Are you early? Do you get an early start on your day? Do you arrive to appointments early? Do you finish projects and tasks ahead of deadlines?  Are you the Early Bird?

你够早吗？你做得到每天早上早起吗？你和别人有约时会提早到达吗？你会比截止日期提前完成项目和任务吗？你是“早起鸟”类型的人吗？

The Early Bird is the one who is up before others, the one who arrives first, the one who finishes things ahead of schedule, and the one who acts while others are still mired¹ in indecision.

什么样的人“早起鸟”类型的人？他们比其他人起得都早，到得也比别人早，会早早为一天做好准备，比计划提前完成任务，当别人还在犹豫不决时他们已经开始行动。

Here are 15 Ways to be the Early Bird:

以下15个办法告诉你如何成为早一点的那个人：

Get up 30 Minutes Early – One of the best ways to be the Early Bird is to get up earlier. Start small. Try setting your alarm only half an hour before you normally get up.

提早半小时起床——想做早一点的那个人，有个最好的办法就是早点起床。刚开始不用提早太多。试着把闹钟调到比平时习惯起床的时间早半小时。

Assign Personal Deadlines – Want to be early with deliverables? Ensure that you set deadlines that are earlier than projects are actually due. Making your personal deadlines early, will ensure you finish early.

制定个人的截止日期——想要提前完成各种上交任务？要确保制定一个比项目真正截止日期更早的期限。把个人的截止日期定得提前一些，可以确保你早点完成。

Don’t Schedule Back-to-Back Appointments – People will schedule themselves for meetings that run 9-10, 10-11, and then 11-12. Guess what? Unless you have a teleporter, you will be late to the next meeting. Give yourself a gap between scheduled meetings for travel and catch up.

不要安排接二连三的赴约——有的人会把见面时间安排成9点到10点见一个人，10点到11点见一个人，11点到12点再见第三个人。你猜怎么着？除非你有传送器，否则下一场会面你肯定会迟到。在会面之间为自己安排一些空隙，留点时间给交通中转，赶上下一场会面。

Plan to Arrive 15 Minutes Early – Most people try to arrive at 1PM for the 1PM meeting. That is where they fail. Plan to be there at 1245PM. 15 minutes early is on time in most cases.

早到15分钟——如果有一场下午1点钟的会议，大多数人都会喜欢在1点整到达。这就是他们迟到的原因。你应该计划12点45到，在大部分情况下提前15分钟都足以确保你按时达到。

Timeshift – The Early Bird knows that doing things when others are not can save a lot time. For example, shifting your commute² 15 minutes earlier could save you 45 minutes in traffic. The same goes for things like the gym, the grocery store, etc.

灵活运用时间差——“早起鸟”类型的人都知道，在别人没有做这件事的时候去做这件事可以节约很多时间。比如说提早15分钟出门上班，可以帮你节约45分钟堵在路上的时间。同样的办法也在体育馆、杂货店等地方也适用。

Check the Address Before You Go - How many times have you headed to an appointment only to discover that you don’t know exactly where it is? Even in the days of GPS, make sure you know where you are going before you leave.

出门之前先核对地址——有多少次你出发去赴约，才发现自己根本不知道确切的地点？即使如今有了GPS定位系统，也应该在出发前确保自己知道要去哪儿。

Confirm the Appointment – Ever go to a meeting or appointment only to find out that it was cancelled? Or the other person forgot? Taking 5 minutes to confirm your appointments can save literally³ hours of wasted time.

赴约前先确认——去开会或者赴约了才发现已经取消了？或者另一个人忘记了？花5分钟确认一下赴约事项，可以帮你省下几个小时可能被浪费的时间。

Defend Your Time – The Early Bird spends their time on themselves before letting others take it. Ensure that you don’t let others steal your time.

保卫你的时间——“早起鸟”类型的人会好好利用自己的时间，而不会让别人浪费掉。确保不要让别人偷走你的时间。

Make Decisions – The Early Bird makes decisions. He or she has often already completed a task while others are still trying to decide what to do.

果断决定——“早起鸟”类型的人会果断做出决定。当别人还在犹豫该做什么的时候，他/她通常已经把任务完成了。

Look Ahead at the Calendar – Don’t let things sneak⁴ up on you. If you are only looking at today’s calendar, you will be blindsided by upcoming calendar items. Look at today and down the road.

提前规划日程——别让事情一件接一件追着你。如果你眼里只有今天的日程，你可能会被接下来马上几天马上要做的事情打得你措手不及。看着当下，面朝未来。

Overestimate⁵ Time for Tasks – When doing something for the first time, it will often take 4-5X’s what you estimated. Allow for this extra time.

为任务预留多一些时间——第一次做某件事的时候，通常比你预计的要多花4-5倍的时间。预留出这部分时间。

Use a Packlist – Using lists lets you perform repetitive tasks quicker and more accurately⁶. Packing is one of those tasks that truly benefits from a preset list. Leveraging⁷ a packlist allows you to pack in a fraction of the time without forgetting anything important.

制作任务列表——用列表列出所做事项，会让你更快更准确地完成重复性任务。事先制定任务列表有利于将零碎时间打包安排，而且不会忘记任何重要的事情。

Pack the Day Before - Always, always, always pack the night before. Never pack the morning of a trip. Inevitably⁸, you will realize at the last moment that you do not have something.

提前一天打包行李——一定一定一定要在头天晚上把行李打包好。绝不要在出发旅行那天早晨再来打包。否则你会不可避免地在最后一刻意识到还缺了点东西。

Plan Your Day – Taking a few moments in the morning each day to plan your day can prevent complications and life friction⁹. A planned day is always more efficient than making it up as you go along.

为一天做出计划——早晨花一点时间来计划一天的安排，可以避免很多麻烦和摩擦。有计划的一天总会比随心所欲更有效率。

Prepare For You Day – Planning is good, but preparing is better. Not only knowing what you are going to do, but getting ready for those activities. Whether it is reviewing materials for a meeting, or packing the essentials for an errand.

为一天做好准备——有计划是好的，有准备就更好了。不光要知道你打算做什么，还要为这些事情做好准备。不管是复习一场会议的材料，还是为出差收拾行李。