When you think “I should be more productive”, you're probably imagining doing more. Working more hours, getting through more work during those hours, clearing your inbox, cleaning out the garage … just thinking about it is enough to make you feel exhausted already.
當(dāng)你想著“我要提高生產(chǎn)力”的時(shí)候，你大概指的是我要多干點(diǎn)活，比如：多干幾個(gè)小時(shí)的活，在這段時(shí)間里多完成點(diǎn)工作，清空收件箱，打掃車庫(kù)等等。光想想這些事，就已經(jīng)讓你感到筋疲力盡了吧。

The truth about productivity, though, is that we don't necessarily become more productive –producing more worthwhile results in our lives –by constantly doing more and more. Real productivity might actually come from doing less.
關(guān)于生產(chǎn)力的真相是，我們并不需要干越來(lái)越多的活，而是要做有價(jià)值的工作。真正的生產(chǎn)力常常意味著少干活。

Less Really Is More
少就是多

I expect you're familiar with the Pareto principle – that 80% of results are derived from 20% of effort. While this doesn't hold true for every single situation, it's a good principle to keep in mind. There are probably some areas in your life where you're expending a lot of effort for negligible results.
我想你可能聽過(guò)著名的帕累托原理，即80%的成果是由20%的努力得來(lái)的。盡管這一原理不是在任何條件下都能成立的，但是的確值得你牢記，因?yàn)樵谀闵钪械哪承┓矫妫憧赡芫突舜罅鈪s只得到了微不足道的成果。

By doing less –cutting back in the areas which don't really matter –you'll have more energy, focus and enthusiasm for those things which do make a difference.
做得少意味著少花力氣在那些無(wú)關(guān)緊要的事上，把更多的精力關(guān)注在那些能起到關(guān)鍵作用的事情上去。

要高效還是要有效？

Productivity advice often revolves around making us more efficient. Keep a to-do list. Use a timer to keep you on track. Blitz through your emails. Learn a bunch of keyboard shortcuts.
很多提高生產(chǎn)力的建議提倡要高效。把要做的事情列張清單，準(zhǔn)備個(gè)定時(shí)器好讓自己集中注意力，迅速處理郵件，學(xué)會(huì)使用鍵盤上的快捷鍵等等。

It's often good advice –but it's easy to start missing the point. Being efficient isn't enough –sure, you might be racing through your to-do list faster and faster, but are the items on that list really worth doing in the first place?
這些建議是很好，但可能忽略了關(guān)鍵的一點(diǎn)。光有效率并不夠，你也許可以越來(lái)越快地完成清單上所列的工作，但是這些工作是不是真的值得你放在首要位置去完成呢？

Although effectiveness and efficiency can support one another, there's sometimes a tension between the two. Being effective, on the other hand, means looking at the impact of our actions. To be effective, you might have to take a step back from being busy, and look at the real priorities in your life.
盡管高效工作和有效工作是相輔相成的，但兩者也有不同之處。有效工作意味著你要認(rèn)清你的工作所帶來(lái)的影響。你可能需要從繁忙的工作狀態(tài)中后退一步，認(rèn)真審視一下什么事情應(yīng)該是你在生活中優(yōu)先考慮的。