明明不怎么忙卻還是覺(jué)得忙？每天都在瞎忙啥

Across the industrialized world, large numbers of survey respondents tell researchers they’reoverburdened with work, at the expense of time with family and friends.

在這個(gè)工業(yè)化的世界，大量的問(wèn)卷調(diào)查對(duì)象告訴研究人員，說(shuō)工作負(fù)擔(dān)太重，他們和家人朋友呆在一起的時(shí)間里被工作擠掉了。

The total time people are working –whether paid or otherwise– has not increased in Europe or North America in recent decades. What’s more, the data also shows that the people who say they’re the busiest generally aren’t.

人們整體的工作時(shí)間——無(wú)論是有償還是其他，近十幾年內(nèi)在歐洲和北美并沒(méi)有增加。還有，數(shù)據(jù)顯示說(shuō)自己最忙的人們往往并非如此。

As economies grow, and the incomes of the better-off have risen over time, time has literally become more valuable: any given hour is worth more, so we experience more pressure to squeeze in more work.

隨著經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)，境況較好的人們的收入隨著時(shí)間逐漸增長(zhǎng)，時(shí)間也確實(shí)變得更有價(jià)值了：所有付出的小時(shí)都值得更多的回報(bào)，所以我們感受到了更多把更大量的工作擠壓在等量時(shí)間里的壓力。

The result, inevitably, is feeling overwhelmed: we’re each finite human beings, with finite energy and abilities, attempting to get through an infinite amount.

結(jié)果呢，自然而然的，我們感覺(jué)被壓垮了：我們都是凡人，有著有限的精力和能力，卻試圖完成無(wú)限的事情。

The ironic consequence of the “busy feeling”is that we handle our to-do lists less well than if we weren’t so rushed.

“感覺(jué)忙碌”具有諷刺意味，它的結(jié)果就是：我們完成目標(biāo)清單的效果比不那么趕的時(shí)候更差。

When you’re busy, you’re more likely to make poor time-management choices –taking oncommitments you can’t handle, or prioritising trifling tasks over crucial ones.

當(dāng)你忙的時(shí)候，你更有可能做出更糟糕的時(shí)間管理選擇——承諾你做不了的事，或者將微不足道的小事排到了重要的事情前。

Arguably worst of all, this mindset spreads to infect our leisure time –so that even when life finally does permit an hour or two for recuperation, we end up feeling like that ought to be spent “productively”, too.

最糟糕的可以說(shuō)是這種想法蔓延并影響到了我們的閑暇時(shí)光——所以即使生活允許我們有一個(gè)或兩個(gè)小時(shí)的休息時(shí)間，我們最后都會(huì)覺(jué)得那些時(shí)間理應(yīng)也被過(guò)得“有價(jià)值”。

If there’s a solution to the busyness epidemic, other than the universal enforcement of a 21-hour workweek –it may lie in clearly perceiving just how irrational our attitudes have become.

對(duì)于這種“忙碌傳染病”，如果有比強(qiáng)制規(guī)定一周只工作21小時(shí)更好的解藥——或許就是自己認(rèn)識(shí)到我們自己的態(tài)度已經(jīng)變得多么不合理了。

We live frenetic lives, at least in part, because it makes us feel good about ourselves. Perhaps we’d pause long enough to realise that –if we weren’t so damn busy.

我們過(guò)著狂熱的生活，至少在一部分的生活中是這樣，是因?yàn)檫@讓我們對(duì)自己感覺(jué)良好。也許我們應(yīng)該停下來(lái)足夠長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間來(lái)意識(shí)到——如果我們不那么忙會(huì)怎樣呢?