最近,我和我的朋友Jesse在Samovar茶室中完成了一项挑战:一天(从上午10点-下午4点间)只花2次各30分钟的时间处理邮件。此外,除非我们那个上午有一个小时花在某个项目上,否则我们不能查收邮件。大部分早晨都是这样结束的,我没法花一小时做项目,所以我只能在下午查收邮件。令人惊奇的是,如果工作高效,竟然只要花20分钟就可以处理完邮件。如果你也感兴趣,我很乐于分享这一经验。
 
To start with, this isn’t about being hyper-efficient. It’s not about optimizing our life or becoming productivity masters. It’s not about rushing through things.
首先,这无关超级效率,并非优化我们的人生或者成为生产力达人,也不是赶时间。
 
It’s about limiting our distractions (for me, email is one of my go-to distractions) and when we do allow them, it is purposefully. And with focus and mindfulness.
这是尽可能减少干扰项(对我而言,邮件就是很大的干扰之一),有目的地集中注意力去做事。
 
Email is necessary in my life, so I don’t want to cut it out. I do want to keep it to a minimum, so it doesn’t expand to fill my day, or become something I run to.
邮件对我而言很必要,所以我不想彻底甩掉它。我想尽可能简化它,使它不至于占据我所有的时间,让我能够掌控。
 
OK, with that clear, let’s dive into the “how to.”
明确了这些后,让我们一起来看看“怎么做”。
 
How to Limit Email Checking
如何缩减邮件查收时间
It used to be that I would check email first thing in the morning, before getting out of bed. But I realized that this was a procrastination method that felt productive, that was a way for me to postpone meditating and important work.Email also was something I’d check whenever I was bored, didn’t want to work on something hard (but still wanted to feel productive), or just had an itch to see what people were writing to me about.
从前,我早晨起床前的第一件事就是查收邮件。但我意识到这看起来高效,实则是拖延法,因为它占据了冥想和重要工作的时间。以前我总在感到无聊、不想认真工作时(但又想感觉有效率)查收邮件,或者只是想看看别人给我写了些什么。
 
But Jesse asked me a good question: What would happen if you didn’t check email for a week? (My projects would fall behind and customers would think I’m unresponsive.) What would happen if you just checked once a day? (Nothing bad, probably.)
但Jesse问了我一个好问题:如果你一周不收邮件会怎么样?(我的项目会滞后、我的客户会认为我反映迟钝)如果你每天收一次邮件会怎么样?(也许没什么不好的)
 
So we made a challenge: just check twice a day, at specific times. If you messed up, you’d have to pay the other person $1,000 (!). That was a ridiculous amount for such a trivial thing, so it was guaranteed that we wouldn’t check email.There was a small caveat: if you needed to send an email (to get a report to someone, for example), you could send the email only, but would have to pay $1,000 if you checked any other emails.
所以我们做了一项挑战:在特定的时间,一天收两次邮件。如果你搞混了,你得被罚1000元!对这件小事而言,这个数目实在大得可笑,所以有效地保证了我们不去查收邮件。还有一个小的附加说明:如果需要发邮件(比如给某人发报告),你就只能发邮件,如果你查收其他邮件则同样被罚1000元。
 
So I recommend a similar challenge. Try it for a week. Find an accountability partner, promise to pay a really big amount, set specific terms, and see if you can limit your email checking. This won’t work for people in customer service, for example, who need to check email all day long to do their job, but for most of us, email just seems like something we need to check often, but nothing bad happens if we don’t.
所以我建议你们也做同样的挑战,试着坚持一周,找一个负责的伙伴,承诺一笔巨额的惩罚金,设定具体的规则,然后看看你是否可以减少查收邮件的时间。当然这不适用于那些服务行业的人,比如你需要全天查收邮件才能做事,但对于大多数不收邮件也无伤大雅的人而言是可以一试的。
 
Try it, see if you can limit yourself to twice a day. Or be bold, and do once a day!
试试吧,看看是否能否控制一天只收两次邮件,或者更勇敢些,一天只收一次!
 
