making conscious choices

1. The first step to controlling your weekends is making conscious choices.
第一步是为自己的周末做个理智的选择

It's so easy to plop down on the couch on a Friday night or Saturday morning and watch TV, but falling into these routines will suck away the few free hours you have. Instead of doing something by default, choose to decide how your time is spent.
周五晚上或周六早上靠着沙发看电视最爽啦，但如果这样过周末可真是浪费了你仅有的闲暇时光呢。与其就这样默认地过周末，不如好好想想怎么利用好周末时间吧。

In her book, "What The Most Successful People Do On The Weekend," time management expert Laura Vanderkam writes, "In a world of constant connectivity, even loafing time must be consciously chosen, because time will be filled with something whether it’s consciously chosen or not — and not choosing means that the something that fills our hours will be less fulfilling than the something our remembering selves will likely wish we’d elected to do."
时间管理专家劳拉·凡德卡姆在著作《最成功的人周末做些什么》一书中写道：“在这个被即时通讯充斥的世界，即使是空闲时间也需要谨慎选择，因为一些事总会莫名占用时间——如果不理智选择，就意味着你的时间将会虚度，而非花在实现心中目标之上。”

Make appointments

2. Make appointments for yourself, even if it's only to read a book.
跟自己预约，哪怕只是读一本书而已

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee says you need to have a plan for the weekend, setting specific hours or minutes aside for activities you want to do. Then you have to commit.
前阿肯色州州长麦克·赫卡比说你需要为周末定个计划，空出几个小时或几分钟来做你想做的事情。然后就去履行这个计划吧。

Huckabee advises: "If you know you want to read a book, then get the book out and have it set aside and make plans to read it. Say it's going to be at 1. When that starts, get on it. Don't wait until that afternoon, then think — could I read? Or listen to some music? Or take a walk? Then you'll sit about wasting an hour of what little time you have figuring out what to do with the rest of it."
赫卡比建议道：“如果你想读一本书，那么就把书带着，放在身边，做个计划来阅读这本书吧。比如你准备一点开始看，一到一点，就不要再拖啦。不要等到下午再去想——我是读书呢还是听音乐呢？要不去散个步？然后你就会浪费一个小时的时间去纠结接下来到底应该干什么。

You have to be disciplined and commit to the decisions you make.
一定要自律，遵守自己做出的决定。

make a plan

3. Planning actually makes weekends happier, and unlocks a key mechanism of joy.
做计划能增加周末的乐趣，让你找到快乐

Vanderkam cites Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert's 2006 book, "Stumbling on Happiness." In it, Gilbert argues that "the greatest achievement of the human brain is its ability to imagine objects and episodes that do not exist in the realm of the real."
凡德卡姆还引用了哈佛心理学家丹尼尔·吉尔伯特在2006年的著作《撞上快乐》，中间提到“人脑最伟大的地方就在于有能力去想象现实生活中完全不存在的东西。”

Gilbert is talking about anticipation. Anticipation accounts for a huge chunk of happiness, which comes from thinking about the events we plan. Vanderkam writes, "As you look forward to something good that is about to happen, you experience some of the same joy you would in the moment. The major difference is that the joy can last much longer."
吉尔伯特提到了期望。期望包含了大量的幸福，皆来源于我们所计划的事情。凡德卡姆写道：“当你期待好事发生的时候，你会感受到其他类似情形中的乐趣。主要的不同在于这种期望的快乐持续的更加长久。”

don't plan out every hour

4. Plan three to five anchor events each weekend, but don't plan out every hour.
每周安排三到五个事情，但不要排满每个小时

Vanderkam says most people cringe at the idea of planning their weekends. But placing three to five main, or "anchor," events on your calender for the weekend doesn't mean you need to plan them down to the minute.
凡德卡姆说大部分的人想到列周末计划就会退缩，但其实列三到五个重点就可以了，周末日历上的安排不需要你精确到每一分钟。

