比较宽松、功能更强大的应用程序。在那一时刻至来之前，最好还是坚持选用一种简单好用的工具吧。 I anticipate that less structured and more functional applications will emerge in the coming years, based on the ways we naturally think and plan. Until then, best stick with some good and simple outliner. 附加的电子备忘录 Attaching Digital Notes 如果你正在使用一种数字式的计划工具，那么，你需要获得的大多数信息完全都可以令人满意地存储于一个附加的备忘录区域中。如果你把计划本身列为清单中的一项内容或者 outlook 中的一个任务，那你可以打开附属的“备忘录”部分，记录下有关这个工作的一些想法以及进一步的分析。但你必须保证经常浏览这个附加部分，使它发挥应用的作用。 If you are using a digital organizer, much of the project planning you need to capture outside your head can in fact be satisfactorily managed in an attached note field. If you have the project itself as an item on a list on a Palm, or as a task in Microsoft Outlook, you can open the accompanying "Note" section and jot ideas, bullet points, and subcomponents of the project. Just ensure that you review the attachment appropriately to make it useful.

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在我的生活圈子中，我将如何应用所有的手段呢? How Do I Apply All This in My World? 就像你的“下一步行动”清单需要不断地进行内容更新一样，你的“工作”清单也应该如此。要保证做到这一点，你应该抽出一段比较完整的时间，1~3 小时比较理想，尽可能地对付每一项工作的“纵向”思维活动。 Just as your "Next Actions" lists need to be up-to-date, so, too, does your "Projects" list. That done, give yourself a block of time, ideally between one and three hours, to handle as much of the "vertical" thinking about each projectas you can. 立刻动手，越快越好，投入到那些令你兴致勃勃的计划中，开动脑筋、收集和组织相关的资料，采用当前最合适的工具。 At the very least, right now or as soon as possible, take those few of your projects that you have the most attention on or interest in right now and do some thinking and collecting and organizing on them, using whatever tools seem most appropriate. 准备行动，创造条件，对工作进行一些创造性的思考。然后，你就把大多数人远远地抛在后面了。 Clear the deck, create a context, and do some creative project thinking. You'll then be way ahead of most people. 关注每一项工作，一次只对付一件，自上而下。当你这样做时，可以扪心自问：“我希望了解这项工作的哪些情况呢？是保存下来呢？还是记在心里？” Focus on each one, one at a time, top to bottom. As you do, ask yourself, "What about this do I want to know, capture, or remember?" 也许你仅仅希望在一张纸片上记录一些想法，建立起一个卷宗，然后把纸片扔进去；也许你心血来潮想出了一些简单的标题，并标上序列号，接着把它视为一个备忘录，放入你的计划工具软件中；或者你可以创建一个 word 文档，然后开始逐条进行概括。 You may just want to mind-map some thoughts on a piece of paper, make a file, and toss the paper into it. You may come up with some simple bullet-point headings to attach as a "note" in your software organizer. Or you could create a Word file and start an outline on it. 关键在于接受并适应你所产生的想法以及对这个想法的应用。要逐渐培养一种习惯：抢先一步把精力积极地投入到预期结果和悬而未决的问题当中去，而不是要等到迫不得已时才行动。 The key is to get comfortable with having and using your ideas. And to acquire the habit of focusing your energy constructively, on intended outcomes and open loops, before you have to.

让我们把超前的焦虑变成超前的思考和策划 ——温斯顿丘吉尔 Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning. —Winston Churchill

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第三部分关键原则的力量第 11 章窍门 1：养成收集和自省的习惯这些看似简单的方法和模式，实际上蕴含了十分丰富的内容。它们提供了一套系统的方法，使你的头脑摆脱杂事的困扰，确保你在工作中达到高水准的效果。这本身就已经成为实施这些做法的充足一理由了。 THERE'S MUCH MORE to these simple techniques and models than may appear at first glance. Indeed, they offer a systematic method to keep your mind distraction-free, ensuring a high level of efficiency and effectiveness in your work. That in itself would be sufficient reason to implement these practices. 然而，这些正在发挥作用的基本原则中还有更深远的意义。在下面的 3 个章节中，我将介绍一下在我运用这些窍门的过程中所体会到的神奇功效。它们将对你个人产生非常重要的影响，它们对大公司的企业文化也产生了积极的促进作用。 But there are even greater implications for the fundamental principles at work here. What follows in the next three chapters is an accounting of my experience, over the last twenty years, of the subtler and often more profound effects that can transpire from the implementation of these basic principles. The longer-term results can have a significant impact on you as an individual, and they can positively affect larger organizational cultures as well. 当与你交往的人注意到，在和你进行交流和合作时，你在接收信息、组织处理以及管理的各个方面都做到无懈可击，自然而然地，他们开始渐渐信任你。而这就是掌握“占位符” 后获得的惊人成果，它可以捕捉到你生活圈子中所有一切不完善的事物或者未经处理的事情。它将显著地提高你的心理健康程度，大大增强你的人际关系的质量，无论是在个人生活方面，还是在工作方面。 When people with whom you interact notice that without fail you receive, process, and organize in an airtight manner the exchanges and agreements they have with you, they begin to trust you in a unique way. Such is the power of capturing placeholders for anything that is incomplete or unprocessed in your life. It noticeably enhances your mental well-being and improves the quality of your communications and relationships, both personally and professionally. 个人收益 The Personal Benefit 在收集信息和下载资料的时候，你会有什么样的感受呢？大多数人说，感觉糟透了，但与此同时又感觉好极了，这是怎么一回事呢？ How did it feel to go through the collecting and downloading activity? Most people say it feels so bad, and yet feels so good. How can that be? 当我要求参加研讨会的人描述一下他们在收集过程中的某个阶段的感受时，我常常会听到这样的描述性词汇，如：“难以招架”、“惊慌不安”、“情绪低落”、“疲惫不堪”以及“令人反感”。想一想，在一堆的资料中你是不是已经拖延了对某些事情的处理呢？如果有，你自然会对此产生一种内疚感：“我其实可以，早就应该，必须（在此之前）搞定这件事的。”

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If you're like most people who go through the full collection process, you probably felt some form of anxiety. Descriptive terms like "overwhelmed," "panic," "frustration," "fatigue," and "disgust" tend to come up when I ask seminar participants to describe their emotions in going through a minor version of this procedure. And is there anything you think you've procrastinated on in that stack? If so, you have guilt automatically associated with it—"I could have, should have, ought to have (before now) done this." 与此同时，你是否又感受到一种如释重负和具有控制力的感觉呢？的确，大多数人的回答是肯定的。这又是怎么样产生的呢？当你选择了完全相同的一种训练时，随之出现的竟然是完全相反的感觉，焦虑和解脱，难以招架和控制良好几乎同时存在。这到底是怎么一回事呢？ At the same time, did you experience any sense of release, or relief, or control as you were did the drill? Most people say yes, indeed. How does that happen? Totally opposite emotional states showing up as you're doing a single exercise, almost at the same time—anxiety and relief; overwhelmed and in control. What's going on here? 当你认识到了一切消极情绪产生的源泉之后，你就会像我从前那样，发现摆脱它们的方法。而且如果你能够从收集资料的过程中体验到积极的反应，你自己就会开始铲除消极因素了。 When you understand the source of your negative feelings about all your stuff, you'll discover, as I did, the way to get rid of them. And if you experienced any positive feelings from collecting your stuff, you actually began the process of eliminating the negativity yourself. 产生消极情绪的来源 The Source of the Negative Feelings 这种不良的情绪来源在哪呢？是因为承受了太多任务吗？不是，人们总是有太多的事情要处理。如果你感觉不佳仅仅是由于事务繁多的超过了你的接受的限度，那么恐怕你永远也无法摆脱这种感觉了。因此，事情过多并非是引发消极情绪的根源，这种情绪来自于别处。 Where do the not-so-good feelings come from? Too much to do? No, there's always too much to do. If you felt bad simply because there was more to do than you could do, you'd never get rid of that feeling. Having too much to do is not the source of the negative feeling. It comes from a different place. 当某人单方面撕毁了与签订的协议时，你会怎么样想呢？他们告诉你星期四下午 4 点与你见面，而当约定的时间到了，他们即没有出现，也没有打一个电话，这是一种什么样的感觉呢？我想必定是沮丧和失望吧。当人们在生活中食言毁约时，他们为之付出的代价就是人际关系中的信任感的瓦解，一种绝对负面的影响。 How have you felt when someone broke an agreement with you? Told you they would meet you Thursday at 4:00 P.M. and never showed or called? How did that feel? Frustrating, I imagine. The price people pay when they break agreements in the world is the disintegration of trust in the relationship—a negative consequence. 然而，你的工作篮中的情形又是怎么样的呢？里面装的都是你同自己签订的协议。消极情绪都是你违反这些协议所产生的直接后果，它们是自我信任感丧失时的症状。如果你告诉

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自己要起草一份战略计划，当你未能完成时，你一定感到十分沮丧。你下定决心多抽出些时间来陪你的孩子，却没能实现，那随之而来的自然就是焦虑、内疚的感觉。告诉自己赶快开始组织管理吧！如果做不到，那么就请品尝内疚和失败的滋味吧。 But what are all those things in your in-basket? Agreements you've made with yourself. Your negative feelings are simply the result of breaking those agreements—they're the symptoms of disintegrated selftrust. If you tell yourself to draft a strategic plan, when you don't do it, you'll feel bad. Tell yourself to get organized, and if you fail to, welcome to guilt and frustration. Resolve to spend more time with your kids and don't—voila! anxious and overwhelmed. 焦虑和内疚并不是因为承担太多的工作而造成的，这是由于你撕毁了同自己签订的协议而导致后果。 The sense of anxiety and guilt doesn't come from having too much to do; it's the automatic result of breaking agreements with yourself.

应该如何防止撕毁同自己签订的协议呢？ How Do You Prevent Broken Agreements with Yourself? 如果你的消极情绪来自于毁约，那有 3 种方法来对付这种局面，消除负面影响： 1、不签订协议 2、完成协议 3、重新协商协议 If the negative feelings come from broken agreements, you have three options for dealing with them and eliminating the negative consequences: * Don't make the agreement. * Complete the agreement. * Renegotiate the agreement. 所有这些方法都有助于摆脱不良的情绪。 All of these can work to get rid of the unpleasant feelings. 不签订协议 Don't Make the Agreement 面对一大堆积压已久的陈旧资料，你决定不再理睬它们，只要把它们扔到垃圾桶就行了。恐怕这时你的心头会感觉到一阵的轻松。因此，对付生活中未尽事宜的一方法就是干脆的说 “不”！ It probably felt pretty good to take a bunch of your old stuff, decide that you weren't going to do anything with it, and just toss it into the trash. One way to handle an incompletion in your world is to just say no! 只要你降低自己的标准，便会立刻感到心情舒畅起来。如果你在一定程度上对当前的事情并非十分关注——对子女的培养教育、学校的教学制度、团队的精神面貌、软件的代码，那你需要处理的事情就相应地大大减少了。 You'd lighten up if you would just lower your standards. If you didn't care so much about things being up to a certain level—your parenting, your school system, your team's morale, the software

