Just as it’s rare for anyone to experience overnight success, it’s also rare for our lives to crumble¹ to pieces in an instant. Most unproductive or unhealthy behaviors are the result of slow, gradual choices that add up to bad habits; a wasted morning here, an unproductive morning there.

就像很少有人能一夜成名一样，我们的生活也不太可能在顷刻间支离破碎，许多低效或不健康的行为习惯都是由这种缓慢而持续的选择叠加而成的。早上起来在这里浪费点时间，在那边拖延一阵。

The good news is that exceptional results are also the result of consistent daily choices. Nowhere is this more true than with your morning routine: the way you start your day is often the way that you finish it.

但好消息是，如果每天坚持健康正确的选择，就能产生与众不同的结果。从早晨的例行程序开始做改变最合适不过了，通常你以什么样的方式开始一天，也会以同样的方式结束这天。

What you do each morning is an indicator² of how you approach your entire day. It’s the choices that we repeatedly make that determine the life we live, the health we enjoy, and the work we create. Here are the strategies that I’ve found to be most effective for getting the most out of my morning.

你每个早上的作为影响着你一整天的生活方式。你平时反复做出的选择最终会决定你的生活、健康和工作。我认为，以下这几种方法能很有效地利用好上午这段时间。

1. Manage your energy, not your time.

分配好你的精力，而非时间。

If you take a moment to think about it, you’ll probably realize that you are better at doing certain tasks at certain times. For example, my creative energy is highest in the morning, so that’s when I do my writing each day.

如果花些时间想一想，你可能会发现你在某一段时间能更好地完成某些任务。比如说，我在上午最富有创造力，所以我每天会专门在这段时间里写作。

By comparison, I block out my afternoons for interviews, phone calls, and emails. I don’t need my creative energy to be high for those tasks, so that’s the best time for me to get them done, and I tend to have my best workouts in the late afternoon or early evening, so that’s when I head to the gym.

相比之下，我会在下午做采访、打电话，回邮件。这些事情不需要太多创造力，因此把它们放在下午做会更好。我在傍晚前后更适于锻炼身体，所以选择这个时间段去健身房运动。

What type of energy do you have in the morning? What task is that energy best suited for?

你在早晨哪方面能力最强？在这段时间里做什么事情最适宜？

2. Prepare the night before.

前一天晚上做好准备。

I don’t do this nearly as often as I should, but if you only do one thing each day then spend a few minutes each night organizing your to–do list for tomorrow.

其实我应该多这样做几次才对，要是你第二天有不止一件要做，还是在头天晚上花几分钟列个清单为妙。

When I do it right, I’ll outline the article I’m going to write the next day and develop a short list of the most important items for me to accomplish. It takes 10 minutes that night and saves 3 hours the next day.

我这样做时，会列出我第二天要写文章的提纲，再记下几个需要完成的重要项目。这一晚上花10分钟，就能为第二天省下3个小时。

3. Don’t open email until noon.

中午之前不要查邮件。

Sounds simple, yet nobody does it. It took me a while to get over the urge to open my inbox, but eventually I realized that everything can wait a few hours.

听上去挺简单，但没人这样做。我要花很大力气才能抑制打开收件箱的冲动，但最终发现所有事情都可以等几个小时再处理。

Nobody is going to email you about a true emergency (a death in the family, etc.), so leave your email alone for the first few hours of each day. Use the morning to do what’s important rather than responding to what is “urgent.”

没有人会发邮件通知你紧急事件（比如说家人去世等等），所以每天早上的几个小时还是不要查邮件了。应该利用早晨做重要的事情，而非回复那些貌似紧急的邮件。

4. Turn your phone off and leave it in another room.

把手机关掉放到另一个房间里。

Or on your colleagues desk. Or at the very least, put it somewhere that is out of sight. This eliminates the urge to check text messages, Facebook, Twitter, and so on. This simple strategy eliminates the likelihood of slipping into half–work where you waste time dividing your attention among meaningless tasks.

