About a year ago, I published a question in a Blackberry forum asking how the devices had helped to make professionals more productive.
一年前，我在一个黑莓手机论坛中发起讨论，让大家谈谈黑莓是怎么让专业人士拥有更高工作效率的。
The responses I received were typified by the one that I remember the most: “I am more productive because I can check my email on the train to and from work.”
多数人的典型答案是：“我更高效，因为在坐火车上班的途中，就可以查邮件。”
This seemed like a reasonable response at the time. As a person who gets a bit nervous when I have nothing productive to do, I could relate. While I don’t take the train, the value of converting “down time” to productive time is a pretty attractive one.
当时这个回答似乎很有道理。我自己没有什么高效的事可做，甚至还为此惴惴不安。尽管我不坐火车，这种将无用时间变成高效工作的主意，还是很有吸引力的。
And apparently, I’m not alone.
显然，不只是我这么想。
A recent survey of 1 million users in 34 countries showed that 62% believed that their work productivity was “much better” due to new technology. 75% consider the opportunity provided by devices such as smartphones and laptops to remain in constant contact with work as a positive development.
最近对34个国家，1百万人的一项调查显示，62%的人认为，新技术“显著”提高了他们的工作效率。75%的人认为，智能手机和笔记本电脑这些让他们随时不能摆谱工作的设备所带来的机遇，是一种积极的进步。
Apparently, “productivity” has been redefined.
显然，工作效率已经被重新定义。
According to our new definition, productivity has something to do with two things: converting “down time” to work time, and being able to “stay in touch” with what’s happening at work at all times. This kind of commitment used to be associated with “Type A” executives, but nowadays anyone with the right tools can join in the fun.
根据我们的新定义，效率与两样东西有关：将“无用时间”转化为工作时间，以及任何时候都不会远离工作。这种投入的程度，过去只会被用来描述“顶级”管理人员，现在，每个拥有适当工具的人都可以享受这种乐趣。
“Fun” might be a strong word, but many of us like to find new ways to be effective, and like to feel as if we’re getting better at managing our time.
“乐趣”这个词可能用得有点过头。然而我们很多人都想寻找新的方法来变得更高效，来感觉自己对时间有更好的管理。
However, what’s actually happening in the life of many professionals is not amusing at all. Their companies have taken the opportunity given them by technology and the recession to convince employees to spend more “down time” doing work. At the same time, they send a subtle message that “staying in touch” with work also means being available 24 hours a day for 52 weeks of the year.
然而，事实上，专业人员生活中所发生的事情一点不让他们感到有趣。业主们利用经济衰退和技术提供的可能，劝说雇员们花更多的时间工作。同时，也传递了这样的暗示：“不忘工作”意味着每天24小时，每年52周都要随时听候工作的召唤。
Converting “Down Time” Nowadays, it seems, everyone with a smartphone has gotten into the habit of continuously trying to convert “down time” into useful, work time. Here are some everyday examples of ways in which many professionals are converting their “down time.”