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code—you'd have fewer things to do.* （*It has been a popular concept in the self-help world that focusing on your values will simplify your life. I contend the opposite: the overwhelming amount of things that people have to do comes from their values. Values are critical elements for meaning and direction. But don't kid yourself—the more you focus on them, the more things you're likely to feel responsible for taking on. Your values may make it easier for you to make decisions, but don't think they'll make things any simpler.）但你是否真的打算降低的的标准呢，对此我表示怀疑。然而，一旦你正确理解了它的含义，也许你就会减少你所达成的协议的数量。我自己就是这样做的。过去我制定了大量的协议，仅仅是为了赢得别人的赞赏。直到我后期因为无法履行协议而付出代价后，才增强了对协议的认识。我培训的一位保险公司的经理人这样描述他从实施本系统而获得的益处：“从前，我只会告诉每一个人，’OK 我会处理这件的事’，因为我并不清楚我到底需要做多少事情。而现在我有一个一目了然的、毫无遗漏的工作清单。为了维护我的信誉，我不得不说 ‘哦，不行，我做不到，很抱歉’。令人惊讶的是，我并没有因为我的拒绝而被人厌恶，相反，所有人都被我的严格的自律所打动！” I doubt you're going to lower your standards. But once you really understand what it means, you'll probably make fewer agreements. I know I did. I used to make a lot of them, just to win people's approval. When I realized the price I was paying on the back end for not keeping those agreements, I became a lot more conscious about the ones I made. One insurance executive I worked with described the major benefit he derived from implementing this system: "Previously I would just tell everyone, 'Sure, I'll do it,' because I didn't know how much I really had to do. Now that I've got the inventory clear and complete, just to maintain my integrity I have had to say, 'No, I can't do that, I'm sorry.' The amazing thing is that instead of being upset with my 坚持保持一分工作目标的目录，可以让你更加轻松地并理直气壮地说“不” Maintaining an objective inventory of your work makes it much easier to say no with integrity. 一位个人培训业的企业家最近告诉我，通过创建一个工作清单，他消除了生活中大量的焦虑和压力。把一切分散注意力的事情全部放进了工作篮。这一习惯让你有机会重新考虑那些真正关注的行动。如果他不打算把某一备忘录放入篮中，那就干脆直接扔掉。 Another client, an entrepreneur in the personal coaching business, recently told me that making an inventory of his work had eliminated a huge amount of worry and stress from his life. The discipline of putting everything he had his attention on into his in-basket caused him to reconsider what he really wanted to do anything about. If he wasn't willing to toss a note about it into "in," he just let it go! 我认为这种思维方式非常成熟。整个方法最为重要的一点就是，当你真正捕捉和追踪头脑中的事务时，对于那些你并不是真心地希望完成的工作，你往往会有抵触心理，如果对必须完成的工作不了解，就会糊里糊涂，就像你有一张信用卡却不知道它的余额和限额，这是很不负责任的。 I consider that very mature thinking. One of the best things about this whole method is that when you really take the responsibility to capture and track what's on your mind, you'll think twice about making commitments internally that you don't really need or want to make. Not being aware

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of all you have to do is much like having a credit card for which you don't know the balance or the limit—it's a lot easier to be irresponsible. 完成协议 Complete the Agreement 当然，根除消极情绪的另一种途径就是完成这项工作，然后标上“已经完成”。只要你最终可以获得完成工作后的那种成就感，你当然就愿意去做了。我相信，在生活中，当那些花不了 2 分钟就可做完的事情刚冒头时，你就可以印证这种心理上的收益。我的大多数客户在仅仅花了几个小时处理他们堆积如山的事务后，就异常的兴奋。因为运用 2 分钟原则居然做完了这么多的事情。 Of course, another way to get rid of the negative feelings about your stuff is to just finish it and be able to mark it off as done. You actually love to do things, as long as you get the feeling that you've completed something. If you've begun to complete less-than-two-minute actions as they surface in your life, I'm sure you can attest to the psychological benefit. Most of my clients feel fantasticafter just a couple of hours of processing their piles, just because of how many things they accomplish using the two-minute rule. 一个原本轻松快乐的周末很可能被积累下来的各种杂事所占据。同样的，当你捕捉到所有的“开关回路”，并能随时在清单中看到它们，你的大脑中的某一个部分就会受到启发（或感觉到厌恶或感觉到威胁），尽快地把它们从清单一一踢出去。 One of your better weekends may be spent just finishing up a lot of little errands and tasks that have accumulated around your house and in your personal life. Invariably when you capture all the open loops, little and big, and see them on a list in front of you, some part of you will be inspired (or creatively disgusted or intimidated enough) to go knock them off the list. 我们似乎都渴望获得成功。为了满足这一愿望，给你自己安排一些能够轻松启动和完成的工作是一个绝妙的方法。 We all seem to be starved for a win. It's great to satisfy that by giving yourself doable tasks you can start and finish easily. 你是否曾经完成了某些原本未能列入工作清单的事情？你把它记录下来，完成后又勾掉了。这时，你就会明白我的意思了。 Have you ever completed something that wasn't initially on a list, so you wrote it down and checked it off? Then you know what I mean. 然而这里还存在一个问题。工作清单和堆积的资料全部成功地处理掉之后，将体验到什么感觉呢？你可能欣喜若狂。当然了，在 3 天的时间内，猜一下你又将获得什么？对了，另一个工作清单，而且可能包含更加庞大复杂的内容！完成了所有的任务让你感觉良好、干劲十足。很有可能，你将承担一些更加重要更富挑战性的工作。 There's another issue here, however. How would you feel if your list and your stack were totally—and successfully—completed? You'd probably be bouncing off the ceiling, full of creative energy. Of course, within three days, guess what you'd have? Right—another list, and probably an even bigger one! You'd feel so good about finishing all your stuff you'd likely take on bigger, more ambitious things to do.

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当你了解这些协议的内容时，完成起来就变得轻而易举了。 It's a lot easier to complete agreements when you know what they are. 不仅如此，你认为你的老板在注意到你出色的工作能力和显著的工作效率之后，将会怎样做呢？你又答对了，分派更多的工作给你！这就是事业发展过程中不可拿逾越的关口：你取得的成就越辉煌，你所期盼的下一个目标将会越艰难。 Not only that, but if you have a boss, what do you think he or she is going to do, after noticing the high levels of competency and productivity you're demonstrating? Right again—give you more things to do! It's the catch-22 of professional development: the better you get, the better you'd better get. 因此，既然你不打算大幅度地降低你的标准，也不希望停止工作，同时仍然期望逃离紧张压力的折磨，那你最好适应一下第 3 第选择。 So, since you're not going to significantly lower your standards, or stop creating more things to do, you'd better get comfortable with the third option, if you want to keep from stressing yourself out. 重新商定协议 Renegotiate Your Agreement 假定我曾经告诉你，我星期四下午 4 点与你见面，但当我约定好这一时间以后，情况发生了变化。考虑到我有一些更重要的事情需要处理，我决定取消我们星期四见面的约会。然后，除了到时干脆不露面以外，我还有什么更好的选择不让我们良好的关系受损呢？打一个电话改变协议。这是一个重新调整过的协议，而不是一个毁约的协议。 Suppose I'd told you I would meet you Thursday at 4:00 P.M., but after I made the appointment, my world changed. Now, given my new priorities, I decide I'm not going to meet you Thursday at four. But instead of simply not showing up, what had I better do, to maintain the integrity of the relationship? Correct—call and change the agreement. A renegotiated agreement is not a broken one.

正是宽容，方能打开惟一可能通向创造性思维的道路。 ——Desmond Wilson It is the act of forgiveness that opens up the only possible way to think creatively about the future at all. —Father Desmond Wilson 你是否已经明白了？为什么把所有的事务从大脑中清理出来、放在你的面前会让你感觉更好一些呢？这是因为当你注视着它们，心里不断地琢磨着要么立刻实施，要么干脆说“不”，你会自然而然地重新审定这些协议。这里存在一个问题：你不可能同自己商议那些你已经记不起来曾经签订过的协议了！ Do you understand yet why getting all your stuff out of your head and in front of you makes you feel better? Because you automatically renegotiate your agreements with yourself when you look at them, think about them, and either act on them that very moment or say, "No, not now." Here's the problem: it's impossible to renegotiate agreements with yourself that you can't remember you made!

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事实上，记不起你曾经同自己签订的协议，这并不意味着你打算逃避应该承担的责任。你可以向任何一个心理学家咨询，在你的心灵中对过去和将来的感知力有多少。在那里存储着你过去倾倒进去的事情——零——在那里只存在着现在时。这就意味着一旦你告诉自己应该处理某件事，然后仅仅把它存入短时记忆中去，结果你头脑的某一部分将自始至终地认为你应该立刻采取行动。这也就意味着：每当你给自己同时布置了两项工作，而且只将它们存在大脑中时，紧张感和失败感就随之而来，这是因为你不可能同时完成这两件事。 The fact that you can't remember an agreement you made with yourself doesn't mean that you're not holding yourself liable for it. Ask any psychologist how much of a sense of past and future that part of your psyche has, the part that was storing the list you dumped: zero. It's all present tense in there. That means that as soon as you tell yourself that you should do something, if you file it only in your short-term memory, there's a part of you that thinks you should be doing it all the time. And that means that as soon as you've given yourself two things to do, and filed them only in your head, you've created instant and automatic stress and failure, because you can't do them both at the same time. 如果你同大多数人一样，在家里也有一些贮藏区域——也许是一个车库，你过去（甚至是 6 年前！）曾经告诉自己应该清扫和整理一下这个车库了，你很可能在过去的 6 年时，每天不停地考虑你应该清理车库。难怪人们活的这么累呀！每次走过车库，你就传听到身体发出声音：“为什么我们只是路过车库呢？难道我们不应该彻底打扫一下吗？”你无法忍受这种抱怨的折磨，只要还有其他的办法，你就望远不愿再走进这个车库。如果你希望阻断这种不绝于耳的抱怨，有 3 种选择来对付你同自己达成的这个协议。 If you're like most people, you've probably got some storage area at home—maybe a garage that you told yourself a while back (maybe even six years ago!) you ought to clean and organize. If so, there's a part of you that likely thinks you should've been cleaning your garage twenty-four hours a day for the past six years! No wonder people are so tired! And have you heard that little voice inside your own mental committee every time you walk by your garage? "Why are we walking by the garage?! Aren't we supposed to be cleaning it!?" Because you can't stand that whining, nagging part of yourself, you never even go in the garage anymore if you can help it. If you want to shut that voice up, you have three options for dealing with your agreement with yourself: 降低你对车库的标准（你可能早就这么干了）。我就是有这样一个又脏又乱的车库，谁会在乎。 2、履行协议，清扫车库。 3、至少把“清理车库”这一项列入“将来某时/也许”清单中。然后，当你每周浏览这个清单看到这一项内容时，你可以对自己说，“这一周不行”。下一次当你再经过车库时，你就不会再听到其他的声音了，除了“嘿！这周不行”。 1 | Lower your standards about your garage (you may have done that already). "So I have a crappy garage . .. who cares?" 2 | Keep the agreement—clean the garage. 3 | At least put "Clean garage" on a "Someday/Maybe" list. Then, when you review that list weekly and you see that item, you can tell yourself, "Not this week." The next time you walk by your garage, you won't hear a thing internally, other than "Ha! Not this week." 1、

我是非常认真的。我们似乎不明白清扫车库与购买一家公司这两种协议之间的区别是什

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么。在你的内心中，它们只不过都是协议罢了——已经付诸实施或者已经违背协议。如果仅仅凭记忆来保存某一件事，只要你当前没有采取行动，那它就始终是一个未能履行的协议。 I'm quite sincere about this. It seems that there's a part of our psyche that doesn't know the difference between an agreement about cleaning the garage and an agreement about buying a company. In there, they're both just agreements—kept or broken. If you're holding something only internally, it will be a broken agreement if you're not moving on it in the moment. 与传统时间管理方法背道而驰 The Radical Departure from Traditional Time Management 这种方法与传统的时间管理培训法有很大区别。大多数事情给你留下这样的一种印象：如果你告诉自己需要处理的事情并非是那么重要，结果它就真的变的不重要了。但是根据我自己的经验，至少对于下意识的自我运作方式而言，这并不是完全准确的。我们必须对每一个协议都做到心里有数，这就意味着我们必须在头脑完全清醒的状态下，捕捉每一个协议，使之具体化，并进行定期的回顾检查。这样一来，你就可以把它存放在自我管理体系中的相应位置上了。如果事情不是这样发展的，那么它将占用你更多的心思，比其应用的要多的多。 This method is significantly different from traditional timemanagement training. Most of those models leave you with the impression that if something you tell yourself to do isn't that important, then it's not that important—to track, manage, or deal with. But in my experience that's inaccurate, at least in terms of how a less-than-conscious part of us operates. It is how our conscious mind operates, however, so every agreement must be made conscious. That means it must be captured, objectified, and reviewed regularly in full conscious awareness so that you can put it where it belongs in your self-management arena. If that doesn't happen, it will actually take up a lot more psychic energy than it deserves. 根据我的经验，任何存放在“大脑随机存储器”中的事情都将占用比它应该得到的或多或少的关注。收集所有事务的原因，并不是因为它们都具有完全同等的重要性，而是由于它们的不均等。而未能收集到的那些尚未完善的事物依然能够产生同样的压力，占用人们同样的精力。 In my experience, anything that is held only in "psychic RAM" will take up either more or less attention than it deserves. The reason to collect everything is not that everything is equally important, it's that it's not. Incompletions, uncollected, take on a dull sameness in the sense of the pressure they create and the attention they tie up. 需要收集多少内容呢？How Much Collection Is Required? 假如可以搜集到一切未尽事宜，你将感到无比轻松。当你对自己说：“对了，我下一次去商店时，要买一块黄油”，接着把这一条加到你的食品清单，你心里一定感到格外的舒畅。当你想起“我必须给银行顾问打一个电话，谈谈有关托管基金的事”把它记在某自，你知道一旦手头有一部电话时你一定能够看到它的，你的感觉也会变得好起来。不过如果你能够认识到你已经控制了所有的事情，那时的感觉与现在又会是天壤之别。 You'll feel better collecting anything that you haven't collected yet. When you say to yourself, "Oh, that's right, I need to get butter next time I'm at the store," and you write it on your grocery list, you'll feel better. When you remember, "I've got to call my banker about the trust fund," and you write that down someplace where you know you'll see it when you're at a phone, you'll feel better. But there will be a light-year's difference when you know you have it all.

