暢銷書書評 每天最棒兩小時

I am writing this review in an open plan office. Fragments of conversation are wafting past as I flick between my bulging email inbox, the book and various online news sites as well as Facebook and Twitter.

我在一個開放式辦公室寫這篇書評。我在塞滿郵件的收件箱、這本書、不同的新聞網站，還有Facebook和Twitter之間不停切換的時候，其他人聊天的片段不斷飄過來。

Such an inability to focus is a well-documented byproduct of the modern “busyness”, leading to what writer Brigid Schulte described as the “overwhelm”.

這種無法專注是現代人“忙碌”狀態的副產品，有關它的著述不少，它會引起作家布里吉德•舒爾特(Brigid Schulte)所說的“淹沒感”。

The technological distractions (emails and social media) and unending workloads have spawned an industry — books, blogs and executive coaches — devoted to “life hacks” aimed at increasing our individual productivity through efficiency. This was perhaps exemplified by Tim Ferriss’s exhortation that we could shrink our workload to just half a day in The 4-Hour Workweek (2007).

讓我們分心的科技產品（電子郵件和社交媒體）以及無窮無盡的工作負擔催生了一個產業——提供“生活竅門”的書籍、博客和高管教練，旨在通過改善工作效率提高個人生產率。典型例子或許是蒂姆•費里斯(Tim Ferriss)在《每週工作4小時》(The 4-Hour Workweek, 2007)中對我們做出的敦促：我們可以把工作量減少到只需要半天來完成。

The latest book on the subject is Two Awesome Hours— promising “science-based strategies to harness your best time and get your most important work done” — by Josh Davis. He is an executive coach and director of research for the NeuroLeadership Institute, an organisation that synthesises scientific research and applies it to business and leadership.

有關這個問題的最新著作是喬希•戴維斯(Josh Davis)所著的《最棒的兩小時》(Two Awesome Hours)，這本書承諾教你“科學的策略，幫你利用最好的時間，完成最重要的工作”。戴維斯是一名高管教練，還擔任NeuroLeadership Institute的研究主任。該機構將科學研究綜合起來，應用到商業和組織領導中。

The answer is not to work longer and harder. So far, so conventional — countless studies show that long hours are counterproductive.

答案不是延長工作時間或者加強工作強度。到這裏爲止，這本書還沒什麼獨特之處——已有數不勝數的研究表明長時間工作會適得其反。

However, where this book differs slightly from others is in the author’s suggestion that we should stop trying to force our wandering minds by sheer willpower. The key is to forget efficiency and instead prioritise and prepare for two “awesome” (the book, for the most part, mercifully stays away from such cheerleading language) hours a day of effectiveness instead.

然而，這本書與其他書的細微差異，在於作者建議我們不應再試圖只靠意志力強制我們飄散的思緒。關鍵是忘記效率，決定好優先事項，每天準備好度過有成果的“最棒”兩小時（幸運的是，這本書在大多數情況下沒有使用“最棒”這種拉拉隊式措辭）。

We are, after all, humans with emotions, rather than machines. There are sound evolutionary reasons, Davis argues, for our brains flitting about various distractions. Just as zebras are alert to a preying lion, so our ears tune in to colleagues’ chatter.

畢竟，我們是有情感的人，而不是機器。戴維斯認爲，我們的大腦被各種事情分散注意力，從進化角度來說有充分的理由。就如斑馬會警惕捕獵的獅子，我們的耳朵也會注意同事的閒聊。

“It is wholly unnatural to focus without wavering. If you have failed at maintaining continual focus throughout your work sessions, rejoice. If you had, you’d be remarkably dysfunctional,” Davis argues.

戴維斯表示：“保持專注不分神是完全不自然的。如果你沒能在工作中持續保持專注，你該感到高興。如果你能夠做到，你就是極爲不正常的。”

The more we will ourselves to focus, the less likely we are to succeed. We should allow our minds to drift, he suggests, drawing on the mindfulness trend.

我們越是用意志力強迫自己專注，就越有可能失敗。他建議，我們應該讓我們的思緒漂流，並利用好意識的趨勢。

“The key is to let go of those thoughts that are not helping you stay on track, the way a surfer passes up the opportunity to ride those waves that are not quite right,” he writes. “Brains have lots of thoughts. You don’t have to react to each one just because it came up.”

“關鍵是放開那些對你保持正確的方向沒有幫助的想法，就像衝浪者放棄乘上那些不太合適的波浪的機會那樣，”他寫道，“大腦中有很多的想法。你不必對每一個跳出來的想法做出反應。”

Moreover, forcing oneself to focus only depletes energy. Even declining a doughnut for breakfast, writes Davis, will consume some of that precious energy (which slightly goes against his nutrition advice).

此外，強迫自己專注只會消耗精力。戴維斯寫道，即使是在早餐時拒絕吃一個甜甜圈，也會消耗一些寶貴的精力（這稍微違背了他給出的營養建議）。

Some of Davis’s tips are banal to say the least: “If you are working from home, turn off the TV” stands out.

戴維斯的一些訣竅至少可以說是平淡乏味的。“如果你在家中工作，關掉電視”就是突出的一例。

Other tips are for those who have control of their time — a day a week of quiet time working at home may not be practical for many employees. Yet there are other small modifications to the working day that are easily achievable.

其他訣竅是爲那些能控制自己時間的人準備的——每週有一天能在家安靜地工作，對許多員工來說或許不現實。然而，該書還提供了一些容易實現的對工作日的小改動。

However, the salient message — not to beat yourself up about meandering — may be worth the price of this short book alone. With that in mind, I am off to browse a shopping site.

然而，最主要的信息，也就是不要因爲走神自責，可能就值回這本薄薄的書的價格了。想着這個，我要去瀏覽購物網站了。

Two Awesome Hours: Science-Based Strategies to Harness Your Best Time and Get Your Most Important Work Done, by Josh Davis; HarperOne, $25.99/£15.99

《最棒的兩小時：利用最佳時間，完成最重要工作的科學策略》(Two Awesome Hours: Science-Based Strategies to Harness Your Best Time and Get Your Most Important Work Done)，喬希•戴維斯著；HarperOne出版，售價25.99美元/15.99英鎊