现在，将“无用时间”化为有用的工作时间，似乎成了每个拥有智能手机的人习惯去做的事。下面是一些专业人土通常习惯的做法。
- a manager driving on the highway at 70 m.p.h. sends a text to his team (while spilling hot coffee into his lap)
-- 你的老板一边驾车以每小时70英里的速度行驶在高速公路上，一边给你们发短信（这时候，手中的咖啡不慎撒到他的腿上）
- an engineer in a meeting that’s going slowly, checks her email and replies (missing two action items assigned to her)
-- 一位美女工程师慢条斯里地开着会，时不时地查邮件，回复邮件（这期间，错过了两项分配给她的任务）
- an accountant watching his child play baseball on Saturday morning closes a deal in the fourth inning via cellphone (and lies to his son about seeing him make his first catch ever)
--周六早晨，一位会计边看自己的孩子打垒球，边用手机敲定与窗户的合同（之后只好向自己的孩子撒谎，说看到了他第一次接球的情景）
- a supervisor attending 3 days of personal productivity training is unable to leave her smartphone untouched for more than 15 minutes (and later complains that the trainer was ineffective)
-- 一位主管参加了三天的个人效率提升培训。这期间她每次拿起自己智能手机的间隔不超过15分钟（后来还抱怨，说培训者效率太低）
- a consultant speaking to a client on the phone remembers that he should have sent an urgent message to a colleague, and quietly does so (even as the client notes the sudden lapse in attention and interprets it as a lack of interest in continuing the relationship)
-- 一位咨询人员在与客户打电话的过程中，忽然记起他应该给自己的同事发一条紧要的短信。于是就不动声色地这么做了（客户注意到谈话过程中注意力的短暂游离，理解为这是对双方继续合作关系缺乏兴趣）
- a hard driving attorney once again takes his smartphone to the urinal where he can multi-task (… and is noticed by his boss’ husband who happened to borrow his smartphone just five minutes earlier)
-- 一位工作狂型的律师又一次将智能手机带进了洗手间，这样就可以继续工作（这正好被他上司的丈夫注意到。此人五分钟前正好借用了他的智能手机）
- a family cheers in unison when executive-Mom forgets her smartphone at home 5 hours into the annual vacation (and falls into despair when FedEx delivers it the next day)
-- 年假开始五小时后，身为高管的母亲发现，自己将智能手机忘在了家里。全家为此高声欢呼（第二天，FedEx将手机给她送来，家人却陷入绝望。）
I recently asked a client: “How did your big presentation to the executive team go?” She responded: “OK… but the CEO spent the entire hour on his (expletive) Blackberry.”
最近我经常询问客户：“你对管理层的重要演讲怎么样？”她回答说：“还好...不过CEO们一直都在盯着他的黑莓。”
This was bad news for my client, whose project was now being viewed by the CEO as another chunk of his “down time.”
对我的这个客户，这确实是坏消息。她的项目现在被CEO看作是另一个“无用时间。”
If these are all examples of attempts to convert “down time” into useful time, take note of the way in which “down time” has been expanded. This is more than filling in the time that would be spent sitting on a train. The habit has invaded every nook and cranny of our lives, sparing no-one, and costing us dearly.
如果这都是将“无用时间”转化为有用的例子，就得注意“无用时间”是怎么被扩展的。这不只是如何打发坐火车的时间。这种习惯已经入侵到了我们生活的每一个角落，影响到每一个人，给我们带来重大的损失。
At this point, many of you reading are probably shaking your heads at some of the poor etiquette on display. I did the same, until I began to think of the mindset of the employees involved.
现在，可能会有很多读者对所显现出来的不良作风摇头了。我也是这样，直到认识到雇员们的相关心态。
All the habits listed above were developed by professionals who were well intended — they were trying to boost their productivity by converting “down time” into something of value. Unfortunately, once we humans are hooked on a habit, it’s hard to stop, and we end up employing it inappropriately, much to the annoyance of others in our lives. In that moment, the fun has disappeared and the habit has become an empty, automatic practice that does more harm than good.
上述所有的习惯，其实最被都是出于很好的愿望而养成的：他们都想提高效率，将“无用时间”化为有价值的。不幸的是，一旦人们养成了一个习惯，就很难终止。最后就会不恰当地表现出来，影响到其它人。这时，就没什么乐趣可言，习惯成为一种空洞，自动的行为，带来更多是危害，而不是收益。
The worse part is that in many companies, executives are leading the way by example, as they are often the first users of these devices and the employees most likely to squeeze work into every available minute of their lives.
最糟糕的是，很多企业中的高管正是这种行为的表率。因为通常是他们最先使用这些设备，最先将工作渗透到生活中的每一分钟。
They are also the ones who are unwilling to sever the connection between themselves and their colleagues, even for a few hours each day.
他们也最不愿意放下自己与其它同事的关系，即使只是每天中的几个小时。
Staying in Touch With Work
不要远离工作
A friend of mine once told me the story of a manager of rambunctious employee who was essential to the organization, but frequently complained and threatened to leave. In the space of a few months, he got married, bought a house and had a baby.