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什么时候你才能知道，大脑中还有多少的剩余事情有待收集呢？只有当它空空如也时。即使是你模模糊糊地认识到所搜集到的资料并不完整时，你也根本不能彻底地弄清楚，已经搜集到的事情所占的百分比是多少。那么怎么样才能知道不存在剩余资料呢？答案是：当头脑中不再浮现出任何事件的提示信息。 When will you know how much you have left in your head to collect? Only when there's nothing left. If some part of you is even vaguely aware that you don't have it all, you can't really know what percentage you have collected. How will you know when there's nothing left? When nothing else shows up as a reminder in your mind. 这并不意味着大脑中空无一物。只要意识清醒，你的大脑将永远锁定在某一事物上。如果它每一次仅仅将精力聚集在某一件事情上，没有一丝分心，那么你就是处于“心静如水” 的境界了。 This doesn't mean that your mind will be empty. If you're conscious, your mind will always be focusing on something. But if it's focusing on only one thing at a time, without distraction, you'll be in your "zone." 我建议你开动脑筋，仔细地考虑一些事情，而不是点到为止。为了能够全面地达到提高效率的目标，你必须紧紧地抓住一切。而这需要耗费一定的精力，改变愿来的习惯，才能够训练你自己：当你的头脑中产生哪怕是微乎其微的协议时，也要立刻将它们辨别出来并下载下来。你必须尽可能完成搜集这一步骤，每当新生事物出现你都要及时抓住它们，这将使你变得无比强大。 I suggest that you use your mind to think about things, rather than think of them. You want to be adding value as you think about projects and people, not simply reminding yourself they exist. To fully realize that more productive place, you will need to capture it all. It takes focus and a change of habit to train yourself to recognize and download even the smallest agreements with yourself as they're created in your mind. Doing the collection process as fully as you can, and then incorporating the behavior of capturing all the new things as they emerge, will be empowering and productive.

集体收益 When Relationships and Organizations Have the Collection Habit 当团队中的每一个人（在婚姻中、在同一个部门中、在一个家庭中、在同一家公司里）都承诺他们将养成收集和自省的习惯。不允许任何一件事从空隙逃走，又会怎么样呢？坦白地说，一旦达到这种境界，你几乎不再费心思考哪里会出现漏洞了，精力会放在更加重大的事情上。 What happens when everyone involved on a team—in a marriage, in a department, on a staff, in a family, in a company—can be trusted not to let anything slip through the cracks? Frankly, once you've achieved that, you'll hardly think about whether people are dropping the ball anymore-—there will be much bigger things to occupy your attention. 然而，如果在沟通交流这一环节上还存在隔阂，就往往导致在团队文化中产生某种挫折感和普遍的紧张情绪。大多数人认为，没有持续不断的、像对婴孩一样的呵护和关怀，某些还未解决的问题很可能就销声匿迹了，但又会在某一时刻突然爆发出来。他们并没有认识

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到，之所以会体会到这种感觉是因为他们长久以来一直身处在这种环境中，使他们误认为这就是一条永恒不变的规律，就像万有引力一样，但事实上情况并不总是如此。 But if communication gaps are still an issue, there's likely some layer of frustration and a general nervousness in the culture. Most people feel that without constant baby-sitting and handholding, things could disappear in the system and then blow up at any time. They don't realize that they're feeling this because they've been in this situation so consistently that they relate to it as if it were a permanent law, like gravity. It doesn't have to be that way. 几年来，不少成功人士因为收集系统的缺陷找我咨询。他们的问题往往不易察觉。每当一个备忘录闲置在某人的工作篮中没有处理，或者当他或者她在谈话中表示肯定，却没有落实在笔头上，都往往引发我的疑惑。在我的世界里，是无法接受这种做法的。我们还有更重要的事情急要着处理呢，不能总是为系统中的这些漏洞烦心。 I have noticed this for years. Good people who haven't incorporated these behaviors come into my environment, and they stick out like a sore thumb. I've lived with the standards of clear psychic RAM and hard, clean edges on in-baskets for more than two decades now. When a note sits idle in someone's in-basket unprocessed, or when he or she nods "yes, I will" in a conversation but doesn't write anything down, my "uh-oh" bell rings. This is unacceptable behavior in my world. There are much bigger fish to fry than worrying about leaks in the system. 我需要确信，我所输入语音邮箱、电子邮件、一段会谈中或者手写备忘录中的任何请示或者信息都能输送到别人的系统中去，它们将快速地经历加工处理和组织管理的五一节，并且作为一种备选的行动方案得到及时的回顾。如果接收到信息的人正在使用的是语音邮箱，而不是电子邮件和书面文件，那我就不得不使用他或她惟一信赖的这种媒介。 I need to trust that any request or relevant information I put on a voice-mail, in an e-mail, in a conversation, or in a written note will get into the other person's system and that it will be processed and organized, soon, and available for his or her review as an option for action. If the recipient is managing voice-mails but not e-mail and paper, I have now been hamstrung to use only his or her trusted medium. That should be unacceptable behavior in any organization that cares about whether things happen with the least amount of effort. 从一个漏水的船上往外舀水会分散你划船时的精力。 Bailing water in a leaky boat diverts energy from rowing the boat. 当变化已经是势在必行时，人们必须对创新意识给予足够的尊重和鼓励。任何一个完善的体系最终都可能演化成它最薄弱的环节，一个关键人物对内部人员互相交流所作出的迟钝而麻木的反应，通常是造成不利局面的要素。 When change is required, there must be trust that the initiaives for that change will be dealt with appropriately. Any intact ystem will ultimately be only as good as its weakest link, and often that Achilles' heel is a key person's dulled responsiveness to communications in the system. 当我漫步于某些机构时，特别注意到这一点。在那里，工作篮要么根本不存在，要么塞得满满的，很显然长时无人问津了。这些企业的文化往往被严重的“干扰“折磨，因为他们根本无法信赖人际交流使系统实现正常的运转。 I especially notice this when I walk around organizations where in-baskets are either nonexistent,

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or overflowing and obviously long unprocessed. These cultures usually suffer from serious "interruptitis" because they can't trust putting communications into the system. 有些企业的文化中建立起了牢固可靠的信息收集体系，其管理的清晰透明度简直是一目了然。几乎没有人在资料问题上浪费心思，大家都集中精力对付更加重要的问题了。这种情况在某些家庭中也收到了同样的效果，他们为家长、孩子、保姆、管家或者任何一位与他们关系密切的人创立了工作篮。当我告诉人们我的妻子和我通常把事件分别放在对方的工作篮中时，人们往往会感到十分的惊讶，他们认为这太机械化了。事实上这种做法反倒培养出了一种更加温馨自由的气氛，因为在这系统中，许多机械性的事务在没有占据我们注意力的前提下就得到了处理。 Where cultures do have solid systems, down through the level of paper, the clarity is palpable. It's hardly even a conscious concern, and everyone's attention is more focused. The same is true in families that have instituted in-baskets—for the parents, the children, the nanny, the housekeeper, or anyone else with whom family members frequently interact. People often grimace when I tell them that my wife, Kathryn, and I put things in each other's in-baskets, even when we're sitting within a few feet of each other; to them it seems "cold and mechanical." Aside from being an act of politeness intended to avoid interrupting the other's work in progress, the practice actually fosters more warmth and freedom between us, because mechanical things are being handled in the system instead of tying up our attention in the relationship. Unfortunately, you can't legislate personal systems. Everyone must have his or her own way to deal with what he or she has to deal with. You can, however, hold people accountable for outcomes, and for tracking and managing everything that comes their way. And you can give them the information in this book. Then, at least, they'll have no excuse for letting something fall through the cracks. 这并不意味着每一个人必须完成每一件事情。这个世界为每一个人提供了开拓更加广阔空间的可能。关键的问题是与各方面进行协调，保证他们不会因为当前未能处理的事情而忧心。这才称得上是高水准的“知识工作“。如果缺少了一个严谨的收集系统，则根本是不可能的达到这个目标的。请记住，你不可能与自己重新审议那些早就被你抛到脑后的协议。当然你也不能和别人再次讨论那些你早就丧失头绪的事情了。 This doesn't mean that everyone has to do everything. I hope I have described a way to relate to our relatively new knowledge-based world that gives room for everyone to have a lot more to do than he or she can do. The critical issue will be to facilitate a constant renegotiation process with all involved, so they feel OK about what they're not doing. That's real knowledge work, at a more sophisticated level. But there's little hope of getting there without having bulletproof collection systems in play. Remember, you can't renegotiate an agreement with yourself that you can't remember you made. And you certainly can't renegotiate agreements with others that you've lost track of.

企业内部必须创建这样一种文化：每个人都应付更多超越自己处理限度的事情。同时对于那些未被处理的问题，进行再次协商也是明智的作法。 Organizations must create a culture in which it is acceptable that everyone has more to do than he

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or she can do, and in which it is sage to renegotiate agreements about what everyone is not doing. 当一个群体全体一致地采纳了收集标准时，他们就有了一个管理完善、效率显著的集体。这并不等于他们正沿着正确的方向前进。甚至不能保证他们上对了船；这仅仅表示他们的船正沿着它的航向向前全力冲刺。 When groups of people collectively adopt the 100 percent collection standard, they have a tight ship to sail. It doesn't mean they're sailing in the right direction, or even that they're on the right ship; it just means that the one they're on, in the direction it's going, is doing that with the most efficient energy it can.

