精美英文欣赏:挤出些时间做你最想做的事（在线收听）

And free up time to do what you love most

Two years ago Shirley Michels of St. Louis found herself getting up earlier and earlier, and going to bed later and later, just to meet everyday demands. The wife, mother and ophthalmic technician met her responsibilities, but lacked time for the things that mattered most.

She and her husband, Vic, an attorney, began searching for ways to simplify their lives. “We had to decide what was really important,” says Shirley. They knew they wanted more time to play with their three-year-old son, Ryan, to exercise and eat right, and to nurture friendships.

So the couple chose to live more modestly, shopping with care for necessities and enjoying inexpensive pleasures such as reading, cooking and going to the park. Shirley quit her job and began working part time from home. She printed up business cards that read “At your service—buy yourself a little time,” and hired herself out for personal tasks such as shopping, paying bills, organizing parties, doing Internet research—whatever clients needed.

“I still work hard, but being able to control my hours makes all the difference,” she says. “I can carve out time to take my son to the zoo or play basketball with him. My stress headaches are gone. Having a chance to get to know neighbors not only has been fun, but it’s also helped us further simplify.

According to trend watchers, the Michelses are far from alone in wanting to slow down and live a more satisfying life. A Gallup Poll found that half of all Americans claim they lack enough time to do what they want. Fifty-four percent of parents say they spend too little time with their children, and 47 percent of married couples complain that they lack time together.

Where does the time go? For most people, work and commuting dominate the day. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one out of five of us put in 49 or more hours a week on the job; one out of 12 logged 60 hours or more.

Then there’s the rich smorgasbord of modern life—so much information to sift through, so many products beckoning. “We’re wearing ourselves out trying to have it all,” says Elaine St. James, author of Living the Simple Life.

Simplifying means becoming aware of the ways, big and small, that we expend money, time and energy, and then raking steps to curb the waste. Here, from the experts, are some suggestions for gaining control over life’s hassles in order to have time for the pleasures.

挤出些时间做你最想做的事

两年前，圣路易斯州的雪莉?米歇尔斯发现自己起得越来越早，睡得越来越晚却仅能满足日常的生活需求。尽管无论是作为一名妻子，一位母亲，还是眼科技师她都已尽了职责，但她却没有时间做最重要的事情.

她和她的丈夫维克，一名律师，开始想办法简化他们的生活。雪莉说：“我们得决定什么是生活中真正重要的。”他们知道自己想拥有更多的时间和三岁的儿子瑞安在一起，做做游戏，做做运动，让他吃好，以培养他们之间的感情.

因此这对夫妻选择了一种更简单的生活方式，注意只买生活的必需品，从事一些花钱不多的消遣，诸如阅读、烹调、逛公园。雪莉辞掉了原来的工作，开始做半天工作，比如说为私人购物、付款、组织聚会、做国际互联网研究方面的事情——做客户所要求做的一切。她在她的商业名片上印上“听候您的吩咐——给你自己留点时.

她说：“我仍然在努力工作，但现在能够自己控制时间却使一切变得大不一样了。我能抽出一些时间领儿子去动物园或，和他一起玩玩篮球。我因压力而造成的头痛消失了。有机会去了解邻居不仅给生活带来了乐趣，而且还有助于使我的生活变得更加简单化。

根据时尚观察者们所说，米歇尔斯们并非单单想放慢生活的节奏，过一种更舒服的生活。盖洛普民意测验，发现有一半美国人说他们缺少足够的时间来做他们想做的事。54%的家长说他们和孩子呆在一起的时间太少了。47%的已婚夫妇抱怨他们缺少在一起的时间.

那么时间都到哪儿去了呢？对大多数人来说，工作和乘公交车上下班占据了一天的大部分时间。根据劳动局统计数字表明，有五分之一的人一周要工作49个小时或者更多；十二分之一的人工作60小时或更多.

现代的生活是丰富多彩的斯堪的纳维亚式自助餐棗有那么多的信息等你去筛选，那么多的产品吸引着我们。《过一种简单的生活》的作者伊莱恩圣詹姆斯说：“为了拥有这一切我们已累得精疲力尽了.

生活简单化就意味着要我们注意所花的钱、时间和精力、方方面面、大大小小的事情，然后再采取措施去控制浪费。根据专家们的一些建议，尽量避免生活中发生争吵以便有更多的时间来娱乐.