今日美文--英语学习系列
二.今日美文10
Things
You
Can
Do
to
Simplify
Your
Life
（1
）
简单生活简单化：简化生活，你今天能做的十件事（1
）
Every Wednesday is Simplicity Day on Zen Habits.
Simplifying can sometimes be overwhelming. The amount of stuff you have in your life and
the amount of things you have to do can be too big a mountain to tackle.
But you don’t have to simplify it all at once. Do one thing at a time, and take small steps.
You’ll get there, and have fun doing it.
In fact, you can do little but important things today to start living the simple life.
I was criticized a few weeks ago when I published the Simple Living Manifesto: 72 Ideas to
Simplify Your Life, because many people felt the list was too long. I heard this point, and
this post is my response: just the 10 most important things.
And these are not 10 difficult things, but 10 simple things that you can do today. Not
tomorrow, not next week, not next month. Today. Choose one and do it today. Tomorrow,
choose another.
If you do these 10 things, you’ll have made great strides with little effort.
1. Make a short list. Take out a sheet of paper and fold it into a small square, perhaps 3×5
inches. Or take out an index card. Now make a short list of the 4-5 most important things
in your life. What’s most important to you? What do you value most? What 4-5 things do
you most want to do in your life? Simplifying starts with these priorities, as you are trying
to make room in your life so you have more time for these things.
2. Drop 1 commitment. Think about all the things in your life that you’re committed to
doing, and try to find one that you dread doing. Something that takes up time but doesn’t
give you much value. Perhaps you’re on a team, or coaching something, or on a board or
committee, or whatever. Something that you do each day or week or month that you don’t
really want to do. Now take action today to drop that commitment. Call someone, send an
email, telling the appropriate person or people that you just don’t have the time. You will
feel relief. I’d recommend dropping all commitments that don’t contribute to your short list
(from Item #1), but for today, just drop 1 commitment.
对于佛家来说每个星期三都是简单的日子。
简化你的生活有时是别无选择的。大量的生活内容以及堆积如山的等待你处理的事情。但你不能马上就简
化你所有的事情，你只能一此做一件事，只能走一小步。你会完成所有的任务并享受其中的乐趣。
实际上，今天你只要做很少但很重要的事情来开始你的简单生活。几个星期前我发表《简单生活的声明：
简化生活的七十二种方法》，受到了批评，是因为它太长了。听到了这点，我的回答是：只要最重要的十
条就可以了。
这十条并不是很难做的事情，是今天你就可以做的十件简单的事情。既不是明天、下星期或下个月而是今
天。今天就选一件事情去做，明天再选另一件事情去做。如果你做了这十件事，你就会发现你只付出了很
少的努力却取得了很大的进步。
1. 做一个简单的表格。拿一张纸折叠成一个四方形，或许只有三乘五英寸大，也可以用一个索引卡。现在
做一个简短的表格，只在上面列出你生活中最重要的四、五件事。对你来说什么是最重要的？对你来说什
么是最有价值的？你在生活中最想做的四、五件事是什么？简化生活就先从这些开始吧，就像生活中你要
经常收拾房间一样。
2. 取消一个许诺。想一下生活中你许诺要去做的所有事情，找一件你害怕去做的事情。有些事情是又费时
又没有好处。或许你在一个团队，或许辅导什么事情，或是在一个董事会，或是一个委员会，或是其它的
什么组织。有些事情你每天、每周、每月都要做但你并不真的想做。现在，就在今天取消它。给某个人打
电话、发邮件告诉一个合适的人或是其他的人，就说你没时间。你会感觉非常轻松。我建议你取消的许诺
并不是你的表格的那些事（即条款1 中的事），今天就取消一个许诺。
10
Things
You
Can
Do
to
Simplify
Your
Life
（2
）
简单生活简单化：简化生活，你今天能做的十件事
3. Purge a drawer. Or a shelf, or a countertop, or a corner of a room. Not an entire room
or even an entire closet. Just one small area. You can use that small area as your base of
simplicity, and then expand from there. Here’s how to purge: 1) empty everything from
the drawer or shelf or corner into a pile. 2) From this pile, pick out only the most
important things, the stuff you use and love. 3) Get rid of the rest. Right now. Trash it, or
put it in your car to give away or donate. 4) Put the stuff you love and use back, in a neat
and orderly manner.