或者放你同事桌上也行，至少要让它离开你的视线。这样你就不会一直想着要收短信、上脸谱网或者逛推特之类的。这种做法能防止你工作到一半时精力分散，把大量时间浪费在没意义的事情上。

5. Work in a cool place.

在凉爽的地方办公。

Have you ever noticed how you feel groggy³ and sluggish⁴ in a hot room? Turning the temperature down or moving to a cooler place is an easy way to focus your mind and body.

你是否注意到在炎热的房间里人会变得头昏眼花，懒散无力？想要集中精力体力做事，最简单的方法就是把室内温度调低，或者搬到凉快的地方。

6. Sit up or stand up.

坐直或者站起来。

Your mind needs oxygen to work properly, and your lungs need to be able to expand and contract to fill your body with oxygen. That sounds simple enough, but here’s the problem: most people sit hunched⁵ over while staring at a screen and typing.

大脑需要氧气才能更好工作，肺部需要扩张收缩才能让氧气充满全身。这听起来很简单，但问题是，大多数人在盯着屏幕打字时都是驼背坐着的。

When you sit hunched over, your chest is in a collapsed⁶ position and your diaphragm presses against the bottom of your lungs, which hinders your ability to breathe easily and deeply. Sit up straight or stand up and you’ll find that you can breathe easier and more fully⁷. As a result, your brain will get more oxygen and you’ll be able to concentrate better.

当你驼背坐着时，胸部处于收缩状态，隔膜正好压住了肺的底部，使你不能顺畅地做深呼吸。而你坐直或站起来时，就会发现呼吸变得更为轻松顺畅。因此大脑供氧充分，你在工作时就会更为专注。

(Small tip: When sitting, I usually place a pillow in the small of my back. This prevents my lower back from rounding, which keeps me more upright.)

（小贴士：我坐着的时候通常在背后垫个枕头，这样能防止后背下方弯曲，从而使我坐得更直。）

7. Eat as a reward for working hard.

用美食作为努力工作的奖励。

I practice intermittent⁸ fasting, which means that I eat my first meal around noon each day. I’ve been doing this for almost two years. There are plenty of health benefits.

我尝试过间歇禁食，也就是每天在中午的时候吃第一顿饭。这种做法我坚持了大概两年，对身体健康特别有好处。

But health is just one piece of the puzzle—I also fast because it allows me to get more out of my day. Take a moment to think about how much time people spend each day thinking, planning, and consuming food.

但健康只是好处之一，我禁食还因为这样我一天能有更多时间做别的事。想一想，我们一天有多少时间花在吃东西以及思考计划吃什么上？

By adopting intermittent fasting, I don’t waste an hour each morning figuring out what to eat for breakfast, cooking it, and cleaning up. Instead, I use my morning to work on things that are important to me. Then, I eat good food and big meals as a reward for working hard.

开始间歇禁食后，每天早上我能省下一小时想我要吃什么，做饭和收拾清洗的时间。于是我可以利用早晨黄金时段完成许多重要工作。之后我会好好吃一顿，作为对自己努力工作的奖励。

8. Develop a “pre–game routine” to start your day.

培养“工作前例行热身”的习惯。

My morning routine starts by pouring a cold glass of water, while some people kick off their day with ten minutes of meditation⁹. Similarly, you should have a sequence that starts your morning ritual.

我每天早晨起来都要喝一杯凉水，而有些人则会花十分钟做冥想。同样，你也应该在开始上午的工作前做一系列热身准备。

This tiny routine signals to your brain that it’s time to get into work mode or exercise mode or whatever mode you need to be in to accomplish your task. Additionally, a pre–game routine helps you overcome a lack of motivation and get things done even when you don’t feel like it.

这个小小的例行活动会向大脑传送信号：现在应该进入工作模式、锻炼模式或完成某项任务的模式了。另外，在工作前例行热身也能帮你克服缺乏动力的毛病，就算你不喜欢这项工作也能完成任务。

You’ve got 25,000 mornings. What will you do with each one?

人一生有25000个清晨，你会怎样利用它们呢？