She writes, "Three things taking three hours apiece is nine hours of your 36 waking ones. That leaves a lot of time for sitting and nursing a scotch, if you don't have three small children, or watching 'The Backyardigans,' if you do."
她还写道：“三件事，每件事三小时，9个小时就花掉了，而你总共的活动时间有36个小时。如果你没有三个小孩子，或是需要打理后花园，你还是有充足的时间来品一杯威士忌。”

Make a list

5. Make a list of the things you dream about doing, and you'll find the ones you can do every day.
给自己想做的事列个清单，你会发现每天都能实现一个

When the weekend rolls around there may be so many things that you want to do that you freeze up and end up doing almost none of them. That's why it's effective to have a really good list.
周末来袭，也许你想做的事太多反而不知该如何下手最后却一事无成。所以列个清单十分有效。

Vanderkam suggests people create something called "A List of 100 Dreams," which prompts you to brainstorm anything you might want to do in life. Although some things, like going to see the pyramids in Egypt, may not be doable right now, by the end of the list you'll have come up with everyday activities, like getting together with friends for a picnic in the park.
凡德卡姆建议大家去列一个类似”100个最想做的事“这样的清单，首先你要绞尽脑汁去想到底想做些什么。有些事，比如去埃及看金字塔，不能马上实现，但越到最后你就越会列出每天都能做到的事情，比如和朋友一起去公园野炊。

don't discount

6. As you make your plans, don't discount something you haven't done in years.
做计划的时候，不要忘记那些一直被自己遗漏的事情

One of Vanderkam's key secrets is to "dig deep." Even if there are activities that you haven't done since childhood, you can still make them part of your regular weekends.
凡德卡姆的秘诀之一在于“深挖”。即使有些事你长大之后就再也没有做过，你还是可以把它列在周末计划里。

For example, one of her readers signed up for Saturday morning piano lessons. She says that sometimes parents get so caught up in planning their kids' lives that they forget to schedule fun activities for themselves. Pick something that means a lot to you, and make it a permanent routine.
比如，她的一位读者登记了周六早上的钢琴课。她说有时候家长总是会一心去安排孩子的生活而忽视了自己的乐趣。挑一个对你而言很重要的事情，然后养成习惯去做吧。

Weekend mornings

7. Weekend mornings can be the best time to do things for yourself.
周末早晨可是为自己生活的最佳时机

Weekend mornings are very easily wasted in laying about. Instead, set them aside for personal pursuits.
周末的早晨最容易被懒觉吞噬啦。实际上，好好利用这段时间来搞点人生追求吧。

Vanderkam writes, "If you're training for a marathon, it's less disruptive for your family if you get up early to do your four-hour run than if you try to do it in the middle of the day. To get up early, you'll probably have to avoid staying up late the night before, but this is a good idea in general."
凡德卡姆写道：”如果你一直为马拉松备战，那么不如早起开始你的四小时长跑，以免中午跑步耽误家人的行程安排。早点起床，你就会避免头一天晚上熬夜，看，这是多好的办法啊。“

habits

8. Establish small habits to create new traditions for your family.
把一些小习惯变成家里的惯例

"Happy families often have some special weekend activity that everyone loves but no one has to plan each time," Vanderkam writes.
凡德卡姆写道：“幸福的家庭总有一些特殊的周末活动，每个人都会自发参加，十分热衷，无需特别安排。”

It could be as simple as making pancakes or taking a stroll on a Sunday evening. Whatever you'd like to implement, make it a ritual. Soon they will become traditions, and traditions become comforting memories, which are proven to boost happiness.
这可以简单到是每周日晚上一起做煎饼或者散个步。把你喜欢做的事养成一个习惯吧。很快就会变成一个惯例，慢慢的就会增加很多温馨的回忆，提升幸福感。

turn off your phone

9. Set aside specific hours for down time, and turn off your phone.
给自己几个小时来放空，关掉手机

It's important to schedule down time, because otherwise you may never unplug. Like siestas in Spain, you don't necessarily need to sleep and may choose to watch a movie or read. The time is meant to relax.
安排自己的空间非常重要，否则你永远都无法真正放下电子产品。就好比西班牙的午休，你不需要真的睡觉，也可以看一部电影或读一本书。主要的目的在于放松。