4. Set limits. Read Haiku Productivity for more. Basically, you set limits for things you do
regularly: email, RSS posts, tasks, feeds, items in your life, etc. And try to stick with the
limits. Today, all you have to do is set limits for a few things in your life. Tomorrow, try to
stick with them.
3. 清理你的抽屉、架子、工作台、或是屋子的一个角落。既不是一整间屋子也不是一整个壁橱，只是一
个小空间。你可以把这个小空间当作你简化生活的根据地，然后去扩张。下面是清理的具体方法。1）.清
空抽屉、架子或角落，把清出的东西堆在一起。2.从这一堆中只捡出最重要的东西，你喜欢的和有用的内
容。3）.剩下的都扔掉，就现在。扔到垃圾箱里或是放进你的汽车里准备扔掉或是捐出去。4）.把你喜欢
的或是有用的东西整齐有序的放回去。
4. 制定一个限度。多读一下《Haiku 的生产力》。主要的是对拟定钱去做的事情制定一个限度：电子邮
件、皇家学会会员邮件、工作任务、进餐、生活事项等等。一定要坚持这个限度。今天你要做的事情就是
给你生活中要做的几件事制定一个限度，明天就开始执行这个限度。
10
Things
You
Can
Do
to
Simplify
Your
Life
（3
）
简单生活简单化：简化生活，你今天能做的十件事
5. Simplify your to-do list. Take a look at your to-do list. If it’s more than 10 items long,
you can probably simplify it a bit. Try to find at least a few items that can be eliminated,
delegated, automated, outsourced, or ignored. Shorten the list. This is a good habit to do
once a week.
6. Free up time. Simplifying your life in general is a way to free up time to do the stuff you
want to do. Unfortunately, it can be hard to find time to even think about how to simplify
your life. If that’s the case, free up at least 30 minutes a day for thinking about simplifying.
Or alternatively, free up a weekend and think about it then. How can you free up 30
minutes a day? Just a few ideas: wake earlier, watch less TV, eat lunch at your desk, take
a walk for lunch, disconnect from the Internet, do email only once today, shut off your
phones, do 1 less thing each day.
5. 简化你要做的事情的表格。看一下这个表格，如果超过了十项。你就可以简化一下。试着找一下至少有
几条可以被除去的、可以被取代的、可以自行解决的、超出能源范围的或是可以不去管的事。简短你的表
格。这是每个星期都应该做一次的好习惯。
6. 挤时间。简化生活通常情况就是挤时间让你去做你想做的事情的一个方法。不幸的是，即使是找时间去
想一下怎么简化你的生活都很难。如果是这样，一天至少挤出三十分钟考虑简化的问题。二选一，挤出一
个周末或是考虑一下简化的问题。一天怎么挤出三十分钟呢？有几个方法：早起一点二、少看会儿电视、
在办公桌上吃午饭、午饭时间内去散步、离开一会儿网络、一天只发送一次电子邮件、关上手机、一天少
做一件事。
10
Things
You
Can
Do
to
Simplify
Your
Life
（4
）
简单生活简单化：简化生活，你今天能做的十件事
7. Clear your desk. I can personally attest to the amazing feeling that a clean desk can
give you. It’s such a simple thing to do, and yet it does so much for you. If your desk is
covered with papers and notes and gadgets and office supplies, you might not be able to
get this done today. But here are the basic steps: 1) Clear everything off your desk and
put it in a pile (either in your inbox or on the floor). 2) Process the pile from top to bottom,
one item at a time. Do not defer decisions on any item — deal with them immediately and
quickly. 3) For each item, either file it immediately, route it to someone else, trash it, or
note it on your to-do list (and put it in an “action” folder). If it’s a gadget or office supply,
find a place for it in your desk drawers (or get rid of it). 4) Repeat until your pile is empty
and your desk is clear. Be sure to get rid of any knick knacks. Your desk should have your
computer, your inbox, perhaps a notepad, and maybe a family photo (but not many). Ahh,
a clear desk! 5) From now on, put everything in your inbox, and at least once a day,
process it in the same way as above.