一个朋友曾告诉过我这样的故事：有个难缠的雇员对他的公司很重要，他本人却经常抱怨，威胁要离开。几个月后，他结婚了，买了房子，又有了孩子。
After these happy events, his manager passed my friend in the hall on hearing the latest it of happy news and whispered conspiratorially: “I have him now!” In other words, with his new family and financial obligations, the rambunctious employee was unlikely to raise more trouble, and would probably settle into a comfortable routine of corporate service with a steady eye on his pension, benefits and 401(k).
后来，他的经理在大厅里遇到了我的朋友，听到这些好消息，幽幽地说到：“这下他可落到我手里了！”言下之意，由于新的家庭和财务责任，这位曾经难于对付的雇员可能会变得更加驯服，因为他不得不考虑自己的退休金，补助和401(K)理财计划了。
The point of the story? There are executives and managers who are blithely offering the gift of smartphones to their employees, and in some companies it’s seen as a reward, and a status symbol.
这个故事说明了什么？有些高管和经理们将智能手机作为礼物送给下属。有此公司里，这是一种回报，一种地位的象征。
What many of them know, however, is that when an employee accepts the device, they are likely to join the group of the always-reachable, and engage in many of the behaviors that their higher-ups are practicing, such as: – sending and receiving messages at 2:30 am – using weekends, vacations and holidays to conduct company business – implicitly agreeing to respond to all messages within a short time-frame – interrupting ANY activity to “find out what my boss wants”
然而，他们很多人却知道，一旦员工接受了这样的礼物，就加入了那些永远能找到的人的行列，成为他们顶头上司们的追随者。也开始在凌晨2:30收邮件，利用休假和节日做公事。明确地接受要在较短的时限时回复所有信息，中断一切活动来“了解老板倒底想要什么”。
(If the stories told on YouTube and on blogs are true, then _anything_ can be interrupted nowadays by smartphone use!)
（如果YouTube和博客上的故事是真的，那么，今天的任何事情都是可能被智能手机打断的！）
To put it in more Machiavellian terms, companies have found a way to take time and attention that employees used to spend on their own, with their families and with their friends, and convert it to company time. It starts with the gift of a smartphone.
以更加权谋论的观点看，公司们现在找到一种更好的方式，让员工们把过去属于自己、家庭和朋友的时间，用于工作。这一切都始于那个做为礼物的智能手机。
While I truly doubt that there is some master plan, don’t doubt for a minute that a manager doesn’t know the difference between her employees who are always-reachable from those who aren’t. Companies can make big gains in productivity by simply giving away smartphones to their employees, while ignoring the added stress that gets created.
尽管我怀疑这是否是精心策划的，却丝毫不怀疑，一个经理对于谁是随叫随到，谁是下班就找不到，还是分得很清的。只要简单地为员工提供智能手机，就能提高工作效率。公司在这桩买卖中收益不小，却不用考虑它给员工带来的心理压力。
There are some companies that are noticing what is happening, however.
当然，也有一些公司注意到实际的情况。
Enlightened companies take a page out of the medical profession, which has long realized that it’s important to maintain some kind of boundaries in their professionals’ lives. Companies can put in place policies that clearly delineate time spent “at work,” “on call” and “away from work.” They recognize that these are three distinct modes that must be enforced if employees are expected to function at their best.
开明的公司会尊重医疗行业的观点，在员工的职业和个人生活之间划清界限。公司们可以明确定义那些时间是“在工作”，那些是“准备工作”或“不在工作”。这是三种不同的模式，必须加心区别，以便员工能够更高效。
Most employees, however, find themselves in un-enlightened companies and must make their own way, starting with 3 steps they must take.
多数员工会认为自己的雇主并不这么开明，这就需要自己的对策。下面是他们最初可以采取的步骤。
Their first step is to identify the unproductive habits in their time management system. They can do the kind of analysis I describe on my website (www.2time-sys.com) to find the strong and weak spots.
首先是找出时间管理中效率过低的部分。他们可以完成我在自己网站（http://www.2time-sys.com/）上描述的相关分析，去找出弱点。
The second step is to create an improvement plan that outlines the habits to be changed, along with some target dates. This gives them some realistic goals to heard towards.