第 12 章窍门 2：下一步行动 The Power of the Next-Action Decision 我个有一种使命感，要把“下一步行动是什么”变成全盘思考的一个组成要素。如果有关是否需要下一步行动的问题没有得到圆满的解答，那么所有的会议或者讨论都永远不会结束，一切交流沟通也永远不会停下来。如果你存在着下一步的行动要求，那么是什么呢，或者至少应该由谁来承担这个责任呢？我希望各种组织机构都能采纳这一标准，规定任何人自己管辖的“一亩三分地”里的任何事情都要评估出下一步的具体措施，落实由此作出的决定。想像一下，由此获得的自由将解放我们，使我们专注于更重要的事情。 I HAVE A personal mission to make "What's the next action?" part of the global thought process. I envision a world in which no meeting or discussion will end, and no interaction cease, without a clear determination of whether or not some action is needed—and if it is, what it will be, or at least who has responsibility for it. I envision organizations adopting a standard that anything that lands in anyone's "ten acres" will be evaluated for action required, and the resulting decisions managed appropriately. Imagine the freedom that would allow to focus attention on bigger issues and opportunities. 在过去的几年里我已经注意了，每当个人和团体把“下一步行动是什么”列为一个最基本的问题并坚持提出来时，他们自身的能量以及工作效率就会发生显著的变化。这个问题看似简单，但是它仍然难以得到全面的贯彻。 Over the years I have noticed an extraordinary shift in energy and productivity whenever individuals and groups installed "What's the next action?" as a fundamental and consistently asked question. As simple as the query seems, it is still somewhat rare to find it fully operational where it needs to be. 当一个文化采纳“下一步行动是什么”作为一个标准问题时，自然而然地，它在能量、生产率、透明度等方面就能获得显著的提高。 When a culture adopts "What's the next action?" as a standard operating query, there's an automatic increase in energy, productivity, clarity, and focus. 你可能面临的最大一个挑战就是，一旦你自己和周围的人们已经习惯于提问下一步行动是什么时，再碰上那些没有同样习惯的的人会让你感到沮丧。这个问题可以如此快速地阐明任务，因此，与不遵循它的环境打交道时，就像步入了沼泽地一样。 One of the greatest challenges you may encounter is that once you have gotten used to "What's the next action?" for yourself and those around you, interacting with people who aren't asking it can

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be highly frustrating. It clarifies things so 在同其他人一起共事时，如果我们承诺去做某事，那我们就有责任来界定这些事情，就必须决策下一步的具体行动。毕竟当事情刚刚出现的时候就作出决定，与当问题难以收场时再动手解决是完全不同的。 We are all accountable to define what, if anything, we are committed to make happen as we engage with ourselves and others. And at some point, for any outcome that we have an internal commitment to complete, we must make the decision about the next physical action required. There's a great difference, how-ever, between making that decision when things show up and doing it when they blow up. 技巧的来源 The Source of the Technique 这个简单但效果非凡的下一步行动的技巧是我在几年前从我的老朋友迪安·艾奇逊（与前国务卿没有关系）那里学来的，他也是我的管理咨询方面的一位良师。迪安花了多年的时间采访了许多管理人员，调查他们是如何成功地使自己摆脱了工作和环境对精神的困扰。有一天，他只不过是从一位经理的办公桌上顺手拾起一张张七零八落的纸片，并且迫使这位经理决定他的下一步行动：他必须如何做才能推动事态向前发展。“当时所得到的结论对这位经理来说是如此地意义深远，以至于迪安在今后的数年中总是采用同样的方法来处理工作篮中的事物，进一步完善了这个方法论。从那时开始，我们两个便开始使用这个重要的理论，培养和训练了成千上成的人，而且它仍然被证明是一个极为简单的技巧。这种方法帮助使用者大大提高了工作效率，达到平和的精神状态。 I learned this simple but extraordinary next-action technique twenty years ago from a longtime friend and management-consulting mentor of mine, Dean Acheson (no relation to the former secretary of state). Dean had spent many prior years consulting with executives and researching what was required to free the psychic logjams of many of them about projects and situations they were involved in. One day he just started picking up each individual piece of paper on an executive's desk and forcing him to decide what the very next thing was that he had to do to move it forward. The results were so immediate and so profound for the executive that Dean continued for years to perfect a methodology using that same question to process the in-basket. Since then both of us have trained and coached thousands of people with this key concept, and it remains a foolproof technique. It never fails to greatly improve both the productivity and the peace of mind of the user to determine what the next physical action is that will move something forward.

创造行动的选择权 Creating the Option of Doing 这么简单明了的事情怎么可能拥有如此奇妙的力量呢？下一步行动是什么？ How could something so simple be so powerful—"What's the next action?" 为了帮助你寻找这个问题的答案，请你再次回访你头脑大扫除时列出的那份清单。你是否认识到，有些事情并没有始终如一地，高效地向前推进。的确，你很可能回答“是这样的“，很多事情多多少少受到”阻挠“。 To help answer that question, I invite you to revisit for a moment your mind-sweep list (see page 113). Or at least to think about all the projects that are probably sitting around in your To help

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answer that question, I invite you to revisit for a moment your mind-sweep list (see page 113). Or at least to think about all the projects that are probably sitting around in your 如果你对下一步的确切行动还没有十足的把握，比如你是否需要打一个电话，发一封电子邮件，寻找某件东西，或者在去商店时选购某一件商品，这些行动就一直得不到落实，具有讽刺意味的是，几乎清单列出的每一件事都只需要花 10 秒钟的思考就可以判定下一步的行动。正是由于大多数人没有付出这区区的 10 秒钟，才导致事情越来越被延误。 If you haven't known for sure whether you needed to make a call, send an e-mail, look up something, or buy an item at the store as the very next thing to move on, it hasn't been getting done. What's ironic is that it would likely require only about ten seconds of thinking to figure out what the next action would be for almost everything on your list. But it's ten seconds of thinking that most people haven't done about most things on their list. 例如，在一位客户的清单上，有一项关于“轮胎“的事情。我问“这是怎么回事？” 他回答：“我的汽车需要更换轮胎。” “那么，下一步行动是什么呢？” For example, a client will have something like "tires" on a list. I then ask, "What's that about?" He responds, "Well, I need new tires on my car." "So what's the next action?" 当时这位客户皱起眉头，想了一会，得出结论：“应该是给轮胎商打个电话，问一下价格。” At that point the client usually wrinkles up his forehead, ponders for a few moments, and expresses his conclusion: "Well, I need to call a tire store and get some prices." 这大概就是决定所有事情的下一步行动方案时所需要花费的时间了——仅仅几秒钟的深思，但大多数人都没能这样来处理他们手中的工作。 That's about how much time is required to decide what the"doing" would look like on almost everything. It's just the few seconds of focused thinking that most people have not yet done about most of their stuff. 这个需要换轮胎的人很可能已经考虑这件事情很久了，他可能多次地坐在电脑旁，也不缺少时间和精力来打这个电话，但为什么他没这么做呢？这是因为他处于那种精神状态时，他根本不愿意想一想自己应该处理的全部事情，包括换轮胎以及下一步的措施。在那些时候，他根本不打算思考任何事情。 It will probably be true, too, that the person who needs tires on his car has had that on his radar for quite a while. It's also likely that he's been at a phone hundreds of times, often with enough time and/or energy only to make just such a call. Why didn't he make it? Because in that state of mind, the last thing in the world he felt like doing was considering all his projects, including getting tires, and what their next actions were. In those moments he didn't feel like thinking at all. 如果他已经做到了这一点，那么当他碰巧在开会前有 15 分钟的空闲，手头上又有一部

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电话，同时他的能量指数是 4.2（以 10 为单位）时，他完全可以浏览一下这个可选的事务清单，愉快地看到上面列着“给轮胎商店打电话”这一项内容。“这件事我现在可以完成。” 他会这样想，然后他会真切地体会到打这个电话的冲动，仅仅为了体验一下利用时间和精力的空隙来完成某项有益的工作时获取的那种“胜利感 ”。在这种情况下，他也许没有充足的精力为客户起草一份重要的建议，但是他有足够的能力拔上几电话号码，快速地收集一些简单的信息。极有可能的是，很快他就能亲眼看到汽车换上了全新的轮胎，为此充满满足感。 What he needed was to have already figured those things out. If he gets that next-action thinking done, then, when he happens to have fifteen minutes before a meeting, with a phone at hand, and his energy at about 4.2 out of 10, he can look at the list of options of things to do and be delighted to see "Call tire store for prices" on it. "That's something I can do and complete successfully!" he'll think, and then he'll actually be motivated to make the call, just to experience the "win" of completing something useful in the time and energy window he's in. In this context he'd be incapable of starting a large proposal draft for a client, but he has sufficient resources for punching phone numbers and getting simple information quickly. It's highly probable that at some point soon he'll look at the new set of tires on his car and feel on top of the world.

领先的秘密在于开始行动。开始行动的秘密在于把复杂的大宗任务分解成为可以操作的细小工作，然后开始实施第一项内容。 ——马克吐温 The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelm ing tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. —Mark Twain 从最基层的水准入手，定义出真实行动的概要，并组织管理起我们可以依赖的提示信息。这两点是我们提高工作效率的钥匙。 Defining what real doing looks like, on the most basic level, and organizing placeholder reminders that we can trust, are master keys to productivity enhancement. 这些技巧可以通过学习而获得，并且我们还可以不断地加以提高和完善。 These are learnable techniques, and ones that we can continue to get better at. 通常情况下，由于我们没能对下一步行动作出最后的判断，即使那些最简单的事情也会常常遇到障碍。那些参加研讨会的人经常在他们的清单上看到这样的条目，如“调整汽车的发动机状况”。难道“调整发动机”是下一步的行动吗？不是的，除非当你穿上工作服，手持工具走出去准备动手时。 Often even the simplest things are stuck because we haven't made a final decision yet about the next action. People in my seminars often have things on their lists like "Get a tune-up for the car." Is "Get a tune-up" a next action? Not unless you're walking out with wrench in hand, dressed for grease. “因此，下一步行动是什么呢？” “我得把汽车送到修理厂去。是的，我需要弄清楚修理厂会不会处理，我想我要给他们打个电话，约个时间。” “你有电话号码吗？”

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“呀，没有，那个修理厂是弗雷德向我推荐的，但我不知道电话号码。我知道了，在这个过程中缺少了某个环节。” "So, what's the next action?" "Uh, I need to take the car to the garage. Oh, yeah, I need to find out if the garage can take it. I guess I need to call the garage and make the appointment." "Do you have the number?" "Darn, no ... I don't have the number for the garage. Fred recommended that garage to me, and I don't have the number. I knew something was missing in the equation." 通常，这就是很多遇到的情况。我们扫了一眼这项工作，我们头脑中的某个部分就启动起来了，“我还没有获取全部的信息。”我们知道缺少了什么，但又无法确定到底是什么，因此我们就退却了。 And that's often what happens with so many things for so many people. We glance at the project, and some part of us thinks, "I don't quite have all the pieces between here and there." We know something is missing, but we're not sure what it is exactly, so we quit. 如果缺少了下一步的行动，那么在当前的现实情况下，在你所需要实施的计划中就留下了一种潜在的、巨大的断层。 And that's often what happens with so many things for so many people. We glance at the project, and some part of us thinks, "I don't quite have all the pieces between here and there." We know something is missing, but we're not sure what it is exactly, so we quit. “那么，下一步做什么叫？” “我需要弄到电话号码。我猜，我可能从弗雷德那里拿到。” “你有他的号码吗？” “有的” "So, what's the next action?" "I need to get the number. I guess I could get it from Fred." "Do you have Fred's number?" "I have Fred's number!" 因此，下一步的真正的行动是“给弗雷德打电话，问一下修理厂的电话号码”。 So the next action really is "Call Fred for the number of the garage." 你是否注意到了，在我们真正地判断出下一步的行动方案之前，需要经过几个步骤呢？这一点非常具有代表性。在大多数人的清单上，有许多与此类似的事情。 Did you notice how many steps had to be tracked back before we actually got to the real next action on this project? That's typical. Most people have many things just like that on their lists.

为什么精明的人总是推迟大多数的事情呢 Why Bright People Procrastinate the Most 事实上，那些聪明绝顶的人所列出的清单上，未解决和未决定的事情总是高居榜首的。为什么呢？想一想，我们的身体对于头脑中保存的影像是如何作出反应的？看起来，我的神

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经系统根本分不甭哪些是大脑想像力的产物，哪些是现实的生活。 It's really the smartest people who have the highest number of undecided things in their lives and on their lists. Why is that? Think of how our bodies respond to the images we hold in our minds. It appears that the nervous system can't tell the difference between a well-imagined thought and reality. 为了向你自己证实这一点，你可以想像自己走进了一家超市，在水果蔬菜柜台前。面前是柑橘类水果的货架——柑橘、柚子柠檬。现在你看到了很多柠檬，旁边还有切菜板和水果刀。你拿起一个柠檬，切开，，闻一闻它的美味！，柠檬的汁水一滴一滴的往下流。好了，再切一刀，这样你手里拿着四分之一的柠檬了，把这块全部塞进你的嘴里，咬下去！！！（个人觉得这段描写好白痴，一个“望梅止渴”不就搞定了嘛，删减几十字） To prove this to yourself, picture yourself walking into a supermarket and going over to the brightly lit fruit-and-vegetable section. Are you there? OK, now go to the citrus bins—oranges, grapefruits, lemons. Now see the big pile of yellow lemons. There's a cutting board and a knife next to them. Take one of those big yellow lemons and cut it in half. Smell that citrus smell! It's really juicy, and there's lemon juice trickling onto the board. Now take a half lemon and cut that in half, so you have a quarter lemon wedge in your hands. OK, now—remember how you did this as a kid?— put that quarter of a lemon in your mouth and bite into it! Scrunch! 才智过人的人具有比其他人更迅速、更容易突然兴奋起来的能力。 Bright people have the capability of freaking out faster and more dramatically than anyone else. 如果你一直按照我的指未跟随着我玩这个游戏，大概你已经注意到了，你的唾液至少增加了一点。事实上你的身体正在试图对付这些酸溜溜的柠檬汁！你的大脑也是如此。 If you played along with me, you probably noticed that the saliva content in your mouth increased at least a bit. Your body was actually trying to process citric acid! And it was just in your mind. 如果你的大脑对你呈现给它的景色作出反应了，比如说，当你考虑有关报税事宜的时候，你的身体又会有什么样的感觉呢？你是不是正在给自己发送一些“这太容易了”、“我们开始吧”、“完成，成功”，以及“我赢了”这类的画面呢？大概不是。按照这个逻辑推理，有哪些人最容易对被提醒完成这种工作产生最强烈的抵触情绪呢？哪些人总是不断地拖延工作呢？当然这一定是那些最具创造力、高度敏感、聪明绝顶的人！他的的感悟能力可以在大脑中充分地展现处理这一类的工作时将会遇到的恶梦一样可怕景象，以及如果工作不能顺利完成，将会千万什么样的负面影响。瞬间，他们变得躁动不安，旋即便选择放弃了！ If your body responds to the pictures you give it, how are you likely to feel physically when you think about, say, doing your taxes? Are you sending yourself "easy," "let's go," completion, success, and "I'm a winner!" pictures? Probably not. For just that reason, what kinds of people would logically be the most resistant to being reminded about a project like that—that is, who would procrastinate the most? Of course, it would be the most creative, sensitive, and intelligent people! Because their sensitivity gives them the capability of producing in their minds lurid nightmare scenarios about what might be involved in doing the project, and all the negative consequences that might occur if it weren't done perfectly! They just freak out in an instant and quit!