8. Clear out your email inbox. This has the same psychological effect as a clear desk. Is
your email inbox always full of read and unread messages? That’s because you’re delaying
decisions on your emails. If you have 50, let’s say, or fewer emails in your inbox, you can
process them all today. If you have hundreds, you should put them in a temporary folder
and get to them one chunk at a time (do 20 per day or something). Here’s how you
process your inbox to empty — including emails already in your inbox, and all future
incoming emails: 1) process them top to bottom, one at a time, deciding and disposing of
each one immediately. 2) Your choices are to delete, archive, respond immediately (and
archive or delete), forward (and archive or delete), or mark it with a star (or something
like that) and note it on your to-do list to respond to later (and archive). 3) Process each
email like that until the inbox is empty. 4) Each time you check your email, process to
empty. Ahh, an empty inbox!
7. 整理你的办公桌。我可以负责任的告诉你一个整齐的办公桌可以给你带来神奇的感觉。一件如此简单
的事却能给你带来诺大的好处。如果你的办公桌放满了文件、笔记、小玩意和办公用品。也许今天你不能
把这个问题解决掉，但这里有解决这个问题的基本步骤。1）。把每样东西都从你的办公桌上清理下去堆在
一曲（即可以放在文件箱里也可以放在地板上）。2）从上到下的处理这堆东西，一次处理一项。对哪项都
不要推迟你的决定——马上就处理，越快越好。3）对每一项即可以归档也可以发送给你要发送的人，扔进
垃圾箱或把他记在你应该做的事情的表格上（放进一个可以“活动的”折叠文件家里）。如果是小玩意或办
公用品，在你的帮公桌的抽屉里给它们找个地方。（或者扔掉）。4）。重复这个过程直到把这堆东西都解
决掉你的办公桌变干净了。一定要扔掉那些乱七八糟的东西。在你的办公桌上只有电脑、文件箱、或是一
个笔记本、还有你的全家福照片（一定不要很多）。哈哈，一个整齐的办公桌！5）。从现在开始把每样东
西都放进文件箱，至少每天一次，用上面说的办法去做。
8. 清理你的电子邮箱。用清理办公桌的思路清理邮箱。你的电子邮箱总是挤满了读过和没有读过的邮件
吗？那是因为你总是推迟对你的邮件的决定，你今天就处理它们。如果你有上百个邮件，你可以把它们放
在一个临时的文件夹，一次可以整块的处理（一天处理20 个邮件或是其它的东西）。这里有怎样彻底处
理你的文件箱的方法——报刊以及在你的文件箱里的邮件和你将要收到的邮件：1）每次按时间从上到下的
处理，每次都要立即做出决定并处理。2）你的选择就是删除、存档、立即回复（存档或删除），发送邮件
（存档或删除）。用星形符号（或类似的东西）标记一下并在你需要做的事情的表格中记录下来，迟些时
候再回复邮件(存档).3).用这种方法处理每个邮件直到清空你电子邮箱.4)每次查看邮件时都要随时清空..
哈哈,一个干干静静的电子邮箱!
10
Things
You
Can
Do
to
Simplify
Your
Life
（5
）
简单生活简单化：简化生活，你今天能做的十件事
9. Move slower. We rush through the day, from one task to another, from one
appointment to another, until we collapse on the couch, exhausted, at the end of the day.
Instead, simplify your life by doing less (see Items 1, 4 and 5) and doing them more
slowly. Eat slower, drive slower, walk slower, shower slower, work slower. Be more
deliberate. Be present. This isn’t something you’re going to master today, but you can
start practicing today.
10. Single-task. Instead of multi-tasking, do one thing at a time. Remove all distractions,
resist any urge to check email or do some other habitual task like that while you’re doing
the task at hand. Stick to that one task, until you’re done. It’ll make a huge difference in
both your stress level and your productivity.
9. 放慢活动速度.我们每天都是匆匆忙忙,从一项任务到另一项任务,从一个预约到另一个预约,直到瘫倒
在沙发上,精疲力竭的结束每一天..取而代之的应该是少做点儿事情来简化你的生活(看看1.4.5 条)减缓做
事的速度.吃饭慢一点儿"开车慢一点儿"走路慢一点儿"洗澡慢一点儿"工作慢一点儿.要更加深思熟虑,更加
现实.。这个不是你今天就能掌握的，但你可以今天就开始练习。
10. 单一的工作任务。一次只做一件事代替一次做多件事。排除所有的分心，抵制查看电子邮件的冲动，
不要手中做着这件事还想其它的工作。坚持做一件事直到做完。在压力程度和工作效率两个方面都会
产生巨大的不同。
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