接下来要建立一个改进计划，列出要改变的习惯和实现的日期。这样就有一个现实的目标可以为之奋斗。
The third step requires them to create an environment to make the habit changes easier to effect. Unfortunately, most habits do not change easily or quickly, and the right blend of supports can make all the difference.
第三步，要创造一个环境，以便这种习惯的改变能够更容易地实现。不幸的是，很多习惯都难于改变，不同的支持会产生截然相反的后果。
Employees who have begun this personal journey need to make a plan to enlighten the executive team. Most smartphone use started with the CEO and her direct reports, and they are the ones who, in all likelihood, introduced, for example, a culture of 24 hour availability to the organization.
已经开始这么做的员工，需要教育他们的管理者。很多智能手机始于CEO和他们的直接下属。他们是最早引入24小时工作文化的人。
In an effort like this, employees need allies at all levels to help demonstrate that bad habits developed in the executive suite can wreak havoc when rolled out to an entire company. (There is a growing body of data available that can be used in this effort.) In an intervention, executives can be asked to imagine an all-company meeting in which half the attendees spend most of the meeting on their smartphones, lost in cyber-space. (Some would simply argue that they are following the fine example of their CEO!)
在这种努力中，员工们必须证明坏的习惯会影响整个企业。（有越来越多的数据可以支持这一点。）高层们应该可以想象，在一次全公司的会议中，如果其中一半的人都在摆弄自己的智能手机，那会时什么样的结果。（有些人会说，他们在学习自己老板的好榜样！）
If the executive team can be convinced that these behaviors are destructive, then the company can move to specify some specific changes.
如果高层被说服，那么公司可以转移到更具体的改进上。
For example, the US Federal Government has banned the use of cell-phones by its employees while they are driving and conducting government business. In part, that’s because of obvious safety reasons.
例如，美国政府已经禁止其官员在驾驶和执行公务时使用手机。这在某种程度上，是由于显而易见的安全原因。
From a productivity stand-point, however, it makes perfect sense. Other policies can be introduced to limit the use of smartphones and laptops during off hours, for starters. (In some companies, turning off all messaging devices between 12:00 am and 6:00 am would be a major step.)
从效率的方面看，也是有道理的。其它类似的政策，也可以被用来限制智能手机和笔记本电脑在下班后的使用。（在有些公司中，每天夜里12点到早上6点关掉所有信息设施，可能是很大的一个进步。）
Each company needs to look at its culture, as well as its strategy, and phase in these changes in a way that makes sense. They need to allow for the fact that habit change takes time, and that a new culture could not be born in an instant.
每个公司都要以更加合理的方式，分析自己的文化、战略，以及这些变更的阶段。他们必须明白习惯的改变需要时间，新的文化不能一夜之间就会出现。
The single employee who decides to change their company has a very difficult task on her hands, however, as she realizes that smartphones have done more to change company culture in the past few years than any vision statement or 2 day retreat. She needs to appreciate that some executives may decide that they like the way things are going, and don’t want to change a thing. Those companies who take this route probably won’t see any immediate fallout as employees cling to their jobs for fear of losing them, but they’ll pay later. At some point in the future, productivity will be impacted on a large scale, as employees burn themselves out and the bottom line suffers.
单个雇员在改变公司方面很难有所作为。智能手机在过去几年内对公司文化所带来的影响超越了任何企业理念，这就不难理解为什么高层管理人员会乐于维持现状。短期之内很难看到什么不良的影响，但是未来还是会付出代价的。未来的某一天，效率会大幅下降，员工们不堪重负，企业的收入也会受到影响。
It’s much better to make the small, enlightened changes now, than to wait until the cost is higher and the effort required seems to be impossible to garner.
最好的办法，是从现在，开始做一些小的，开明的变更，而不是等到一切都不可挽回。
All it takes to get started is one or two employees who are willing to redefine what productivity means for themselves and their companies, in favour of long-term results that are sustainable.
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