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谁不会拖延呢？只有那些感觉迟钝的 SB 才会一味地只知道接受，然后开始艰难地跋涉，完全察觉不到所有的事情都可能发生念头。其他的人也往往倾向于推迟所有的事情。 Who doesn't procrastinate? Often it's the insensitive oafs who just take something and start plodding forward, unaware of all the things that could go wrong. Everyone else tends to get hung up about all kinds of things.

我是一个年老的人，认识到许许多多的困难和问题。但是，它们中的绝大部分从未发生过。 ——马克吐温 I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened. —Mark Twain 申报所得税？噢，这不是件简单的事。我肯定今年的情况会和往年的不同。我已经看到那些表格了，它们看起来不一样了。大概今年会出台新的规则，我必须搞清楚。可能我还必须先读读那些该死的资料。冗长的表格、简短的表格，不长不短的表格，是将它们归类放到一起呢？还是分门别类地保存呢？很可能，我们要申请一些扣除的税金，但是如果我们这样做，就需要提供所有的收据。噢，天呀！我不知道我们是否能够拿得出我们所需要的全部收据。如果我们找不出所有的收据，又申报了扣除税金，那么我们将会受到审计。那该怎么办呢？被查账？噢，不！美国国税局，监狱！！ Do my taxes? Oh, no! It's not going to be that easy. It's going to be different this year, I'm sure. I saw the forms—they look different. There are probably new rules I'm going to have to figure out. I might have to read all that damn material. Long form, short form, medium form? File together, file separate? We'll probably want to claim deductions, but if we do we'll have to back them up, and that means we'll need all the receipts. Oh, my God—I don't know if we really have all the receipts we'd need and what if we didn't have all the receipts but we claimed the deductions anyway and we got audited? Audited? Oh, no—the IRS—JAIL!! 仅仅扫一眼长达 1040 页的报税表格，就已经有许多人“把自己关到了监狱里面”。因为他们太聪明、太敏感、太富于创造力了。在我多年来的培训生涯中，这种情况已经多次得到了证实。通常堆积事物最多的人要数那些才智过人的人了。我接触过的大多数经理和主管人员手上都有几个重要复杂的、尚未定性的工作，要么堆积在书柜中，要么藏匿在他们的大脑里。这些地方总是潜伏着一些邪恶的想法——“如果我们对它不看、不想、不听，也许它们可以保持安静！” And so a lot of people put themselves in jail, just glancing at their 1040 tax forms. Because they're so smart, sensitive, and creative. In my many years of coaching individuals, this pattern has been borne out more times than I can count—usually it's the brightest and most sophisticated folks who have the most stuck piles, in their offices, homes, and heads. Most of the executives I work with have at least several big, complex, and amorphous 那么怎么样解决呢？人们总是先喝上一杯，让自己麻木，丧失知觉。每当人们的大脑中灌进了酒精后，就会发现自己的精力下降了，这是因为酒精是一种镇静剂，尽管在最初阶段会感到一点精神振奋。为什么呢? 因为酒精了某些东西，它封闭了一直活跃在这些人大脑中的那些消极的自言自语，阻断了那些令人心神不宁的有关前景的预测。当然如果我停止向自己呈现那些让人沮丧的失败的景色，我的精力自然就随之增强了。然而，这种自我麻醉的策略最多只能暂时生效。那些“事情”并没有因此而消失。令人遗憾的是，当我们麻醉自己的同

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时，我们同样也无法做出其他的任何选择，一切灵感、热情和精力的源泉似乎也同时消失了。 So what's the solution? There's always having a drink. Numb it out. Dumb it down. Notice what happens to many people when they get a little alcohol on the brain. It should drop their energy immediately, because it's a depressant; often, though, the energy lifts, at least initially. Why? The alcohol is depressing something—it's shutting down the negative self-talk and uncomfortable visions that are going on in these folks' minds. Of course my energy will increase if I stop depressing myself with overwhelming pictures of not handling something successfully. But the numb-out solutions are temporary at best. The "stuff" doesn't go away. And unfortunately, when we numb ourselves out, we can't do it selectively— the source of inspiration and enthusiasm and personal energy also seems to get numbed. 停止消极的想像总是能够增强你的精力。 Ceasing negative imaging will always cause your energy to increase. 巧妙的麻痹 Intelligent Dumbing Down 还存在着一种解决方案：通过分析出下一步行动来巧妙地麻痹你的大脑。当你确定了推动事物进程的下一个具体步骤时，无疑会有从压力中解脱出来的感觉。从本质上说，世界并没有发生任何改变。然而，当你把精力转移到一种可以实施和完成的任务时，就将大大地增强你的精力和方向感。 There is another solution: intelligently dumbing down your brain by figuring out the next action. You'll invariably feel a relieving of pressure about anything you have a commitment to change or do, when you decide on the very next physical action required to move it forward. Nothing, essentially, will change in the world. But shifting your focus to something that your mind perceives as a doable, completeable task will create a real increase in positive energy, direction, and motivation. If you truly captured all the things that have your attention during the mind-sweep, go through the list again now and decide on the single very next action to take on every one of them. Notice what happens to your energy.

无论问题多大、多严峻，你总可以向解决它们的方向迈出小小的一步，来根除掉束手无策的感觉。行动起来吧。 ——乔治 No matter how big and tough a problem may be, get rid of confusion by taking one little step toward solution. Do something. —George F. Nordenholt 你清单中和资料堆中的任何事情，要么强烈地吸引着你，要么令人深恶痛绝，中间状态是不存在的。 Everything on your lists and in your stacks is either attractive or repulsive to you— there's no neutral ground when it comes to your stuff. 对于所有工作，你不是希望一心一意地搞定它们，就是极不情愿去考虑问题的实质是什么，避免被卷入其中。在通常的情况下，只有下一步的行动得以确定以后，人们才能够区别开这两种极端。 You are either attracted or repelled by the things on your lists; there isn't any neutral territory. You

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are either positively drawn toward completing the action or reluctant to think about what it is and resistant to getting involved in it. Often it's simply the next-action decision that makes the difference between the two extremes. 在对培训的客户进行跟踪调查时，我发现引起许多许多人故态重演的一个难以察觉的原因，就是让他们的行动清单重新又演变为任务或次一级任务的目录，而绝非是独立详细的下一步行动。当然，相对于大多数人而言，他们仍然是超前的，因为他们确确实实地把事情一一地记录下来了。然而，他们经常发现自己面临着重重的阻碍，因而把事情一拖再拖。这是由于他们的行动清单包含着以下形式的内容： “与宴会委员会的委员们见面” “约翰尼的生日” “招待员” “ppt” In following up with people who have taken my seminars or been coached by my colleagues or me, I've discovered that one of the subtler ways many of them fall off the wagon is in letting their action lists grow back into lists of tasks or subprojects instead of discrete next actions. They're still ahead of most people because they're actually writing things down, but they often find themselves stuck, and procrastinating, because they've allowed their action lists to harbor items like: "Meeting with the banquet committee" "Johnny's birthday" "Receptionist" "Slide presentation" 换言之，事物又被还原到“材料”的状态，而不是保持在行动这一水位上。因此，如果找不到界线分明的下一步行动的话，任何一个保存着这类内容空洞的清单的人，都将不可避免地使其大脑进入超载状态。 In other words, things have morphed back into "stuff-ness instead of staying at the action level. There are no clear next actions here, and anyone keeping a list filled with items like this would send his or her brain into overload every time he/she looked at it. 这是不是一份额外的工作呢？搞清楚下一步行动是否要求你付出额外的努力呢？你是不是大可不必这样做呢？不是，当然不是。比如，如果你必须要调整汽车的发动机，那么，无论如何你都需要在某一时间判断出下面的步骤。问题是大多数人会一拖再拖，直到出现 “赶紧给汽车修理厂打电话，让他们马上派拖车过来！” Is this extra work? Is figuring out the next action on your commitments additional effort to expend that you don't need to? No, of course not. If you need to get your car tuned, for instance, you're going to have to figure out that next action at some point anyway. The problem is that most people wait to do it until the next action is "Call the Auto Club for tow truck!!" 因此，你认为大多数人是什么时候才真正地开始考虑下一步行动呢？是当它们刚刚露头时，还是等到事情搞砸的时候？你否同意，人们在事情的前期阶段着手处理，而不是拖延至后期阶段的话，他们生活的质量将会是完全不同的情形？你认为以哪一种方式来生活更加积极有效呢？是每当事情在你的脑子里一出现时，就立刻判定它的下一步行动呢，还是根据一定的环境要求对行动进行分类以保证它们的解决呢？还是尽力拖延对具体措施的思考，直到

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无法逃避时，再一边匆匆忙忙地赶去救火，一边盘算自己的活动呢？ So when do you think most people really make a lot of their next-action decisions about their stuff-—when it shows up, or when it blows up? And do you think there might be a difference in the quality of their lives if they handled this knowledge work on the front end instead of the back? Which do you think is the more efficient way to move through life—deciding next actions on your projects as soon as they appear on your radar screen and then efficiently grouping them into categories of actions that you get done in certain uniform contexts, or avoiding thinking about what exactly needs to be done until it has to be done, then nickel-and-diming your activities as you try to catch up and put out the fires? 直到最后一分钟压力逼人时才匆忙地作出决策，这导致了低效和不必要的精神紧张。 Avoiding action decisions until the pressure of the last minute creates huge inefficiencies and unnecessary stress. 听起来有些夸张，但是，当我询问众多的客户，在他们的公司时大多数行动方案是什么时候决定时，他们几乎都异口同声地回答“当问题出现时”。一位跨国公司的客户针对本民族文化中压力的来源进行了调查，他发现人们抱怨最多的要数紧急事件的处理了。而这种做法却受到了那些经常在事前未能恰当判断形势的团队领导的推崇。 That may sound exaggerated, but when I ask groups of people to estimate when most of the action decisions are made in their companies, with few exceptions they say, "When things blow up." One global corporate client surveyed its population about sources of stress in its culture, and the number one complaint was the last-minute crisis work consistently promoted by team leaders who failed to make appropriate decisions on the front end.

