世界是我們的,世界是你們的,世界最終是那些早起的鳥兒的。 至少萊比錫大學2009年的一項研究是這么認為的。該大學的研究人員發現,“早起的人要比晚睡的人做事更加積極主動。” 不過做一個高效的早起者,并不僅僅意味著你要起得比所有人都早,而是要把自己放在一個積極的心態上,在所有人之前做完那些重要的事情。 所以如果你很早就被鬧鐘叫醒,然后津津有味地看了兩個小時電視,最后才踩著點無精打采地去上班,那也是沒有任何意義的。 要以正確的方式開啟新的一天,就得養成一些好習慣。 你或許覺得下面的六個“晨間儀式”實施起來很不容易,但只要堅持下去,最終一定會收獲成功的果實。 提前一晚做計劃 這一條乍看起來并不屬于“晨間儀式”,但是要想讓你的清晨變得高效,這一條是異常重要的。所以為了讓第二天早上變得高產,你前一天晚上就要做好計劃。 如果你前一天晚上把什么都準備好了,第二天一起床就可以立即行動了。所以你頭一天晚上就要準備好第二天的早餐,至于明天要干什么,也要列一張小小的日程表。 這一條雖然聽起來非常簡單,但當你夜里下班回家,累成狗的你很可能一頭扎在沙發上,喝點小酒就洗洗睡了,把一切思考工作都留給了明天去做。 再痛苦也要早起 就算你是夜貓子,現在也得改改這個毛病了。 根據時間管理專家、《大多數成功人士在早餐前做什么》一書的作者勞拉·范德卡姆針對20名企業高管進行的一項調查,90%的受訪高管表示,他們在工作日每天六點之前就會起床。比如百事公司CEO盧英德每天凌晨四點就起床了,不到七點就到辦公室。迪士尼CEO鮑伯·伊格爾每天早上四點半起床閱讀。Twitter首席執行官杰克·多西每天早上五點半起床跑步。 對于我們這些晚睡綜合癥患者來說,這些聽起來簡直太痛苦了,不過如果你早點上床睡覺,那么隨著時間的推移,你慢慢也就不會感到早起的痛苦了??傊弋a的早晨總是從早起開始的。 用晨練開啟一天 我們之中總有些“超人”天不亮就會去鍛煉(當然也不排除有些人是嘴炮黨)。當然對于大多數人來說,每天一大早就把自己弄得汗流浹背、渾身酸痛,怎么都覺得得不償失。 然而早上正是鍛煉的理想時間。用晨練開始新一天,才是避免拖延癥的最好方法。 你可以這樣想:如果世界上最忙碌的少數人都能擠出時間鍛煉,那么你也能。比如范德卡姆指出,施樂公司CEO烏蘇拉·伯恩絲每周都會擠出兩次時間,在早上六點進行私人健身訓練,每次一個小時。 另據《商業內幕》報道,美國總統奧巴馬每天早上都會做力量和心肺功能訓練,Twitter首席執行官杰克·多西每天會重復三次7分鐘的“小訓練”。 范德卡姆表示:“他們都是很忙的人,如果他們都要抽時間去鍛煉,就說鍛煉真的非常重要。” 著手重要的項目 不被打擾的寧靜清晨,正是集中精力解決重要工作項目的理想時段。另外,如果你每天一開始就做這些重要的項目,也能確保它們比其他令人分心的事物(比如孩子、員工、老板等等)更能得到你的關注。 范德卡姆舉了個例子:有一個商業策略師,她每天都要參加各種會議,被各種事務打斷,因此她經常覺得這一天什么都沒干。后天她把每天早上當成做項目的時間,而且每天選擇一個最重要的項目集中精力去做。當然她的同事不會在早上六點半打擾她,因此她終于有時間集中精力做重要的事了。 干副業 如果你整天都在開會,經常是又累又餓的狀態,自然沒時間干一些你喜歡的“副業”,有限的精力都用來想中午吃什么了。這就是為什么很多成功人士會在早上留出一小時的時間,做他們喜歡的項目,然后再開始一天的工作。 芝加哥大學的一位歷史老師對范德卡姆表示,她每天早上6點到9點都會專心創作一部講西非宗教政治的書。一般來說,她會先閱讀幾篇期刊文章,然后創作上幾頁,之后才去教室講課。 正是因為每天早上都擠出時間創作,并養成了習慣,她才能將寫作事業堅持到底。 有她這種習慣的人不在少數。據《電訊報》報道,貝多芬、約翰·彌爾頓、庫爾特·馮內古特、瑪雅·安吉洛和雨果等文學藝術大師也都喜歡在早上搞創作。 享受寧靜 生活有時候很瘋狂,在繁忙的日程中,經常難以給自己留下片刻的寧靜。如果你每天早上都過得忙忙碌碌,則更加難以想象自己何時才有喘口氣的時候。 但是練習“靜觀”卻并非是浪費時間。你可以每天早上抽出幾分鐘靜思一下,利用這點難得的寧靜時光去祈禱、冥想、暢想未來的成功,或者回想一下自己感恩什么——總之是想各種能給你帶來正能量的東西。這種短暫的放空,能給你接下來的一天打下良好的心態。(財富中文網) 本文原載于BusinessInsider.com。 譯者:賈政景 |
The early birds will inherit the earth. At least that’s what a 2009 University of Leipzig study found. The researchers concluded that “morning people were more proactive than evening types.” But being an effective early riser isn’t just about waking up before everyone else. It’s about putting yourself in a positive mindset and getting important things done before everyone else. So there’s no point in setting your alarm clock at a crazy-early time if you’re just going to zone out in front of the television for a bit before slouching off to work. To start your day right, you’ve got to get into some good habits. Following are six morning rituals that may seem hard to adopt but will ultimately reap major rewards, if you stick with them. Make a plan the night before This isn’t a morning ritual per se, but it’s a habit that’s definitely conducive to a productive morning routine. So make sure to set yourself up for a successful morning by creating a game plan the night before. It’s always helpful to have everything you need for the day laid out and ready to go when you wake up. Make sure you’re stocked on whatever you need for breakfast. Write out a little schedule on what you need to accomplish the next day. This all sounds pretty simple, but when you’re getting home at night, it’s very tempting to just crash on the sofa with a glass of wine and leave all the thinking for tomorrow. Wake up painfully early Sorry, night owls. It’s time to adapt. In a poll of 20 executives cited by Laura Vanderkam, a time-management expert and the author of “What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast,” 90% said they wake up before 6 a.m. on weekdays. PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, for example, wakes at 4 and is in the office no later than 7. Disney CEO Bob Iger gets up at 4:30 to read. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is up at 5:30 to go jogging. Yes, this might sound awful, but if you get to sleep earlier, that’ll numb the pain of such early wake-ups over time. The bottom line: Productive mornings start with early wake-up calls. Start the day right with exercise Yeah, there are super humans among us who crave that pre-sunrise workout (that, or they’re just really good liars). Still, for everyone else, waking up at the crack of dawn to sweat and get sore probably doesn’t sound ideal. But the morning is probably the ideal time to exercise. By starting your day with exercise, you’ll prevent yourself from putting it off. Think about it this way: If some of the busiest people in the world can find time to workout, so can you. For example, Vanderkam notes that Xerox CEO Ursula Burns schedules an hourlong personal-training session at 6 a.m. twice a week. US President Barack Obama starts out each day with strength and cardio training while Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey does three repetitions of a seven-minute workout, Anisa Purbasari reported for Business Insider. “These are incredibly busy people,” says Vanderkam. “If they make time to exercise, it must be important.” Tackle your high-priority projects The quiet hours of the morning can be the ideal time to focus on an important work project without being interrupted. What’s more, spending time on it at the beginning of the day ensures that it gets your attention before others — kids, employees, bosses — use it up. Vanderkam uses the example of a business strategist who dealt with so many ad hoc meetings and interruptions throughout the day that she felt she couldn’t get anything done. She started thinking of the early mornings as project time, and chose a top-priority project each day to focus on. Sure enough, not a single colleague dropped in on her at 6:30 a.m. She could finally concentrate. Work on your side hustle Your side project is easy to skip when you’ve been in meetings all day, are tired and hungry, and have to figure out what’s for dinner. That’s why many successful people put in an hour or so on their personal projects before they officially start their days. A history teacher at the University of Chicago told Vanderkam that she spent the hours between 6 and 9 working on a book about the religious politics of West Africa. She was able to read journal articles and write several pages before dealing with her teaching responsibilities. By carving out the time in the morning to write, and making it a habit, she could follow through. She’s not in bad company. According to the Telegraph, Ludwig Beethoven, John Milton, Kurt Vonnegut, Maya Angelou, and Victor Hugo all tackled their creative projects in the morning. Enjoy the silence Life can get crazy. It’s often hard to find any moments to spare in your busy schedule. If you’re always rushing around in the morning, it’s difficult to imagine being able to spare any time to have a quiet moment. But practicing mindfulness isn’t a waste of time. Try to reserve a few minutes for silent contemplation at the start of every day. You can use those peaceful moments to pray, meditate, envision your future success, or reflect on what you’re grateful for — whatever works for you. That short pause can put you in a great mindset for the rest of the day. This article originally appeared on BusinessInsider.com |