偉人們的一些奇怪招數

Writers 作家們

1. Addicted to Notecards: Vladimir Nabokov used 5- by 8-inch index cards to compose and order the scenes in his novels. This allowed him to experiment with the order of the chapters before transcribing the final manuscript.
1、愛好便箋。弗拉基米爾納博科夫經常用5-8英寸的索引卡去撰寫和排序小說的場景。這使得他能夠在寫最後的手稿前理清每章節的順序。

2. Slow and Steady: Stephen King has explained that he always writes 10 pages a day, every day of the year (even holidays). His slow and steady approach to project management has ensured that he has a steady stream of new works entering the marketplace, and he is one of the most prolific modern authors working in America today.
2、慢條斯理，穩紮穩打。史蒂芬金說他保持每天寫10頁的速度，即使是在節假日也是如此。他的穩定的創作速度保證了他的新作品源源不斷地進入市場，他是現在美國唯一一個多產的作家。

3. Get Up Early: Writers like Mary Higgins Clark and Sylvia Plath stArted writing at 5 am and 4 am each day, respectively. Both women had small children, and those early moments in the day were the only time they had to pursue their writing careers. Writer Denison Hatch forced himself to write just 500 words per day before starting his day job, and ultimately sold three novels.
3、早起。像瑪麗克拉克和希金斯普拉斯這樣的作家分別在每天清晨4點和5點開始寫作。因爲有小孩要照料，女作家們只能在每天的早些時候開始寫作。像作家丹尼森哈奇每天規定自己在日常工作之前寫500字，正是這個速度也使得他出版了三本小說。

4. Get Centered With a Favorite Book Passage: Some writers need to go through the ritual of touching base with a favorite literary totem. For example, Somerset Maugham would read Voltaire’s “Candide” before starting work, while Willa Cather read the Bible.
4、集中注意力閱讀最愛的文章或段落。一些作家總會例行閱讀一些自己最喜歡的文學讀物來爲寫作奠定情感基調。例如，毛姆會在工作前閱讀伏爾泰的《老實人》，而凱瑟則會讀聖經。Businessmen and Entrepreneurs 商人和企業家門
5、保持進取。在商界，如果你有好的想法，那麼你需要加快行動趕在對手前面。比爾蓋茨說過，“如果你有想法就立刻去行動”。
5. Be Impulsive: In business, if you have a good idea, you need to move quickly to keep ahead of your competition. In the words of Bill Gates, “When you find a good idea act on it right away.”

6. Get Ahead By Making It Personal: “Big businesses will always try to crush small upstarts. To beat big businesses, use the strengths of being small. Big corporations are impersonal; staff are often not treated well. At a small company, you can make sure your staff are proud of working for you and then they’ll work hard to be successful. And small companies are more nimble.” – Sir Richard Branson
6、通過人性化的管理走在前面。“大企業總試圖消滅小公司，想要打敗大企業，應該使用小公司的優勢。大企業通常不是個人的，員工們得到的照顧很少，而在小企業中，你可以通過人性化的管理使得他們以爲你工作而驕傲，同時不斷地取得工作上的業績。同時小企業也更加靈活自如。”——理查德布蘭森爵士

7. Work Long Hours Now, Reap the Benefits Later: Ben Franklin knew the benefits of working long hours, as well as being known among his peers as being a person who worked long hours. This work ethic was essential for growing his printing business. He also had a routine of asking himself questions during the day. Ben Franklin asked himself each morning (at 5 am), “What good shall I do today?”; every night before bed (around 10 pm), “What good have I done to-day?”
7、先苦後甜。本富蘭克林知道長時間工作的益處，也成爲了同輩中長時間工作的人。這個工作法則使得他的印刷事業蒸蒸日上，他經常在白天對自己提出一些問題，每天清晨5點，本富蘭克林都會問自己，“我今天最好要做什麼？”，每天晚上睡覺前，大約10點，他又會問自己“我今天做了什麼？”Thinkers and Artists 思想家和藝術家