决策下一步行动所采用的标准的价值 The Value of a Next-Action Decision-Making Standard 有几位经验丰富的高级主管人员曾经告诉我，在他们的机构中把“下一步行动是什么” 作为一个动作的标准建立起来，是绩效评估方面的一种改革。这一做法永久地改变了他们的企业文化，而且无疑促进了它的发展。 I have had several sophisticated senior executives tell me that installing "What's the next action?" as an operational standard in their organizations was transformative in terms of measurable performance output. It changed their culture permanently and significantly for the better. 为什么呢？这是因为这个问题竭力推进了清晰、责任、工作效率和授权。 Why? Because the question forces clarity, accountability, productivity, and empowerment. 清晰 Clarity 有很多讨论在结束时，人们对已经作出的决定以及将要采取的行动仅仅有一个模糊不清的概念。然而，如果不能明确下一步要做什么，不清楚问题的本质是什么或者由谁来负责，很有可能大部分的问题仍然处于悬而未决的状态。 Too many discussions end with only a vague sense that people know what they have decided and are going to do. But without a clear conclusion that there is a next action, much less what it is or who's got it, more often than not a lot of "stuff" gets left up in the air.

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人们经常请示我帮助他们推动会议的进程，我为此也付出了不少学费呢。无论我们的讨论进行到了何种程度，在预定结束前的 20 分钟，我必须推出这个问题：“那么，下一步的行动是什么呢？”根据我的经验，人们往往还是要花费 20 分钟的时间斟酌一下，才能得出一个解决方案。 I am frequently asked to facilitate meetings. I've learned the hard way that no matter where we are in the conversation, twenty minutes before the agreed end-time of the discussion I must force the question: "So what's the next action here?" In my experience, there is usually twenty minutes' worth of clarifying (and sometimes tough decisions) still required to come up with an answer. 这是一种非常极端的基本常识。说它极端，是因为这个问题经常迫使讨论向更深的层次推进，超越了人们可以轻松应付的限度。“对于这件事，我们是不是严肃认真的呢？”“我们是否真正地了解我们目前的行动呢？”“我们是否真心希望为此付出宝贵的时间和资源呢？” 要想逃避进一步的思考是很容易的。为了防止这些事情滑入无组织的“资料”当中去，我们必须迫使自己判断下一步的具体行动。通常，人们还需要开展进一步的讨论、探索磋商和谈判才能够熟悉某一话题。 This is radical common sense—radical because it often compels discussion at deeper levels than people are comfortable with. "Are we serious about this?" "Do we really know what we're doing here?" "Are we really ready to allocate precious time and resources to this?" It's very easy to avoid these more relevant levels of thinking. What prevents those issues from slipping away into amorphous "stuff" is forcing the decision about the next action. Some further conversation, exploration, deliberation, and negotiation are often needed to put the topic to rest. The world is too unpredictable these days to permit assumptions about outcomes: we need to take responsibility for moving things to clarity. 责任 Accountability “互相协作文化”的不利方面在于人们比较反感让任何人承担起责任。令人遗憾的是，“我的，还是你的”并没有出现在许多机构的共同词汇当中。人们感觉这样做可能不够礼貌。“我们共同参与这件事”是一种非常值得钦佩的观点，但在当今讲求实际的工作环境中这种观点并不可取。当太多的会议结束时，参与者往往有这样一种模糊的感觉：我们需要做些什么，但是与此同时，他们又暗自希望这个任务千万不要落在自己头上。 The dark side of "collaborative cultures" is the allergy they foster to holding anyone responsible for having the ball. "Mine or yours?" is unfortunately not in the common vocabulary of many such organizations. There is a sense that that would be impolite. "We're all in this together" is a worthy sentiment, but seldom a reality in the hard-nosed day-to-day world of work. Too many meetings end with a vague feeling among the players that something ought to happen, and the hope that it's not their personal job to make it so. 我认为允许人们在讨论结束后糊涂地走开是极不明智的做法。真正意义上的“团结精神” 应该体现在大家都积极地参与定义问题的实质，并委派某一具体的人来负责实施，这样一来，每个人都能从悬而未决的折磨中解脱出来。 The way I see it, what's truly impolite is allowing people to walk away from discussions unclear. Real "togetherness" of a group is reflected by the responsibility that all take for defining the real things to do and the specific people assigned to do them, so everyone is freed of the angst of still-undecided actions.

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再重复一次，如果你亲自参与了这样的会议，你就能理解我所表达的意思了。如果你不在场，你可以考验它一把，冒一个小的风险，在下一次召开的员工会议上或者在饭桌旁举行的“家庭畅谈”中，当每一次讨论结束时问上一句“那么，这个问题的下一步行动是什么呢？” Again, if you've been there, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, test it out—take a small risk and ask "So what's the next action on this?" at the end of each discussion point in your next staff meeting, or in your next "family conversation" around the dinner table. 工作成效 Productivity 由于以上所提到的各种原因，一旦人们在明确预期结果后，立即确定需要分配调用的各种资源，这有助于我们事半功倍。 Organizations naturally become more productive when they model and train front-end next-action decision-making. For all the reasons mentioned above, determining the required physical allocation of resources necessary to make something happen as soon as the outcome has been clarified will produce more results sooner, and with less effort. 错综复杂的创造性思维可能冻结人们的活动。学会突破这种思维的障碍是一门出众的技能。然而，在充斥着“知识工作”的当今世界，所有一切在高科技领域中取得的发展进步和所有有关提高领导才能的研讨会，在这方面都显得束手无策，除非每个人都切实地提高自身的反应程度。而这要求你自觉思考生活中的所有事情，不要等到迫不得已时才行动。 Learning to break through the barriers of the sophisticated creative thinking that can freeze activity—that is, the entangled psychic webs we spin—is a superior skill. "Productivity" has been touted for decades as a desirable thing to improve in organizations. Anything that can help maximize output will do that. But in the world of knowledge work, all the computers and telecom improvements and leadership seminars on the planet will make no difference in this regard unless the individuals involved increase their operational responsiveness. And that requires thinking about something that lands in your world before you have to.

一个行动计划面临着风险和代价，但是比起懒散懈怠所导致的长期危险和代价来说，它们要少得多。 ——J·F·Kennedy There are risks and costs to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range ' risks and costs of comfortable inaction. —John F. Kennedy 我在某些机构中观察到，他们在工作成效方面的重大漏洞就是缺乏对“长期”工作下一步行动的决策。“长期”并不意味着“将来某时/也许”。这些项目虽然目标长远，但它们仍然需要尽快地完成，“长期”仅仅是指“完成之前要采取更多的步骤”，而不是“因为距离完成时间非常遥远，因此，不必决定其下一步的行动方案”。当一个组织机构中的每一项工作、每一个悬而未决的问题都处于监控之中时，一个全新局面就诞生了。 One of the biggest productivity leaks I have seen in some organizations is the lack of next actions determined for "long-term" projects. "Long-term" does not mean "Someday/Maybe." Those projects with distant goal lines are still to be done as soon as possible; "long-term" simply means, "more action steps until it's done," not "no need to decide next actions because the day of reckoning is so far away." When every project and open loop in an organization is being

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monitored, it's a whole new ball game. 只有在每一个人提高了自己的应变能力之后，团队的效率才会提升。在“知识工作中”，这意味着在前期阶段判定行动方案，而不是拖到后期。 Productivity will improve only when individuals increase their operational responsiveness. And in knowledge work, that means clarifying actions on the front end instead of the back.

授权 Empowerment 也许采纳“下一步行动”方法的最大益自在于：它可显著地提高你推动事物发展的技能，增强你的自尊心和全局的观察力。 Perhaps the greatest benefit of adopting the nextaction approach is that it dramatically increases your ability to make things happen, with a concomitant rise in your self-esteem and constructive outlook. 人们一直忙碌于处理各种各样的事情，但是通常是在他们受到来自于内心驱使或者他人的命令时，才不得已去做。他们体验不到成功感，或者是合作感。人们渴望这种经历。 People are constantly doing things, but usually only when they have to, under fire from themselves or others. They get no sense of winning, or of being in control, or of cooperating among themselves and with their world. People are starving for those experiences. 在日常生活中，明确任务做的还不够彻底，而执行过程中的具体步骤也都必须进行变革。如果在受到外部压力和内心紧张的驱使之前，积极主动地把事情搞定，将有助于我们打下一个自我价值的坚实基础，这种价值感将延伸到你生活中的各个方面。你就是驾驶着自己这艘船的透彻，立足于这一出发点，事情就将朝着有利于你的方向快速地发展。 The daily behaviors that define the things that are incomplete and the moves that are needed to complete them must change. Getting things going of your own accord, before you're forced to by external pressure and internal stress, builds a firm foundation of self-worth that will spread into every aspect of your life. You are the captain of your own ship; the more you act from that perspective, the better things will go for you. 提出“下一步行动是什么”这个问题，可以削弱关于“受苦者”的思维方式。这预示着存在变化的可能性，而且你可以采取某种措施促成这一变化的发生。这就是行为中的假定的断言。而这类“假定的断言”更能够从根本上发挥作用，建立起一个积极的自我形象。这比单纯地重复“我是一个强大而高效的人，可以促成生活中的一切事物的发展！”有效一千倍。 Asking "What's the next action?" undermines the victim mentality. It presupposes that there is a possibility of change, and that there is something you can do to make it happen. That is the assumed affirmation in the behavior. And these kinds of "assumed affirmations" often work more fundamentally to build a positive self-image than can repeating "I am a powerful, effective person, making things happen in my life!" a thousand times. 你是否听过很多的抱怨起呢？下一次当某人再为某事抱怨时，你可以尝试着问一问，“那么，下一步的行动是什么呢？”人们只会为那些尚未达到的预期效果的事情而感到不满。如果这种情况可以得到改善，那么就存在某些改善的方法。如果这种情况不能改观，人们必须

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将其视为全局的一个方面，并纳入战略和战术决策之中，抱怨是一种标志，它预示着某个人不愿意为改变当前的局面承担任何风险，尽管这种局面具有改善的可能性；或者在情况失控后，也不愿调整自己的计划来反映真实的情况，这是一种暂时而空洞的自我承认的外在表象。 Is there too much complaining in your culture? The next time someone moans about something, try asking, "So what's the next action?" People will complain only about something that they assume could be better than it currently is. The action question forces the issue. If it can be changed, there's some action that will change it. If it can't, it must be considered part of the landscape to be incorporated in strategy and tactics. Complaining is a sign that someone isn't willing to risk moving on a changeable situation, or won't consider the immutable circumstance in his or her plans. This is a temporary and hollow form of selfvalidation. 尽管我和很少以这种方式促进我们的工作，但是我注意到当我训练人们运用下一步行动的技巧时，他们赋予了自己更大的力量：他们的两眼发光，脚步轻盈，思想迸出自信的火花。也许我们早已经十分强大了，但是在决策和管理具体行动时，我们似乎在运用这种力量，并由此感召了人性中更加积极的方面。 Although my colleagues and I rarely promote our work in this way, I notice people really empowering themselves every day as we coach them in applying the next-action technique. The light in their eyes and the lightness in their step increase, and a positive spark shows up in their thinking and demeanor. We are all already powerful, but deciding on and effectively managing the physical actions required to move things forward seems to exercise that power in ways that call forward the more positive aspects of our nature.

人们总是把自己的问题归咎于环境。我不相信环境，所有在这个世界上出人头地的人都是那些勇于站起来寻找机会的人。如果无法找到，他们就自己创造条件。 ——萧伯纳 People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, - make them. —George Bernard Shaw 当你开始着手促成事物的发展时，你心里的确开始相信你能够做到这一点，而这恰恰推动了事物进程。 When you start to make things happen, you really begin to believe that you can make things happen. And that makes things happen.

第 13 章窍门 3：关注结果 The Power of Outcome Focusing 对于通过引导我们的思维和想像力来创造变革，人们已经在各种不同的环境中对其作用进行了大力的研究和发展——从早期有关“积极思维”的书籍到最近在高级神经生理学方面的全新发现。 THE POWER OF directing our mental and imaginative processes to create change has been studied and promoted in thousands of contexts—from the early "positive thinking" books to recent discoveries in advanced neurophysiology.

