We are designed by evolution to be busy. That's OK for the caveman, who needs to feed himself; not OK for you in the 21st-century when you have to deal with an ever-growing range of tempting¹ distractions³. Which is why it is so baffling that Paris has been identified as the city with the shortest working week, when France is renowned⁴ for having higher productivity than the UK.

进化论决定我们势必非常忙碌。对于穴居人来说这也许没什么，毕竟他们需要维持生计；但对于生活在21世纪、需要面对日益增长的外界诱惑的你而言，就没有那么容易了。这就是为什么法国在拥有最短工作时间的同时，又因拥有高于英国的生产力而着实令人困惑。

As a coach who specialises in enabling people to get more done more quickly, I notice that those who get the most worthwhile work done in the smallest amount of time follow a set of rules. Oddly, we are never taught these rules, and most of us just stick to the same old unconscious (bad) habits. Here are eight rules to help you get the most done in the shortest time:

作为一位专门研究如何使人们更快地完成更多事情的导师，我注意到那些用最少时间完成最多有价值工作的人，都遵循着一套规则。然而奇怪的是，从没有人教过我们这些规则，我们大部分人还是沿袭老旧的下意识的习惯。以下八条规则能够帮助你用最短的时间完成最多的工作：

1.Disappear

1.消失

Lock yourself in a room away from distractions and focus fully on one task at a time. Sounds dead simple, but try it. If you multitask a lot, you will find this especially painful. And research shows, interestingly, that those who multitask the most are in fact the worst at multitasking.

将自己反锁在远离干扰的屋子里，某一时刻全身心专注于一项工作。虽然这听起来非常简单，但你不妨尝试一下。如果同时进行多项工作，你会觉得非常痛苦。有意思的是，研究也表明，同时进行最多项工作的人实际上最不懂得多任务处理。

2.Don't fight distraction²

2.不要对抗干扰

Those who get more done quickly don't fight distractions – we can't. Rather, they work in short bursts, with high levels of focused attention, so that they benefit from the satisfaction of making headway on one important project at a time. They know they have been successful when they can answer a simple question: "What did I get finished today that was important to me and the organisation⁵ I work for?"

那些最快完成工作的人从不试图对抗干扰-因为我们根本做不到。相反，他们会最高程度集中注意力，以最短时间完成工作，并且某一时间段内在一个重要任务上取得进展还能给他们以巨大的成就感。"今天我完成了哪些对我或者我所效力的机构很重要的事情？"当他们能够轻松回答这样一个简单的问题时，他们就知道自己成功了。

3.Simplify

3.简化

As Laozi said: "To attain⁶ knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, remove things every day." So what can you stop doing? Habits drive us to continue doing tasks that don't need doing. Try not to take on more tasks without first asking: "Why is this really important?" Often we say yes before even making a conscious choice. What can you simplify? Reduce emails and reports to the bare minimum. Enforcing brevity saves time for everyone.

老子曰："为学日益，为道日损。"那么你能够不做哪些事情？习惯驱使我们继续做些根本没必要的事情。在承担更多工作前，首先问问自己："这件事为什么如此重要？"我们常常没有经过深思熟虑就轻易拦下这些工作。你能够简化什么？将邮件和报告减到最少。删繁就简为所有人节约了时间。

4.Find your rhythm

4.找到自己的节奏

Do thinking work in the morning. It's tempting to clear out emails so you feel on top of things, but you will not look back when you are in your 70s and say: "God, I was proud of keeping my inbox to zero." Instead spend the first 60 minutes of your day on the one or two really important tasks you need to get done. It even helps to write them down the night before – this sets clear intentions, which the brain likes as it can focus on what is in its control.

清晨进行思考工作。清理邮箱以完全掌握所有事情可能对你来说非常有诱惑力，但当你七十多岁回首往事时，绝不会说："天哪，我为处理完了所有邮件而感到骄傲。"相反，你应该把一开始的一小时用来处理一天当中最为重要的一到两件事。甚至，在头天晚上把要做的事情写下来也会有帮助-这能清晰罗列目标，我们的大脑喜欢这样因为它能够帮助大脑掌握重点。

5.Strengthen

5.专注强项

How much of your day is spent doing things you are not good at? You will get through much more work more quickly if you actively⁷ arrange your role so you can focus on what you are good at and, even better, practise getting even better at what you are good it. Does Usain Bolt run half-marathons?

一天当中你有多少时间浪费在你不擅长的事情上？如果你积极安排自己的角色，能够让自己专注于擅长的事情，你会更快地完成更多的事情，甚至可以将自己擅长的事情精益求精。你见过尤塞恩·博尔特（牙买加短跑运动员）跑半程马拉松吗？

6.Watch the robots

6.小心变成机器人

Be careful about trying to get too efficient. Robots are efficient, and they are taking jobs and transforming industries. It is better to focus on being effective, for example working on the most important task – which requires you to think and be creative.

注意不要过度高效。机器人很高效，它们承担了一些工作并且变革了传统工业。尽量专注于高效本身，比如解决最困难的任务-这需要你思考和创新。

7.Be honest

7.坦诚

It's often our own deeply entrenched⁸ habits that stop us from getting more done more quickly. If you find yourself regularly sitting in long, poorly run meetings, or if you constantly switch from one task to another, then you are likely to struggle in the 21st-century workplace, which is currently going through huge change.

很多时候，我们根深蒂固的习惯阻止我们更高效完成工作。如果你发现自己经常参与冗长乏味的会议，或者你经常从一个任务转换到另一项任务，那么你很可能挣扎在21世纪的工作场所，而它现在正经历着巨大的变化。

8.Avoid articles like this

8.扔掉鸡汤文

It's easy to turn to self-help books when you consider the basic paradox⁹: you won't ever do all the things you need or want to do in your allotted¹⁰ time. But if you stop reading this and get to work, that might be a good start.

当你思考基本矛盾："你永远不可能在有限的时间里完成所有需要完成或者想要做的事情"时，你很容易求助于自助书籍（心灵鸡汤）。然而，如果你抛开这些文章立刻投身于工作，也许是个不错的开端哦。