8. Get Extreme: Architect Bernard Tschumi avoids procrastination by working at one of two extremes. “I work best either under pressure or by emptying my brain over the weekend,” he explains. “That blank state is helpful. It is like an athlete before a competition.”
8、走另類路線：建築師 伯納德屈米通過兩種較爲邊緣的方式避免拖延。“在高壓和頭腦空白的週末我的工作效率最高”他解釋說，“就像一個即將參加比賽的選手，大腦空白狀態對於他來說很好”

9. Force Yourself to Stay Focused: Greek orator Demosthenes would force himself to stay focused on composing his orations by shaving off half of his hair, making him look so ridiculous that he wouldn’t be tempted to procrastinate by leaving his home. Victor Hugo would do something similar, forcing himself to meet his daily writing goals by having his valet hide his clothes. Yup, the guy who wrote “Les Miserables” liked to work in the nude.
9、迫使你自己全神貫注。希臘演說家 狄摩西尼會通過剔去自己一半的頭髮來強迫他自己全神貫注於他的演講創作，因爲這樣的做法，使得他看起來就會很怪異，因此這樣無法出門，自然增加了他在家的時間。 會做一些同樣的事情，迫使自己完成每天的寫作任務，他會讓男僕藏好他的衣服。是的，就是這樣，他接近於裸體地寫出了《孤星淚》

10. Never Take Your Eyes Off Your Competition: Playwright Henrik Ibsen would work at a desk decorated with a portrait of arch-rival playwright August Strindberg. Try keeping a picture of your competitors face or company logo on your desk to spur you to new heights.
10、時刻不忘競爭：劇作家亨利克易僕生將桌子裝飾成勁敵劇作家斯特林保的畫像。嘗試着將競爭者的畫像或者競爭公司的標誌放置在桌子上，將會成爲動力，激發你達到一個新高度。
11. Use Caffeine (But Don’t Abuse It): Mathematician Paul Erdös used the last 25 years of his life to devote 19 hour days to the pursuit of higher math. To stay alert, he amped himself up with 10 to 20 milligrams of Benzedrine or Ritalin (along with strong espresso and caffeine tablets.) “A mathematician,” he said, “is a machine for turning coffee into theorems.”
11、喝咖啡（但不要喝得太多）：數學家保羅實德在過去的25年裏，每天投入19個小時研究高等數學。爲了保持清醒，他服用10—20毫克的苯丙胺或利他林（同時食用含有強力作用的咖啡喝咖啡因藥片）。“數學家，”他說，“就是一個將咖啡變成數學定理的機器。”

12. Blow Off Some Steam: King Otto, ruler of Bavaria from 1886 to 1913, shot a peasant every morning to start his day. Thankfully, his two advisors were kind-hearted: one gave the king a rifle filled with blanks, and the other dressed as a “peasant”, acting out death throes when he was “shot”. While shooting people is absolutely NOT okay, never underestimate the stress relief you can get from a few rounds of Call of Duty.
12、發泄抑制的情感：國王奧托，1886—1913年巴伐利亞的統治者，以射殺一名農僕來開始他的一天。幸好，他的兩個善良的顧問，一個給國王槍支，另一個扮作農僕假裝被國王射殺而死。儘管強殺人是絕對不可行的，但你永遠無法估量這帶給你帶來的壓力頓減的感受。

Conclusion 總結
These examples of the daily routines and productivity tricks of famous people may not be ideally suited for your busy lifestyle, but they are certainly worth keeping in mind the next time you are stuck on a project and need help powering through. And seriously, don’t pull a “King Otto”. That would not be cool.
名人的這些每日例行和增加工作效率的招數可能並不適合你忙碌的生活方式，但是你可以把這些記在心裏，下次當你陷入工作項目的困境而需要力量使你度過難關時，這些都很有用。同時真誠希望你不要成爲國王奧托，這並不很酷。