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长久以来，我一直对这个在现实生活中的应用充满了兴趣：它是否有助于把事情搞定呢？如果可以，我们如何才能够最有效地利用它把我们的生活和工作管理的井井有条呢？我们是否能够充分利用这个信息，以较少的付出获取更好的结果呢？回答是肯定的“可以”。 My own interest has been in applying of the principle in terms of practical reality: Does it help get things done? And if so, how do we best utilize it in managing the work of our lives? Can we really use this information in ways that allow us to produce what we want to have happen with less effort? The answer has been a resounding yes. 关注和捷径 Focus and the Fast Track 在过去的几年里，我曾亲眼目睹人们采纳了本书中推荐的访求，在生活中获得成功。随着你逐渐地养成习惯，并把它作为应对所有情况时的一个主要手段——从处理电子邮件到购买房子，安排会议或者与孩子交流沟通，你的工作效率可以从根本上得到改观。 Over the years I have seen the application of the method presented in this book create profound results for people in their day-to-day worlds. As you begin to use it habitually as your primary means of addressing all situations—from processing e-mails, to buying a house or a company, to structuring meetings or having conversations with your kids—your personal productivity can go through the roof. 我接触过的许多专业人士都采用这一方法，现在他们的事业蒸蒸日上，甚至换了全新的工作和职业。这些方法即使在应付那些琐碎事务时也确实发挥了作用。当你在艰苦环境中作战的能力显著提高了时，大概你也不会在同一个战壕里停留过长的时间吧。因此，学习和培训人产如何对付具体的细节问题，以及如何把想像力的积极力量同初中经验结合在一起，一直让我备受鼓舞。 Many of the professionals I have worked with who integrated this method now find themselves experiencing enhanced or even new jobs and careers. These processes really work in the arena of the ordinary things we must deal with daily—the stuff of our work. When you demonstrate to yourself and to others an increasing ability to get things done "in the trenches," you probably won't stay in the same trench for very long.* (*Of course, the people who are most attracted to implementing Getting Things Done are usually already on a self-development track and don't assume that they'll be doing the same thing a year from now that they're doing now, anyway. But they love the fact that this method gets them there faster and more easily.)It's been inspiring for me to learn and coach others how to deal with the immediate realities down where the rubber hits the road—and how to tie in the power of positive imagery to practical experiences in all our daily lives. 上面标题中所引用的“捷径”一词可能不够恰当。对于某些人来说，放慢速度，摆脱那些单调的、无意义的事情，把自己的一切管理得井井有条，可能就是实施这一方法论后引发的重大变革。关键在于：它能够增强你的注意力和解决问题的能力，无论这些目标是什么。 The "fast track" alluded to in the section heading above is a bit of misnomer. For some, slowing down, getting out of the squirrel cage, and taking care of themselves may be the major change precipitated by this methodology. The bottom line is it makes you more conscious, more focused, and more capable of implementing the changes and results you want, whatever they are. “创造一种方法，以便我可以定期多抽出一些时间来陪伴我的女儿”。这个想法同其他任

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何一项工作一样明确而具体，并且同样要求下一步行动的判定。然而，仅仅拥有一个模糊不清、令人苦恼的认识，即你“应该”为改善你同你女儿的关系做点什么，而事实上根本不付诸行动，这可能最终被证明是一个破坏因素。我经常与一些客户在一起，他们积极地承认在目前的生活中很事情都“不完善”，他们把这些事情记录下来，明确了问题的实质，保证下一步行动方案的决策，直到最终完成。这才是真正意义上的工作效率，也是其最出色的体现。 "Create a way to regularly spend more time with my daughter" is as specific a project as any, and equally demanding of a next action to be determined. Having the vague, gnawing sense that you "should" do something about your relationship with your daughter, and not actually doing anything, can be a killer. I often work with clients who are willing to acknowledge the real things of their lives at this level as "incompletes"—to write them down, define real projects about them, and ensure that next actions are decided on—until the finish line is crossed. That is real productivity, perhaps in its most awesome manifestation.

展望前景所带来的重大意义 The Significance of Applied Outcome Thinking 目前我强调的是如何学会处理我们工作中的细节琐事，并且始终如一地使用这个清晰而连贯的系统，这样做带来的显著变化很可能是我们所预想不到的。 What I want to emphasize now is how learning to process the details of our work and lives with this clear and consistent system can affect others and ourselves in significant ways we may not expect. 我曾经说过，运用“下一步行动”方法产生清晰、工作效率、责任和权力感等效果。当你为了获得真实生动的结果而明确工作任务时，也可以达到完全相同的效果。 As I've said, employing next-action decision-making results in clarity, productivity, accountability, and empowerment. Exactly the same results happen when you hold yourself to the discipline of identifying the real results you want and, more specifically, the projects you need to define in order to produce them. 明确具体的工作，判定可以解决问题的具体行动，这才是工作效率的最佳境界 Defining specific projects and next actions that address real quality-of-life issues is productivity at its best.

一切环节全部都交融在一起。只有当你对预期结果一清二楚时，才有可能定义出恰当的举措。如果你对促成事物发生的具体行动仍然没有把握，你的预期目标必定与现实生活严重地脱节。你可以从这两方面入手来解决问题，你必须这样去做。 It's all connected. You can't really define the right action until you know the outcome, and your outcome is disconnected from reality if you're not clear about what you need to do physically to make it happen. You can get at it from either direction, and you must, to get things done. 史蒂文是大脑研究方面的一位专家，也是我的一位好友。他这样解释，生活中只存在两个问题： 1、你知道你想要得到的东西，但你不知道应该如何获取它； 2、你不知道你到底想要什么。

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如果这种说法是真实的（我认为是的），那么，也就只存在着两种解决方法： 1、制定一个目标 2、促成这件事 As an expert in whole-brain learning and good friend of mine, Steven Snyder, put it, "There are only two problems in life: (1) you know what you want, and you don't know how to get it; and/or (2) you don't know what you want." If that's true (and I think it is) then there are only two solutions: * Make it up. * Make it happen. 这可以从阴/阳、右脑/左脑、造物者/毁灭者或者其他的相对模式中加以分析推断。事实上，人类的能量具有二元论和目的论两种性质，我们创造并且认同那些我们尚未体验到的一切非真实的事物；当我们行动时，我们知道应该如何为现行体系改换一个全新的机制，同时还感悟到一种变革的冲动。 This can be construed from the models of yin/yang, right brain/left brain, creator/destroyer—or whatever equivalent works best for you. The truth is, our energy as human beings seems to have a dualistic and teleological reality—we create and identify with things that aren't real yet on all the levels we experience; and when we do, we recognize how to restructure our current world to morph it into the new one, and experience an impetus to make it so. 我们在不断地创造问题和解决问题。 We are constantly creating and fulfilling. 吸引你注意力的事物需要投入你的意念。“这件事对我意味着什么呢？”“为什么会出现在这里呢？”“我希望哪些成为现实呢？”“成功的前景是什么呢？”你所体验到的一切的不完善必定以某一个“完善”作为参照点。 Things that have your attention need your intention engaged. "What does this mean to me?" "Why is it here?" "What do I want to have be true about this?" ("What's the successful outcome?") Everything you experience as incomplete must have a reference point for "complete." 一旦你决定要改变某个事物和塑造某个模式，这时你可以向自己发问：“我现在如何才能促成这事件呢？”或者“我需要调用哪些资料来保存事件的发生呢？” Once you've decide that there is something to be changed and a mold to fill, you ask yourself, "How do I now make this happen?" and/or "What resources do I need to allocate to make it happen?" ("What's the next action?"). 你的生活和工作是由结果和行动所构成的。当你日复一日地以此为动力来组织管理一切事物时，就自然地形成了习惯，使得你的工作事半功倍，你制定了一个个目标，并促成它们的实现。 Your life and work are made up of outcomes and actions. When your operational behavior is grooved to organize everything that comes your way, at all levels, based upon those dynamics, a deep alignment occurs, and wondrous things emerge. You be come highly productive. You make things up, and you make them happen.

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生活无法为我们提供皆宜更多的快乐：克服重重困难，从成功的台阶攀登上另一个台阶，然后萌发新的意愿，并亲眼目睹它们一一实现。 ——Dr.Samuel Johnson Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties, passing from one step of success to another, forming new wishes and seeing them gratified. —Dr. Samuel Johnson

掌握世俗琐事的魔力 The Magic of Mastering the Mundane 我的客户经常对此难以置信：当他们花了几个小时去清理办公桌的抽屉，痛苦地搜索着积聚在大脑和周围的细小琐事时，我竟然一直安稳地坐在他们的办公室里，他们认为我肯定早就烦的要死了。然而恰恰相反，我发现这是最令让我陶醉的一种与人共同工作的方式了。我知道解脱和自由的感觉就在徘徊在处理这些事物的背后。我明白，在我们建立起内在的行为准则、习惯于所需的行为模式之前，需要不断地实践、别人的扶持以及保持高度清醒才能够达到的目标。我清楚这些人将在随后的几个小时，几天和几年的时间中，体验到他们与老板、合作伙伴、配偶、孩子以及他们自己之间的相互关系将会发生多么重大的变化。 My clients often wonder how I can sit with them in their offices, often for hours on end, as they empty the drawers of their desks and painstakingly go through the minutiae of stuff that they have let accumulate in their minds and their physical space. Aside from the common embarrassment they feel about the volume of their irresponsibly dealt-with details, they assume I should be bored to tears. Quite the contrary. Much to my own surprise, I find it to be some of the most engaging work I do with -people. I know the release and relief and freedom that sit on the other side of dealing with these things. I know that we all need practice and support and a strong, clear focus to get through them, until we have the built-in standards and behaviors we need to engage with them as they demand. I know how significant a change these people may experience in their relationships with their bosses, their partners, their spouses, their kids, and themselves over the next few hours and (we hope) days and years. 这一点都不让人感觉到厌烦，这是我们最富挑战性和成就感的工作。 It's not boring. It's some of the best work we do.

多层次成果管理 Multilevel Outcome Management 我目前从事着一个热点行业。作为一名管理顾问和培训教练，我开口问一些简单的问题。这些问题常常引发富有创意的回答，而答案又为当前的形势和工作增添了价值。人们与我共同工作以后，并不比之前更加聪明，他们仅仅是有效地引导和利用了他们的聪明才智。 I'm in the focus business. As a consultant and coach, I ask simple questions that often elicit very creative and intelligent responses from others (and even myself!), which can in turn add value to the situation and work at hand. People aren't any smarter after they work with me than they were before—they just direct and utilize their intelligence more productively. 挑战就是把高层次的理想目标融入平凡的日常活动中去。最终它们需要同样的思考过程

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The challenge is to marry high-level idealistic focus to the mundane activity of life. In the end they require the same thinking. 本书最独特的地方在于把效率和效果融合在一起。这些方法可以运用到你生活中的每一个层面中去。这其中不仅包含了激发“目标、价值观、前景”等高层面思维，还兼顾了控制电话号码、约会和日杂用品清单等许多日常细节。我们很少同时关注这两个层面的实践，现在把它们结合起来吧。 What's unique about the practical focus of Getting Things Done is the combination of effectiveness and efficiency that these methods can bring to every level of your reality. There are lots of inspirational sources for the high-level "purpose, values, vision" kind of thinking, and many more mundane tools for getting hold of smaller details such as phone numbers and appointments and grocery lists. The world has been rather barren, however, of practices that relate equally to both levels, and tie them together. “这对于我意味着什么呢？”“我希望哪些成为现实呢？”“促成这件事的下一步措施是什么呢？”这些无疑都是我们必须回答的基础问题，有时对所有的事物都应该提出来。这种思考过程连同辅助这一思维的工具，将为你带来意想不到的收获。 "What does this mean to me?" "What do I want to have be true about it?" "What's the next step required to make that happen?" These are the corner-stone questions we must answer, at some point, about everything. This thinking, and the tools that support it, will serve you in ways you may not yet imagine.

自然式计划法的神奇力量 The Power of Natural Planning 自然式计划法的价值在于，它提供了一种综合完整、灵活我变、连贯一致的思维模式。 The value of all this natural project planning is that it provides an integrated, flexible, aligned way to think through any situation.