How to Process Email in 20 Minutes
如何用20分钟处理邮件
The “20 minutes” is actually relative to whatever volume of email you need to process, of course. Some people will need 30 minutes. But most people can do it in less, and if you find yourself going beyond 30 minutes, it’s possible you need to do a couple things:
当然,“20分钟”视乎你需要处理的邮件数量,有的人需要30分钟。但大部分人可以压缩这一时间,只需要做以下这些事:
 
1. Unsubscribe from as many newsletters, promotional emails, notifications and other fluff as you can (if it has an unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email, use it). Get those out of your inbox, so you can just focus on the important stuff.
1.取消订阅那些简报、促销邮件、通知和其他不需要的邮件(通常在邮件底部有取消订阅的链接可使用)。把这些邮件清理出你的收件箱,只关注重要的邮件。
 
2. Decide that you’re not going to get to everything today, just the important ones that you can do in 20-30 minutes.
2.坚持每天只在20-30分钟里做最重要的事,而不是做完所有事情。
 
OK, with those two key ideas in mind, here’s how to process your email in 20 minutes:
好了,记住这两点核心要求,接下来告诉你如何在20分钟里处理你的邮件:
 
1. Set a timer for 20 minutes. Set your container, and work within it.
1.设置一个20分钟的计时器,在你的时间限定内完成它。
 
2. Process email top down, and completely deal with each email. One email at a time. Deal with it completely before you allow yourself to move on to the next. Don’t put it off, don’t say, “I’ll deal with that later.”
2.自上而下地确保处理每一封邮件。一次一封邮件,在顺移到下一封前,确保前一封已经彻底处理完毕。不要拖延,不要说“我过会儿会再来处理的”。
 
3. Take one of three actions. You only have three choices: a) delete (or archive), b) reply right now (and/or take care of the task it requires right now) if it will take 2 minutes or less, c) put it on your to-do list or calendar if it will take longer (see next item) and file in a “to-do” email folder. Basically, do what it takes to get the email out of your inbox. And again, unsubscribe whenever you can.
3.三选一。你只有三个选项:a)删除(或存档),b)立即回复(特别留意现在就需要处理的任务),c)如果它需要花费更长时间(详见下一项),把它放入你将要做的事件清单或日历中并归类为待处理邮件。本质上,就是要使邮件移出你的收件箱,同时尽可能取消订阅一些邮件。
 
4. Put longer tasks on your to-do list. If it will take longer than 2 minutes, put the item on your to-do list. Or if it’s a link that you need to read, put it on a read-later list. Sometimes I’ll reply to the person to let them know I’ll try to work on it today (or by a certain date), and then put it on my to-do list or calendar.
4.把长期任务放到待处理清单中。如果处理需要花费超过2分钟,那么把它放入你的待处理清单中。或者它是需要你花时间去阅读的清单,把它放入待阅读清单。有时我会回复邮件,告诉对方我会当天处理(或给出某个明确的时限),接着把它放入我的待处理清单或日历中。
 
5. Be mindful as you work. It’s easy to get into the “do this as quickly as I can” mode. But there’s also a mindfulness you can bring to the activity. As you send this email, are you being helpful, kind, clear, truthful, compassionate? How is your body feeling? Are you sitting upright? Can you smile and appreciate this beautiful moment?
5.集中注意力做事。人很容易进入“做得越快越好”的模式,但与行动力同样重要的是专注力。当你发送邮件时,你有助他人、友善、清晰、真诚和充满同情心吗?你的身体有什么感受?你做得很端正吗?你能否微笑着享受这一美妙的时刻吗?
 
When the timer goes off, find gratitude that you had that time to communicate and take care of important tasks. Let go of the rest, close your email, and resist the urge to check it again later. Refocus yourself on something important.
当计时器停止,你应该为自己花时间处理了重要的任务而感到欣慰。放开未处理的,关闭邮件,打消过会想要再次查收邮件的念头。重新将你的注意力集中于那些重要的事情。
 
Breathe, and meet the rest of your day with joy.
深呼吸,然后愉快地享受接下来的时间。