時間留給家人

????工作越早開始，便能越早結束，也就有更多時間在孩子們上床睡覺之前陪陪他們。對于有學齡兒童的家庭來說，更是如此。因為，學生早上很早就得去趕校車，因此，只有在晚上，一家人才能聚在一起享受美好時光。

????雖然早起的好處顯而易見，但這并不意味著它們唾手可得。艾米?彼得拉桑塔曾在出版行業工作，她說：“有三次，我都做到了早起：第一次是我在高中和大學游泳隊的時候，當時早上要進行訓練；第二次是在我搬到加利福尼亞州之后，當時公司執行的是東海岸時間；還有就是我有了孩子之后，他們每天很早就會醒來。總體說來，我很享受那些早起的日子。我很驚奇，原來早起可以做那么多事，而平時我在那個時間才剛剛起床。好處很多，但我從來沒法堅持。最后我總是故態復萌，重新回到吸血鬼一樣的夜間生活方式?！?/p>

????如果你也有類似的經歷，不必沮喪。時間管理專家勞拉?斯塔克說：“我認識許多人，他們都是在下午、晚上或深夜的時候最有精神，但他們的事業都非常成功。關鍵是要清楚自己在什么時間精神狀態最佳，精力最充沛，因為，與其他時段相比，在這一時間段，大腦能夠進行一些更高級的活動?！眲诶?斯塔克著有《超能力：高效工作的六大訣竅》（SuperCompetent: The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best）一書。

????不論精力最充沛的時段出現在何時，在這個時段都應集中精力，制定關鍵決策，解決問題或進行頭腦風暴，或其他需要復雜或細致思考的活動。無論如何，斯塔克稱：“千萬不要把自己的黃金時間浪費在娛樂上，或做一些簡單瑣碎的事情，或者與朋友閑聊。關鍵是要自律?！鼻宄?點從被窩里爬出來也是如此。

????翻譯：劉進龍/汪皓

Clearing the way for family time

????If you start work earlier, you may get done earlier, giving you a chance to spend the early evenings with your kids before they go to bed. Particularly for families with school-aged children who have to get on the bus early in the morning, evenings may be the only time everyone can be together.

????These advantages are fairly straightforward, though that doesn't mean seizing them is easy. Amy Pietrasanta, who's worked in the publishing industry, notes that "I have successfully impersonated a morning person three times: when I was a swimmer in high school and college and had to go to morning practice, when I moved to California and (sort of) worked East Coast hours, and when I had babies who woke up early." Each time, "I have generally enjoyed the early morning, marveled at how much I could get done before I would normally get up, etc., etc., etc." But it never stuck. "I always go back to my true, vampire-ish nature."

????If that sounds like you, don't despair. "I know people who are high energy in the afternoon, evening, and late night who are very successful in business," says Laura Stack, a time management expert and author of SuperCompetent: The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best. "The key is to be aware of what time you're at your highest energy level, because your brain is capable of doing higher-level activities in that range compared to other times during the day."

????Whenever you're at your best, that's the time to focus on critical decisions, problem-solving or brainstorming activities, or anything requiring complex or detailed thought. Whatever you do, "Resist the urge to do fun, easy, trivial things or talk to your friends during your prime times," says Stack. "The trick is self-discipline," just as with rolling out of bed at 6 a.m.