理想文义者认为，短期的问题无关紧要。愤世嫉俗的人相信，长期的目标没有什么了不起。而现实主义者认定，短期内已经完成的和未完成的工作状况，决定了长期目标的实现 ——Sidney J. Harris An idealist believes that the short run doesn't count. A cynic believes the long run doesn't matter. A realist believes that what is done or left undone in the short run determines the long run. —Sidney]. Harris 适应并接受对你当前行为的目的所提出的质疑，是一种健康而成熟的表现。在理清具体措施之前，设想一下成功的前景，这是一项我们需要强化的重要能力。发挥聪明才智的关键因素在于乐于激发思想的火花，无论好坏，不附加任何评价，把它们全部表达出来，并牢牢把握。以某个具体的预期结果为目标，对想法和信息进行分类整理，最终按构成因素、次序和重要程序归纳，这个过程是一个必要的脑力磨练。最后，决断并采取实实在在的下一步行动，在真实的物质世界中推动事物的发展进程才是生产力的根本所在。 Being comfortable with challenging the purpose of anything you may be doing is healthy and mature. Being able to "make up" visions and images of success, before the methods are clear, is a phenomenal trait to strengthen. Being willing to have ideas, good or bad, and to express and

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capture all of them without judgments is critical for fully accessing creative intelligence. Honing multiple ideas and types of information into components, sequences, and priorities aimed toward a specific outcome is a necessary mental discipline. And deciding on and taking real next actions—actually moving on something in the physical world—are the essence of productivity. 工作能力的一个主要表现在于能否把所有这些因素在适当的时机结合在一起，并获取一种平衡。但这还没有成为专业人士们的行为准则。目前，还远远不是。把这种认知能力应用于个人生活和工作的方方面面，仍然是一项令人望而却步的艰巨任务。然而，只要当这个模式中的一小部分内容被纳入到人们的生活轨道上来，令人震惊的收益就产生了。 Being able to bring all these ingredients together, with appropriate timing and balance, is perhaps the major component of professional competence for this new millennium. But it's not yet the norm in professional behavior; far from it. It's still a daunting task to apply this awareness to all the aspects of personal and professional life. But even when only portions of the model are inserted, tremendous benefit ensues. 在我多年从事咨询、教学和培训的生涯中，我所收到的有关该模式的反馈信息证明：即使人们仅仅采纳了自然式计划法中一小部分的内容，他们的工作都将得到不同凡响的重大改进。看到越来越多的人开动脑筋、集思广益，并使之成为一种标准的处理手段，真是令我感到振奋不已。这一切仅仅再一次地证实了，顺其自然的思维模式正是推动这个物质世界中任何事物向前发展的方式，对此应该充分地加以利用。 The feedback I have gotten over the years in my consulting, teaching, and coaching with this model has continued to validate that even the slightest increase in the use of natural planning can bring significant improvement. To see brainstorming about almost every aspect of their lives becoming a standard tool for many people is terrific. To hear from executives who have used the model as a way to frame key meetings and discussions, and have gotten great value from doing that, is gratifying. It all just affirms that the way our minds naturally work is the way that we should focus to make anything happen in the physical world. 这个模式仅仅是一个简单明了的基本原则。它规定了如何确定工作的预期结果和具体行动。当这个关键点成为我们日常生活中的行动准则时，生产力的水平就将显著提高。此外，启动奇思妙想，表达和捕捉种种各样的想法、观点和细节，有助于构建一套品质一流的行动模式，帮助人们轻松地搞定任何事情。 The model is simply the basic principle of determining outcomes and actions for everything we consider to be our work. When those two key focus points become the norm in our day-to-day lives, the baseline for productivity moves to another level. The addition of brainstorming—the most creative means of expressing and capturing ideas, perspectives, and details about projects—makes for an elegant set of behaviors for staying relaxed and getting things done.

把企业文化转入积极向上的轨道 Shifting to a Positive Organizational Culture 提高一个群体的生产标准并不是一件冒很大风险的事情。我不断地收到这样的反馈信息：稍加推行这种方法后，就可以立刻促进事物的发展，而且更迅速、更容易。 It doesn't take a big change to increase the productivity standards of a group. I continually get feedback indicating that with a little implementation, this method immediately makes things

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happen more quickly and more easily. 在我所熟知的每一个企业中，参照目标和预期成果对日常的各种行动、资产分配、交流沟通、政策方针以及操作程序进行富有建设性的评估和测定，变得日益重要了。所年来，随着全球化进程不断地向前推进，竞争变得日益残酷，技术革新的步伐不断加快，市场变化无常，业绩和生产标准也随之大大地提高。来自以上各方面的压力导致企业面临日益艰巨的挑战。 The constructive evaluation of activities, asset allocations, communications, policies, and procedures against purposes and intended outcomes has become increasingly critical for every organization I know of. The challenges to our companies continue to mount, with pressures coming these days from globalization, competition, technology, shifting markets, and raised standards of performance and production. “我们希望这次会议达成什么样的决议呢？”“这个表格的目的何在呢？”“这项工作的理想人选应该具有什么样的能力呢？”“我们希望通过使用这种软件取得何种成果呢？”在许多岗位上，这样的问题往往还难以听到。在重大会议上，听来不错的意见有很多，但只有把问题的答案抽入到日常的操作中去，才能创造出意义深远的结果。 "What do we want to have happen in this meeting?" "What is the purpose of this form?" "What would the ideal person for this job be able to do?" "What do we want to accomplish with this software?" These and a multitude of other, similar questions are still sorely lacking in many quarters. There's plenty of talk in the Big Meetings that sounds good, but learning to ask "Why are we doing this?" and "What will it look like when it's done successfully?" and to apply the answers at the day-to-day operational level—that is what will create profound results. 当抱怨者和受害者的心态转化为主宰者时，权力感就产生了。而当这成为一个所遵循的标准时，它不仅提高了工作效率，也发送了工作扭转。当然，还有很多其他问题要解决，比如消极的抵触情绪应该转化为对不同层次理想结果的关注。 Empowerment naturally ensues for individuals as they move from complaining and victim modalities into outcomes and actions defined for direction. When that becomes the standard in a group, it creates significant improvement in the atmosphere as well as the output. There are enough other problems to be concerned with; negativity and passive resistance need to continually give way to a focus on the desired results at the appropriate horizons. 人们是如何处理他们的工作篮、电子邮件以及同别人的交流呢？这些活动在浓缩后将在企业的宏观现实中充分地体现出来。如果中间出现了任何疏漏，如果对行动的决策在前期阶段遇到了抵制，如果悬而未决的问题没有全部得到负责任的解决，那么这些情况将在群体的内部极度地放大和扩张，企业文化将遭受到毁灭。相反，如果每个独立的个体切实深入地推行本书中的各种原则，企业文化将树立起一种新的标准。当然，各种问题和矛盾冲突不会就此消失，只要试图改变（或者维持）世界上的任何事物，它们都将随之暴露出来。然而，本书中提到的动作模式将为你解决这些问题提供最为有效的关注点和工作框架。 The microcosm of how people deal with their in-baskets, e-mail, and conversations with others will be reflected in the macro-reality of their culture and organization. If balls are dropped, if decisions about what to do are resisted on the front end, if not all the open loops are managed responsibly, that will be magnified in the group, and the culture will sustain a stressful

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fire-and-crisis siege mentality. If, in contrast, individuals are implementing the principles of Getting Things Done, the culture will expect and experience a new standard of high performance. Problems and conflicts will not go away—they remain inherent as you attempt to change (or maintain) anything in this world. The operational behaviors of this book, however, will provide the focus and framework for addressing them in the most productive way.

没有明确任务的展望只是梦想缺乏前景的任务只是痛苦的劳作。同时拥有前景和任务才是世界的希望 ——英格半萨塞克斯教堂 1730 A vision without a task is but a dream, a task without a vision is drudgery, a vision and a task is the hope of the world. —From a church in Sussex, England, ca.1730

结论 Conclusion 我希望这本书对你有所帮助，你已经开始收获事半功倍的成果，同时减轻了精神上压力。我真心希望你通过运用这些技巧体会到“心静如水”的自由，施展了你的创造才能。那些刚刚着手实施这些方法的人，总能够发现比他们在此看到的更加丰富多彩的内容。也许你已经开始施行自己所创造出的这些方法的翻版了。 I HOPE THIS book has been useful—that you have started to reap the rewards of getting more done with less effort and stress. And I really hope you have tasted the freedom of a "mind like water" and the release of your creative energies that can come with the application of these techniques. Those who begin to implement these methods always discover there's more here than meets the eye, and you may have begun to experience your own version of that. 我确信，本书已经印证了许多你早就熟知的道理，证明了一些你长期以来坚持的行事方法，也许你会让你在这个日益复杂并让人紧张烦躁的世界里，更加轻松系统地支用这些基本常识。 I'll bet Getting Things Done has validated much of what you already know and have been doing to some degree all along. Perhaps, though, it will make it much easier for you to apply that common sense more systematically in a world that seems to increasingly confound us with its intensity and complexity. 今天，到处都能看到成功理论和模式的书，而我写这本书的意图，并不是添加雷同的一本。相反，这本书的核心方法不会随着时代的变化而发生变化，而且每当人们支用这些方法时，总能够收到良好的效果。像万有引力一样，当你理解了这个原则，无论做什么事情，都可以大大提高动作的效率，也许这就是回归事物本源的真谛。 My intent is not to add more to the plethora of modern theories and models about how to be successful. I have tried, on the contrary, to define the core methods that don't change with the times, and which, when applied, always work. Like gravity, when you understand the principle, you can operate a lot more effectively, no matter what you're doing. Perhaps this is the Leading Edge of Back to Basics!

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“尽管去做”就是这样的一个指路图，它帮助我们达到一种精力集中同时放松自如的状态，这恰恰体现了获得最高效率时的特点。请你把它当作一个参考工具，当你需要时帮你恢复到积极的状态。 Getting Things Done is a road map to achieve the positive, relaxed focus that characterizes your most productive state. I invite you to use it, like a road map, as a reference tool to get back there whenever you need to. 为了能够坚持这一方向，你必须采取一些措施，尽管到目前为止，你很可能还没有养成习惯——把一切事情从你的大脑中理出去；每当事情出现在大脑中就作出决策，而不是拖到日后；回顾和更新包含了各种悬而未决问题的完整清单。我希望到目前为止，你至少已经建立起一个参照点，来评估这些行动所产生的坐。尽管需要花费一些时间才能够养成这些习惯，但你千万不要对此感到惊讶。耐心一些，享受这个过程吧。 To consistently stay on course, you'll have to do some things that may not be habits yet: keep everything out of your head; decide actions and outcomes when things first emerge on your radar, instead of later; and regularly review and update the complete inventory of open loops of your life and work. I hope by now you at least have established a reference point for the value these behaviors create. Don't be surprised, though, if it takes a little while to make them automatic. Be patient, and enjoy the process. 最后，这里有一些推动这一进程的小窍门： 1、建立起个人组织管理的设施，安排整理你的工作台，准备几个工作篮，创建一个个人的归档系统——在单位和家里，准备一个性能良好的计划手册，上面有完整的管理项目的清单。我还建议你允许自己进行一些变革，采用那些你一直希望能用来改善工作环境的方法。挂起图片，准备好笔，扔掉垃圾，重新布置工作环境，启动一个崭新的开端。 2、预留一段时间，你可以利用这段时间整理办公室中某一个完整的区域，然后清理家中的每一个角落，把一切收到你的系统当中。 3、同别人分享你从书中所获得的、任何具有令人鼓舞东西（这是最快的学习方法）。 4、 3-6 个月后，再回顾本书的内容，你会发现很多第一次阅读时漏掉东西。 5、与宣传和讨论回顾这些行为标准的人保持联系。请访问(http://www.davidco.com)如果你有需求，可以通过电邮 info@davidco.com 或者打电话 805-6468432(这好象是米国电话，你米多的话可以打打玩) Here are some final tips for moving forward: * Get your personal physical organization hardware set up. Get your workstation organized. Get in-baskets. Create a personal filing system—for work and home. Get a good list-management organizer that you are inspired to play with. I also suggest that you give yourself permission to make any changes that you have been contemplating for enhancing your work environments. Hang pictures, buy pens, toss stuff, rearrange your work space. Support your fresh start. * Set aside some time when you can tackle one whole area of your office, and then each part of your house. Gather everything into your system, and work through the Getting Things Done process. * Share anything of value you've gleaned from this with someone else. (It's the fastest way to learn.) * Review Getting Things Done again in three to six months. You'll notice things you might have

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missed the first time through, and I guarantee it will seem like a whole new book. * Stay in touch with people who are broadcasting and reflecting these behaviors and standards. (We're available. Visit http://www.davidco.com anytime for tons of free support material, conversations about these best practices, current information about supportive products and services, and access to our global network of people sharing the best practices in productivity. For anything, contact us at The David Allen Company at info@davidco.com or 805-646-8432.) Have a great rest of your life!

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