make plans for Sunday night

10. Be sure to make plans for Sunday night so you don't sit around stressing about your job.
别忘了给周日晚上做计划，免得自己陷入工作焦虑

Planning something for Sunday nights is an easy way to avoid stressing about work in anticipation of Monday. That can happen even when you like your job, but for people who don't like their jobs, Sunday night stress can be draining and sad.
周日晚上做个计划能有效避免周一工作即将来临的恐慌焦虑。哪怕你喜欢工作你也会害怕周一，更何况对于那些不热爱工作的人而言，周日焦虑症真的会让人沮丧和抓狂。

To combat this, Vanderkam suggests scheduling something during these hours because it extends the weekend and keeps you focused on the fun to come, rather than the next morning.
要想摆脱这个魔咒， 凡德卡姆建议把这个时间段安排一些事，这能延长周末让你集中精力享乐而非担忧周一。

day off

11. Keep chores, errands, and busy work to a minimum on your days off.
把那些小事、琐事和忙碌的工作在休息的时间中降到最少

There are always things you have to do, but keeping chores to a minimum on the weekends is really important.
总有事情要你去做，但周末的时候就把做这些事情的时间降到最少吧。

Finishing chores shouldn't be central to your weekend because they often expand to fill available time. Instead, try to do a chore each day during the week. If that's not possible then set aside small windows of time during the weekend. For example, set a half an hour on a Friday night between dinner and when you watch a movie to put away the laundry, or 20 minutes between your piano lesson and bike ride on Saturday morning to empty the garbage.
处理琐事绝对不能成为周末的核心，因为它们往往会充斥在你所有的空闲时间。相反，试着每天都做点琐事，如果没空的话，那就在周末抽一小部分时间出来专门处理。例如，周五晚餐之前抽出一个小时，清洗因为看电影迟迟未开洗的衣物；又或是在钢琴课和骑单车中的二十分钟空隙里去倒个垃圾。

Setting small amounts of time will motivate you to get chores done quickly.
空出这些时间段能激励你快速做完琐事。

"Sabbath" day

12. Make sure to unplug completely for at least a few hours.
几个小时彻底“断电”时光

Have a tech "Sabbath" day — or at least a few hours on the weekend when you unplug from your email and professional life.
来个电子设备”安息日“吧--至少一周抽出几个小时的时间不去管你的邮件和工作。

Although it becomes harder to do that with smartphones and demanding careers, Vanderkam recommends hiding your mail icon on your phone during your "Sabbath," so you are not even tempted to click on messages that spill into your inbox. You may not be able to completely avoid working on the weekends, but you can at least carve out a few hours.
智能手机在手，要做到这个真的非常困难，加上职业生涯时不我待。凡德卡姆建议在”安息日“的时候隐藏手机的邮件提示，这样你就不会忍不住去点击邮箱里的新消息。也许你无法完全避免在周末处理公事，但你至少可以给自己几小时的假期吧。

don't waste

13. If you live to be 80, you'll have 4,160 weekends in total, so don't let any go to waste.
如果你活到80岁，就会有4160个周末，所以不要再浪费啦！

Four thousand weekends isn't all that much. It's very easy to feel overwhelmed and simply do nothing (or meaningless things). But by falling into that trap, Vanderkam points out you may miss the best parts of your own life.
四千个周末其实并不多。很容易就会在无所事事中度过（或做的都是无意义的事情）。凡德卡姆指出，如果陷入这样的循环， 你会错过生活最精彩的部分。

Too often people don't think about what they'd like to do and wind up living constrained versions of life, doing little tasks on a to-do list.
大多数时候人们不会去想自己喜欢做什么，只会过着局限的生活，根据待办清单去完成任务。

Vanderkam says, "What the most successful people know about weekends is that life cannot happen only in the future. It cannot wait for some day when we are less tired or less busy." So start with this weekend and do something.
凡德卡姆说：“大部分的成功人士对于周末的认识是：生活不只存在于未来。我们不能等到哪一天不那么累不那么忙。” 所以从这周开始做点不一样的事情吧。