Time management is the process of planning and controlling how much time to spend on specific activities.

时间管理，指的是计划与控制要在某个事情上花多少时间的过程。

Good time management allows an individual to complete more in a shorter period of time, lowers the amount of stress, and leads to career success.

良好的时间管理让人事半功倍，帮人舒缓压力，走上职业成功之路。

Scientists are often passionate¹ about their research, and frequently work long hours. However, it is not necessary to become a workaholic to be a good scientist. If you attempt to accomplish too many tasks simultaneously², the most likely outcome is that you will be overwhelmed in the forlorn hope of ‘catching³ up’.

科学家们经常热衷于他们的研究，而且经常工作很长时间。然而，要成为一个优秀的科学家，其实没有必要成为一个工作狂。如果你试图同时完成过多的任务，最有可能的结果是，明明完成不了，但为了“赶上进度”，你自己就先垮掉。

The amount and quality of what you achieve are crucially dependent on how effectively you manage your time. Here is some advice on how to better manage your time as a scientist, based on our experience as scientists and supervisors⁵.

你所能取得的成就，其数量和质量的关键，就在于你怎样有效地管理你的时间。下面这些建议，基于我们作为科学家和导师的经验，可以告诉你科学家们怎样更有效地管理时间。

Make a plan

制定计划

There are many components⁶ that need to be drawn⁷ together to achieve success in a project. You want to deliver good science while simultaneously helping⁸ your manager, completing your training, coping with all the administration and dealing⁹ with the many other distractions¹⁰ you face.

为了在一个项目中取得成功，需要完成很多“子任务”。你想做好科研，同时也要帮你的导师干活，你要完成自己的培训，还得应付所有的行政管理事务，处理你面临的许多其他干扰。

Sometimes it is difficult not to feel overwhelmed. The best way to achieve success and preserve your sanity¹¹ is to make a plan. This starts as a list of all the tasks that are either desirable or vital for accomplishing your goals. Write them down, don’t just rely on your memory: it’s not as good as you think it is.

有时候真的很难不垮掉。通往成功和保持理智的最好方法就是制定计划。一开始就要列一个清单，写出所有完成你的目标所需要的或者至关重要的任务。把它们写下来，不要只依赖你的记忆：你的记性通常没你想的那么好。

Next comes the crucial step of prioritizing. Highlight tasks on your list to signify their urgency. This allows you to identify at a glance the tasks that you need to focus on. Consider how crucial these items are to your career and the success of your organization, and when they need to be completed — not how enjoyable or easy they will be. Focus only on one item at a time: the others can wait their turn. You will need to update and review your list regularly, but don’t deny yourself the pleasure of putting your pen through items that you have completed.

接下来的这一重要步骤，就是排列任务优先级。把列表中的任务涂上高亮，表示其紧迫性。这就让你可以一目了然地确定需要特别关注的任务。要考虑到这些事项对你的职业生涯和组织的成功有多重要，以及什么时候需要完成这些事项——不要按照任务的愉快度和容易度来排列。一段时间内只做一件事：其他事项也要按顺序来。同时，你还需要定期更新和复盘你的任务优先表，完成一项划掉一项，让自己享受这种快感。

Beware of distractions

当心分心

Take a long, hard look at your relationship with e-mail and social media. Although they are vital to everyday communication, they can claim much more attention than they deserve. Consider shutting them off completely as you work on a task that requires your full attention.

认真观察一下你和电子邮件还有社交媒体的关系。尽管它们对日常交流至关重要，但它们还是会占用很多不该被分散的注意力。在你做一项需要全神贯注的事时，不妨把它们全部关掉。

Learn to say ‘no’

学会拒绝

Many business leaders put a lot of their success down to simply saying ‘no’. That is, they prioritize their efforts in the few areas that really matter and have the courage to say no to everything else. Those asking for your involvement would be more disappointed if you unwisely agreed to do something, but then failed to deliver. Be realistic with yourself, and honest with others.

许多商业领袖把他们的成功简单地归结为：说“不”。也就是说，他们把自己的精力放在少数真正重要的领域，并且还有勇气拒绝其他任何事情。如果你盲目答应了别人什么事情，但又没能做好，这些人估计会比你一开始不答应他们要更失望。对自己要现实，对他人要诚实。

Saying no is much more difficult if you are, or perceive yourself to be, low down in the hierarchy¹² of your organization. Nevertheless, it’s important to be honest and to look after your health. Sharing your prioritized list with your supervisor⁴ will also help with any potentially difficult discussions around not being able to deliver or take on additional work.

如果你在组织的层级中处于较低的位置，或者认为自己处于较低的位置，那么拒绝别人就困难得多。但不管怎样，诚实对人并且关照自己的健康才是重要的。把你的任务优先计划共享给你的导师，就算有不能承接或者完成不了的额外工作，你们之间的谈话也会变简单。

Give yourself a break

适当休息

Taking breaks is good for your brain. Don’t be hard on yourself: you will actually perform better if you take breaks and cultivate a life outside science. This might seem counter-intuitive with all those tasks on your list, but solutions to apparently¹³ intractable problems can come from a refreshed brain — and a brain that can keep things in perspective.

适当休息对你的大脑有好处。不要对自己太苛刻：如果你休息一下，培养一下科研之外的生活爱好，实际上你会表现得更好。看着你清单上的繁重任务，貌似休息并不符合常理，不过，面对明显很难解决的问题，一个精力充沛的大脑才能给出解决方案——焕新的大脑才能帮你恰当处理这些问题。

Try to avoid looking at your work e-mails when you are not working. They do not need to be answered until the next working day. The world will not collapse¹⁴ if you delay opening some e-mails.

不工作的时候尽量不要查看你的工作电子邮件，下一个工作日之前回复都不迟。这世界不会因为你晚点看邮件就崩塌。

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Don’t try to chase every great idea

忌骛高远

The other side of permitting yourself time to explore alternative ideas, as well as the suggestions of managers and colleagues, is that you are left with a lengthening¹⁵ list of new directions to investigate. Try to distinguish between things that would be nice to have and things that are crucial to the delivery of your project, or PhD, on time.

花时间探索新想法、听取导师和同事的建议的一个副作用就是——你的任务清单会多出过多方向。你需要把“好点子”和“对完成项目与学位至关重要的事情”区分开来。

Update your plan

计划迭代

Your plan and priority list will need to be regularly updated, particularly when things are not going well. Don’t panic if your experiments or initiatives fail: instead, redraft your plan and aim to offload all other distracting tasks as you devote more time to a resolution. Work with your supervisor to formulate¹⁶ an updated list of priorities: your mentor¹⁷ can bring their experience and wisdom to the problem, as well as reassurance¹⁸ to you.

你的计划和优先事项清单需要定期更新，尤其是当事情进展不顺利的时候。如果你的实验或计划失败了，不要慌：相反，你应该重新制定你的计划，目标是把所有其他分散注意力的任务都取消掉，进而全身心地解决一个重要问题。跟你的导师商量，一起制定一份最新的优先事项清单：导师的经验和智慧能帮你解决问题，让你安心些。

Succeeding against the odds¹⁹ and in the face of time pressure is one of the most valuable experiences you can offer to a future employer.

面对时间的紧迫，成功应付困难，一定会为你接下来的工作提供最有价值的经验之一。