How Being More Productive Starts with Doing Nothing如何变得更加高效？先学会放空大脑

It’s gotten harder to create mental breaks as work and home have blurred¹. Here are ways to get your brain a rest.

随着工作与生活的界限变得模糊，为大脑留出休息时间变得越来越难。如何让大脑得到休息呢？本文介绍了几种方法。

Annemarie Dooling

安娜玛丽·杜林

One secret to achieving more: Finding time to do nothing.

要想达成更多目标，有一个秘诀：给自己留出一些什么事都不干的时间。

In our efforts to squeeze every second from the day, it seems counterintuitive to watch a pot of coffee boil or gaze out the window. But your brain uses those free periods for important cleanup work, neuroscience research indicates. And during the pandemic, as the boundaries between work and home have blurred, it has become harder to create mental breaks.

在恨不得一秒钟掰成两秒钟用的今天，静静地看着一壶咖啡煮沸，或是悠闲地凝视窗外，这些举动看起来似乎都有违常理。然而，神经科学研究显示，你的大脑恰恰在利用这些闲暇时间进行重要的清理工作。新冠疫情期间，随着工作与生活的界限开始变得模糊，为大脑留出休息时间更是变得难上加难。

Even brief timeouts help the brain reinforce long-term learning and productivity. You come out of downtime able to learn more, and can access that learning faster. “When you take a break, you may want to do something mind-consuming to help with motivation, but technically² your best way of taking a break is to do something mindless,” says Barbara Oakley, a professor of engineering at Oakland University in Michigan who teaches a popular online course on how to open your mind to learning.

即便是片刻的休息也有助于强化大脑的长期学习能力，提高工作效率。当你得到放松之后，你不仅可以学得更多，还可以学得更快。“当你休息的时候，或许想做一些费脑筋的事情来激发自己的动力，但从科学角度来说，最好的休息方式是做一些不那么烧脑的事。”芭芭拉·奥克利说，她是密歇根州奥克兰大学的工程学教授，她讲授的有关如何改进学习方法的网课颇受欢迎。

To ease into allowing yourself to do nothing, start with something familiar. Here are some techniques.

想让自己坦然接受无所事事的状态，不妨从一些熟悉的事情做起。以下就是一些技巧：

Take a long shower

慢悠悠地冲个澡

A natural place to start slowing down is a habit that’s already built into your schedule, such as taking a shower. Letting your mind wander here can be a stepping stone to quieting more hectic³ environments. Or try blocking off time to look out your window. In her book “How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy,” writer Jenny Odell describes how bird-watching became her favorite slow-down activity: Exhausted⁴ after pulling an all-nighter, she had gazed out the window and noticed a cluster of yellow birds. “I burned out, and in that state of forced relaxation⁵, that happened to be when I noticed,” she says.

说起放慢节奏，自然而然的办法就是从自己的某个日常习惯开始，例如沐浴。沐浴时，让你的思维随意流动，让你在纷繁的环境中觅得一丝宁静。又或者，你可以想象着时间静止，看着窗外。在《如何无所事事：对注意力经济说不》一书中，作者珍妮·奥德尔讲述了观察鸟类如何成为她最钟爱的减压活动：熬了一晚上没睡，已是疲惫不堪，她凝视着窗外，发现了一群黄色的鸟。“我已筋疲力尽，在那种被迫放松的状态下，我刚好看到了那一幕。”

Play a game without keeping score

玩游戏，但不要计分

Dr. Oakley points out that while our body’s dopamine reward system might encourage tasks, keeping score is labor. Instead of competing against your crossword⁶ best, find a puzzle game on your phone that requires simply swiping.

奥克利博士指出，虽然我们身体的多巴胺奖励系统可能会鼓励你去完成任务，但如果任务的完成要以分数作为评判标准，也会成为一件费神伤脑的事。与其绞尽脑汁玩填字游戏，不如在手机上找一款只需简单滑动就能玩的益智游戏。

Take a solo walk

独自漫步

Leave the Fitbit at home, and free up an hour to absorb the scenery in silence. Being in nature has been linked to a multitude of physical and mental benefits. But be sure not to create a competition, which can take the relaxation out of the activity. “We get fixated on taking 10,000 steps,” Ms. Odell says. “Yes, it’s good to go for a walk, but this isn’t a job.” Enjoy the meandering⁷, rather than the race, she suggests.

把你用来记录运动的穿戴设备留在家里，腾出一个小时去户外安静地欣赏风景。置身大自然对生理和心理健康都有诸多好处。但记住，不要营造出竞赛的感觉，如此一来，这项活动就失去了放松的意义。“我们痴迷于走一万步。”奥德尔说，“没错，出去散步是件好事，但这不是一项任务。”她建议，重要的是享受漫步的过程，而不要弄得像比赛一样。

Cook a big meal

亲自下厨

Borrowing from the downtime that the Italians call dolce far niente (the sweetness of doing nothing), the act of cooking a meal can encourage a wandering mind. It can be tempting⁸ to create a culinary masterpiece to make the time worth it, but fight the urge. Ms. Odell suggests trying to “see the nonwork time as something other than the negative space left after work.” Try a simple recipe that requires slow preparation. Not only is the activity downtime, but bonus points for resting at the table between courses.

意大利人将“休息”称为dolce far niente，意为无所事事的快乐——要想给大脑放个假，做一顿饭也可以起到“放空自己”的效果。你可能忍不住想做一桌美味佳肴，感觉只有这样才没有浪费时间，请克制这样的冲动。奥德尔建议，“不要把休息时间想成是下班后留下的消极空间。”试着做一桌简单的饭菜，慢悠悠准备一下就好。不仅做饭本身是一种休息，做下一道菜之前在饭桌旁小憩片刻也是一种放松。

Just sit down

打个盹儿

If you’re struggling to get enough rest at night, try a short nap. Simply find a comfortable chair, and breathe. While you’re napping, remember that your brain never is. Rest is one of the most important ways to enhance the neurological flexibility⁹ to build the kind of conceptual understanding that is related to identity and purpose, says Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, a professor of education, psychology¹⁰ and neuroscience at the University of Southern California. Consider that a reason to lose the guilt¹¹ over a daily rest.

如果晚上没休息好，白天不妨打个盹儿。只需找到一把舒服的椅子，静静地呼吸就好。虽然你在打盹儿，但记住，你的大脑永远不会有打盹儿的时候。南加州大学教育学、心理学和神经科学教授玛丽·海伦·伊莫迪诺-杨指出，休息是增强神经系统灵活性的最重要途径之一，而这种灵活性有助于构建与身份和目的相关的概念性理解。假若你为大白天休息感到过意不去，可以考虑用这一点来消除自己的愧疚心理。