Simplify Your Life

简化你的生活

and free up time to do what you love most

挤出些时间做你最想做的事

1】Two years ago Shirley Michels of St. Louis found herself getting up earlier and earlier, and going to bed later and later, just to meet everyday demands. The wife, mother and ophthalmic technician met her responsibilities, but lacked time for the things that mattered most.

1】两年前，圣路易斯州的雪莉·米歇尔斯发现自己起得越来越早，睡得越来越晚却仅能满足日常的生活需求。尽管无论是作为一名妻子，一位母亲，还是眼科技师她都已尽了职责，但她却没有时间做最重要的事情.

2】She and her husband, Vic, an attorney, began searching for ways to simplify their lives. “We had to decide what was really important,” says Shirley. They knew they wanted more time to play with their three-year-old son, Ryan, to exercise and eat right, and to nurture¹ friendships.

2】她和她的丈夫维克，一名律师，开始想办法简化他们的生活。雪莉说：“我们得决定什么是生活中真正重要的。”他们知道自己想拥有更多的时间和三岁的儿子瑞安在一起，做做游戏，做做运动，让他吃好，以培养他们之间的感情.

3】So the couple chose to live more modestly, shopping with care for necessities and enjoying inexpensive pleasures such as reading, cooking and going to the park. Shirley quit her job and began working part time from home. She printed up business cards that read “At your service—buy yourself a little time,” and hired herself out for personal tasks such as shopping, paying bills, organizing parties, doing Internet research—whatever clients needed.

3】 因此这对夫妻选择了一种更简单的生活方式，注意只买生活的必需品，从事一些花钱不多的消遣，诸如阅读、烹调、逛公园。雪莉辞掉了原来的工作，开始做半天工作，比如说为私人购物、付款、组织聚会、做国际互联网研究方面的事情——做客户所要求做的一切。她在她的商业名片上印上“听候您的吩咐——给你自己留点时.

4】“I still work hard, but being able to control my hours makes all the difference,” she says. “I can carve out time to take my son to the zoo or play basketball with him. My stress headaches are gone. Having a chance to get to know neighbors not only has been fun, but it’s also helped us further simplify.

4】她说：“我仍然在努力工作，但现在能够自己控制时间却使一切变得大不一样了。我能抽出一些时间领儿子去动物园或，和他一起玩玩篮球。我因压力而造成的头痛消失了。有机会去了解邻居不仅给生活带来了乐趣，而且还有助于使我的生活变得更加简单化。 .

5】According to trend watchers, the Michelses are far from alone in wanting to slow down and live a more satisfying life. A Gallup Poll found that half of all Americans claim they lack enough time to do what they want. Fifty-four percent of parents say they spend too little time with their children, and 47 percent of married couples complain that they lack time together.

5】根据时尚观察者们所说，米歇尔斯们并非单单想放慢生活的节奏，过一种更舒服的生活。盖洛普民意测验，发现有一半美国人说他们缺少足够的时间来做他们想做的事。54%的家长说他们和孩子呆在一起的时间太少了。47%的已婚夫妇抱怨他们缺少在一起的时间.

6】Where does the time go? For most people, work and commuting² dominate the day. According to the Bureau of Labor³ Statistics, one out of five of us put in 49 or more hours a week on the job; one out of 12 logged 60 hours or more.

6】那么时间都到哪儿去了呢？对大多数人来说，工作和乘公交车上下班占据了一天的大部分时间。根据劳动局统计数字表明，有五分之一的人一周要工作49个小时或者更多；十二分之一的人工作60小时或更多.

7】Then there’s the rich smorgasbord of modern life—so much information to sift⁴ through, so many products beckoning⁵. “We’re wearing ourselves out trying to have it all,” says Elaine St. James, author of Living the Simple Life.

7】现代的生活是丰富多彩的斯堪的纳维亚式自助餐棗有那么多的信息等你去筛选，那么多的产品吸引着我们。《过一种简单的生活》的作者伊莱恩圣詹姆斯说：“为了拥有这一切我们已累得精疲力尽了.

8】Simplifying means becoming aware of the ways, big and small, that we expend⁶ money, time and energy, and then raking steps to curb⁷ the waste. Here, from the experts, are some suggestions for gaining control over life’s hassles in order to have time for the pleasures.

8】生活简单化就意味着要我们注意所花的钱、时间和精力、方方面面、大大小小的事情，然后再采取措施去控制浪费。根据专家们的一些建议，尽量避免生活中发生争吵以便有更多的时间来娱乐.

Start the Day Right一天之计在于晨

9】Before she applied⁸ “the rule,” mornings were a trial for Baltimore teacher Claudia Bowe, mother of Alex, 11, and Clara, nine. “The kids, my husband and I had to leave every day at exactly 7:45. Invariably, books would be missing. My son isn’t a morning person, so he was dazed and at his worst when I needed him to be most efficient. By the time we were off, we were all in bad moods. We had to change our habits.

9】在采用这种方法之前，早晨对于巴尔的摩市的教师克劳迪娅·鲍来说真是个磨难。她是11岁的亚历克斯和9岁的克莱尔的母亲。她说：“孩子、丈夫和我每天早7：45必须离开家。在这时总是书本不见了。我儿子不适合早起，所以当我需要他高效率时，他却总是昏沉沉，表现得最糟糕。到我们离家时，我们的心情都已很糟透了。所以我们得改变一下习惯.

10】Bowe’s rule? Do everything possible the night before to prepare for the next day. For instance, get a coffee maker⁹ that can be timed to start brewing¹⁰ when you wake up. Decide what to wear, including belts and socks; check for spots, wrinkles, missing buttons. Children can set the table with bowls, spoons and cereal boxes—everything but the milk.

10】鲍的办法是什么呢？在前一天晚上为第二天做好一切准备。比如说，买一个可以定时的咖啡壶，当你醒来时它就能开始煮咖啡了。决定好明天穿什么，包括腰带、袜子。进行逐项检查，衣裤皱痕，丢失的扣子。孩子们可以在桌子摆好碗，匙和谷物食品棗以及除了牛奶以外一切的东西.

11】“Provide a list of items kids need for school the next morning—homework, library books, lunch money,—and have them check them off before getting into bed every night,” suggests organizational expert Ann Gambrell, owner of Creative Time Plus in Torrance, Calif. Set anything to be carried out into the world—backpacks, dry cleaning—in front of the door. Always put keys in the same place. Studies show that the average adult spends 16 hours a year searching for lost keys.

11】加利福尼亚州托 斯市Creative Time Plus的老板， 管理专家安·甘布里尔加立福尼亚州建议“准备好孩子们第二天早晨上学所需的一切棗作业、图书馆借的书、午餐费棗并在每晚上床睡觉之前检查一下。”把要带出去的东西都安排好棗把背包和要干洗的衣服放在门前。把钥匙总放在同一个地方。研究结果表明成年人每年找钥匙的所花的时间平均为16小时.