In our modern world, everyone is looking to do things faster, better, smarter, so it's no wonder that productivity hacks¹ are incredibly popular.

现代社会，每个人做事都力求更快，更好，更强，难怪提高效率的方法广受欢迎。

But the truth is that there's nothing new under the sun; despite whatever the newest book, product, or guru wants to sell you, you can learn to become more productive with work habits people have used for many years. Apply even a few of these and you will increase your productivity, guaranteed:

但事实上，天下原无新鲜事;尽管不断有各种新书，产品或者任何权威专家想要卖给你的东西，你完全可以凭借人们已沿用多年的工作习惯来提高效率。尝试养成其中几种习惯，就保证能提高你的效率：

1. Define your MITs. MIT stands for most important task, and just by taking a few moments to identify 3–5 things you must accomplish each day, you will improve your overall productivity—because you can't focus on your important work if you don't know what's important.

1. 确定最重要的任务。只需花很少的时间来确定每天必须完成的3到5件事，就能提高你的整体效率——因为你不可能专心于重要的工作如果你不知道哪些工作是重要的。

2. Don't multi-task. We live in a multi-tab, multiple device kind of world, but scientists tell us that none of us is truly a good multi-tasker. Working on one thing at a time will make you faster and less apt to make mistakes.

2. 不要一心多用。我们生活的世界强调多任务、多方法，但是科学家告诉我们，没有人能真正同时兼顾多项任务。一次只专注于一项工作能够提高效率并减少错误。

3. Create a morning routine (and an afternoon routine and an evening routine). For many people, defining and sticking to a morning routine can help ensure a smooth start to the day. If you know you operate at your best when you have exercised and had a good breakfast, making those things a priority will positively² affect the rest of your day. Likewise, routines for other times of the day can streamline³ daily tasks.

3. 养成早晨固定习惯(以及下午和晚上的)。对很多人来说，确定并坚持早晨固定习惯能够帮助确保一天平稳度过。如果你知道自己在锻炼和享受丰盛早餐之后能够以最佳状态工作，那么优先完成这两件事情能够对余下的一天有积极影响。同样地，其他时间的固定习惯也能使一天过得更流畅。

4. Edit your input⁴ streams and simplify. Most people I know wouldn't want to give up their newsletters, social media, or blog reading, but there are ways to make your media consumption more productive. First, ruthlessly edit your media streams to the most valuable and important ones; then, find ways to streamline your consumption with RSS feeds, apps like Hootsuite, and offline readers.

4. 编辑你的流媒体并精简。我认识不少人不愿意放弃阅读简报，浏览社交媒体和博客，但是其他方式可以让你的流媒体消费更加有效。首先，只将最有价值，最重要的流媒体留下来，然后通过一些手段精简你的RSS订阅，Hootsuite和其他离线阅读器都是很好的选择。

5. Be succinct⁵. When writing emails, get to the point quickly. A good rule of thumb is to limit your email to five sentences or less.

5. 做到简明扼要。当写电子邮件时，以最快速度讲重点。一个好办法是电子邮件不要超过5句话。

6. Do important work. In the classic "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," Steven Covey presents a matrix that divides our activities into four categories: urgent and important, not urgent but important, urgent and unimportant, and not urgent not important. The key is to spend most of our time in quadrant two, doing the important work that isn't driven by crisis.

6. 做重要的工作。在《高效人士的7个习惯》这本经典中，斯蒂芬·科维展示一个矩阵，他将人类活动分为四类：紧急和重要的，非紧急但重要的，紧急但不重要的和非紧急也不重要的。关键就是要将我们大部分的时间放在第二象限，即做那些非紧急但重要的工作。

7. Batch⁶ similar tasks. The simplest example of this is choosing to process emails only once or twice a day rather than jumping like one of Pavlov's dogs every time the computer dings. Identify tasks that are interrupting your flow (email, phone calls, meetings, etc.) and schedule a time to do them all at once.

7. 批量处理相似任务。最简单的例子就是每天抽出一或两段时间只处理邮件，而不是像巴甫洛夫的狗那样，电脑一响就跳过去查看。找出那些容易打断你工作流程的任务(邮件、电话。会议等等)，定个时间一次性处理完。

8. Eliminate, automate⁷, delegate. Doing your best work often requires eliminating or minimizing tasks that you don't need to do. First, eliminate anything you can from your to do list; determine if any tasks can be automated⁸ with technology or templates; and finally, delegate any tasks that don't need your personal attention to a coworker or assistant.

8. 筛选、自动化、委派。做好工作要求筛选并淘汰掉你不需要做的任务。首先，从你的任务清单中去除所有不需要做的;考察是否有任务可以通过技术手段或模板自动完成;最后将不需要你特别注意的工作委派给同事或助手。

9. Work offline. The Internet is a fantastic, but tempting⁹ place. If you have difficulty avoiding its distractions¹⁰, work offline or take your work somewhere without an Internet connection to force some focus. I get so much work done on long plane journeys and I sometimes go to a local Coffee shop for some uninterrupted work.

9. 离线工作。网络新奇但诱惑巨大。如果你很难避免分心，离线工作或者去没有网络的地方工作，强迫自己专心。我在长途旅行的飞机上就做了很多工作，有时我还会去当地的咖啡店专心工作，避免被打扰。

10. Do the thing you want to do the least, first. Prioritize those items you are most likely to procrastinate—your day will go much more smoothly¹¹ when the phone call you're dreading¹² or the report you don't want to write are finished and no longer weighing on your mind.

10. 最先做你最不想做的工作。将你最有可能拖沓的工作优先完成——当你把最不想打的电话打完或最不想写的报告写完，你的一天会顺利的多，因为这些事不会积压在你心上。

You don't need a fancy system for productivity, just a few good, timeless habits. I'd love to hear your best productivity hacks—new or classic—in the comments.

你不需要每条都达到，只要养成其中几个好的，不过时的习惯。 我期待在评论里看到你们全新或经典的高效方法。