写给超级忙人的思维指南

 　　During the first presidential campaign Michelle Obama was worried her husband's schedule allowed him "no time to think." You hear the same from business executives who traverse impossibly packed days.

　　在第一次总统竞选过程中，米歇尔·奥巴马担心她丈夫日程排得太紧而导致“没有时间思考”。你也会从那些日理万机的公司高管口中听到这种话。

　　But how many people budget serious thinking time on their calendar? Few. After all, what would you actually do during time set aside to just "think"? Sit in a chair, stare straight ahead, and ponder the world?

　　但是会有多少人在他们的日程表上预留出思考的时间呢？很少。毕竟，要是你单独划出一块时间来“思考”的话，你到底具体要做些什么呢？坐在椅子上，对着眼前发呆，然后沉思宇宙人生？

　　Indeed, it's not a challenge you confront head-on. As Alain de Botton says, "The mind may be reluctant to think properly when thinking is all it is supposed to do; the task can be as paralyzing as having to tell a joke or mimic¹ an accent on demand."

　　事实上，这并不是你面对的一项挑战。正如阿兰·德·波顿所言：“当大脑被迫要去思考的时候，它反而会抗拒；这项任务就好比被要求讲个笑话或者模仿一种口音一样令人陷入僵局。”

　　If you want to do more proactive, deep thinking, you want to obliquely² engage in two kinds of activities.

　　你要是希望作一些更积极主动、更深刻的思考，你无论如何要先开始进行以下两类活动。

　　Directed Thinking Activities

　　定向思维活动

　　Write. Famed author Joan Didion says, "I don't know what I think until I try to write it down." Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos preaches the value of writing long form prose to clarify thinking. Unless you're a professional writer, writing is not always about the written output; it's about the thinking that happens as you attempt to communicate. Do not assume you have to share your writing with others for it to be time well spent.

　　写作。著名作家琼·狄迪昂说：“我不知道自己在想什么，直到我试着把它写下来。”亚马逊的CEO杰夫·贝索斯大力鼓吹通过写长篇散文来理清思想的价值。除非你是一位职业作家，写作的最终产品并不重要；重要的是当你试着去交流时所产生的思考。不要预设你要和别人分享你写的东西，只要想着这段时间是过得很值得的。

　　Read a book. Don't read an executive summary or two-page cheat sheet. Read a full book. It's not about the content of what you're reading -- in most business books, there's not much new anyways -- it's about the quiet time you're spending by yourself. Unless you're a professional book reviewer, reading is not about reading; it's about thinking. It's about hearing yourself think.

　　读书。别去读行动纲要或是两页纸的备忘单，读一本完整的书。你读的内容并不重要——事实上在大部分经济管理类书籍里，没多少新的东西。——重要的是那段你独处的安静时光。除非你是个职业书评家，读书并不是为了读书本身，而是为了思考，是为了聆听你自己的思考。

　　Undirected Thinking Activities

　　不定向思维行动

　　"Undirected" thinking time involves activities that are themselves minimally³ mentally taxing, and conducive⁴ to creative thinking about other things.

　　“不定向”思考时间包括那些本身不怎么占用思维、还有益于思考其他事情的活动。

　　Drive to and from the office. Driving a familiar route = good thinking time. "When Joan Didion moved from California to New York, she realized that she had done much of her thinking and mental writing during the long drives endogenous to the Californian lifestyle," Steve Dodson once noted⁵. I'm the same. I can't tell you how many decent thoughts I've concocted⁶ in my head while driving on the 101 or 280 freeways in the Bay Area.

　　开车往返办公室。在熟悉的路线上开车=极佳的思考时间。“当琼·狄迪昂从加利福尼亚搬到纽约的时候，她发现出于内在的加利福尼亚生活方式，她已经在这段长途驾驶的过程中完成了大部分的思考和精神写作活动。”史蒂夫·多德森这么写道。我也是一样。我都数不清我在旧金山湾区101到280高速公路开车的时候产生了多少深刻的思想。

　　Take your dog for a walk. Same as driving, but safer.

　　遛狗。和开车的原理一样，只是更安全。

　　Take extra long showers. You're free from distraction⁷, you're engaged in a monotonous⁸ activity that doesn't require active focus, and you're in a different environment. Sounds like the perfect place for a creative thought.

　　多洗个时间很长的澡。这时你远离干扰，做着一件不需要高度注意力的单调活动，而且在另一种环境中。听上去是个作创造性思考的绝佳场所。

　　Stare out of airplane windows. Travel journeys of any sort are the midwives of thought. "Few places are more conducive to internal conversations than moving planes, ships, or trains...Introspective reflections that might otherwise be liable to stall are helped along by the flow of the landscape," says Alain de Botton. On the topic of airplane windows and thinking, I always call to mind this picture  of Bill Clinton, having a moment.

　　从飞机窗口向外凝视。任何旅途都是思想的助产士。“没什么地方比移动中的飞机、轮船或者列车更适宜反思的了，那种在其他情况下容易遭遇堵塞的反思活动会在那流动的风景中变得通畅起来。”阿兰·德·波顿这么说。有段时间每当我想到飞机窗口和思考这两个词，我总是会回想起这张比尔·克林顿的照片。

1 mimic   

v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人

参考例句：

• A parrot can mimic a person's voice.鹦鹉能学人的声音。
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another.他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

2 obliquely   

adv.斜； 倾斜； 间接； 不光明正大

参考例句：

• From the gateway two paths led obliquely across the court. 从门口那儿，有两条小路斜越过院子。 来自辞典例句
• He was receding obliquely with a curious hurrying gait. 他歪着身子，古怪而急促地迈着步子，往后退去。 来自辞典例句

3 minimally   

最低限度地，最低程度地

参考例句：

• Food spoilage problems occur with minimally processed, concentrated frozen citrus products. 食品的变质也发生在轻微加工的、浓缩冷冻的柑橘制品中。
• So, minimally, they are responsible for such actions and omissions. 所以，至少来说，他们要对这样的行为和忽略负责。

4 conducive   

adj.有益的，有助的

参考例句：

• This is a more conducive atmosphere for studying.这样的氛围更有利于学习。
• Exercise is conducive to good health.体育锻炼有助于增强体质。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 concocted   

v.将（尤指通常不相配合的）成分混合成某物( concoct的过去式和过去分词 )；调制；编造；捏造

参考例句：

• The soup was concocted from up to a dozen different kinds of fish. 这种汤是用多达十几种不同的鱼熬制而成的。
• Between them they concocted a letter. 他们共同策划写了一封信。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

8 monotonous   

adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的

参考例句：

• She thought life in the small town was monotonous.她觉得小镇上的生活单调而乏味。
• His articles are fixed in form and monotonous in content.他的文章千篇一律，一个调调儿。