We all have those days that pass like a whirlwind.

最近我们都忙得不可开交

You don’t get a free moment to catch your breath.

甚至都没有时间去喘息。

You might even skip(or forget)to eat.

可能饭都没有来得及去吃

At the end of the day, you feel like you have run a marathon.

一天下来，跟跑完马拉松一样累。

However, while you might have done many things, were they the right ones?

也许你每天都做了很多事，但是做的那些都是事情最根本的吗？

Busy Doesn't Mean Productive

忙，并不意味着效率高

You were busy yesterday, but were you productive?

过去的每一天都很忙，但是你的效率是不是很高呢？

Even though you completed many tasks, today you still find the same important projects staring you in the face.

即使你已经做完了很多的工作，但是今天，你会发现，呈现在你眼前的依旧是一样的工作。

Why didn’t you get to them?

为什么你没有把事情做完呢？

Was it because you were too busy doing everything else?

是因为你有很多别的事情要忙着做吗？

"Getting many things done means you were busy. Getting the right things done makes you productive."

做了很多事，意味着你很忙。做了一件事情做根本的工作才能体现出你的工作效率很高。

But, how do you tell if you are being productive or just busy?

然而，对于高效率和忙工作，你是怎么加以区分的呢？

Separating busy tasks from the important ones is key to producing results versus¹ simply running yourself ragged².

忙着工作和抓住工作的重点来做，一个重要的区别就是：产生了一定的结果和只是把自己累得很狼狈。

Here are 5 Signs That You Are Busy But Not Productive:

这里列举出了只是忙着工作而非高效的5个表现：

1. Too Many Meetings

没完没了的会议

If you spend your entire day in meetings, you probably aren’t productive. Meetings don’t get the hard tasks done. They don’t get creative work done. And they keep you from being able to spend time doing the work.

如果你把自己一天的时间花在会议上，可以说你基本没有效率。会议不能把困难的工作处理掉，也没有将创新性的工作做完。会议就是占用掉你做工作的时间。

2.Doing Other People’s Work, Instead of Your Own

把别人的工作做好了，而自己的工作还没做

If you spend all day doing other people’s work, then you will never get to your own. Take a hard look at whose work you are actually doing. Make sure you get yours done before taking on additional work.

如果你整天都在做别人的工作，你自己的工作一点都没做。看一看你做的到底是谁的工作。在做附加给你的工作以前，一定要把自己分内的工作完成。

3.Living for the Fire Drill

总是在处理最紧急的工作

Some workplaces live for the fire drill. Make sure you separate the urgent from the important. You may have to say no to an urgent item in order to stay on track with an important task.

工作时时总是在处理最紧急的事件，一定要把最紧急的和最重要的区分开来。为了跟进一个重要的项目，也许你还必须放弃那个很紧急的工作。

4.Only Doing Menial Tasks

只做那些不起眼的事情

Small unimportant tasks often get done first… because they are easy. While these tasks can be good for building productivity momentum³, make sure that you don’t spend all day doing the trivial.

经常在做那些很小很不起眼的又很容易的事情。做这类事情可以激起工作的动力，但也请不要一天总是做这类事情。

5.Stuck in Your Email All Day

一整天都陷在邮箱里

If you don’t get out of your inbox during your day, I can guarantee that you won’t be productive. Email isn’t your job. Stop endlessly responding to emails and instead take action.

如果你一整天都泡在电子邮箱里，我可以保证你根本就没有效率可言。回复邮件不是你的工作，所以停止回复无休无止的邮件，开始工作。

Busyness Doesn’t Get the Job Done

忙并不意味着把工作做完了

Doing many things doesn’t mean you are effective.

做了很多工作并不意味着你的工作效率很高

When evaluating your day, instead of asking yourself if you got a lot done, ask if you got the right things done.

评判你的今天如何，不是问你自己今天是不是做了很多事，而是要问问你自己是不是抓住了工作的重点并且做完了？

Then you can answer… “Were you busy or productive yesterday?”

然后你才能回答 “你的昨天到底是工作效率很高呢，还是只是很忙而已？”