圖文閱讀:一個大學生成功的十大祕密

一個在大學創造了三個學期修完雙學位的大學生的成功祕訣！

After writing the time management article “Do It Now,” which was based on my experience of graduating college in three semesters with two degrees, I received many follow-up questions from students asking for more advice. Here are 10 tips to help you create a productive and memorable college experience… and most of all, to deeply enjoy this time in your life.

在給《時代》雜誌寫了一篇基於我自己在大學學習了三學期獲得了兩個學位就畢業了的真是經驗的稿件以後，我從想要獲得更多建議的大學生朋友們那裏得到了更多的問題。因此我自己總結了以下10經驗，給你們，希望藉此你們能夠享受更加富有創造性和記憶深刻的大學生活，更爲重要的是，能夠盡情的享受這個一生中最爲美好的時光。

1. Answer the question, “Why am I going to college?”

1.回答自己這樣一個問題：“我爲什麼要上大學？”
　　
Many college students really don’t have a clear reason for being there other than the fact that they don’t know what else to do yet. They inherit goals from family and peers which aren’t truly their own. That was how I started college. Is this you as well?

許多大學生朋友們對於自己爲什麼上大學心中都沒有一個很明確的概念而不是說不知道自己到底應該做什麼。他們從自己的家庭或者同齡人中獲得了相同的目標，而這個目標並不是他們自己的。而我就是這樣的。你是否也又遇到了相同的情況呢？

Your goals for college will likely be different than mine. What are they? Why are you there? If you don’t know — and I mean really know it in your gut — then you have no focal point for your experience. You may as well not even be there. What is it about your experience that resonates as true for you? What are you there to learn? What do you want to experience?

你在大學的夢想和我的肯定是不盡相同的。這些夢想是什麼呢？你爲什麼會到大學裏面來呢？如果你不知道-我是指不是你本能的那種明白的話-那麼你的人生經歷中就沒有了所謂的焦點，那就像是沒有上大學一樣的。到底是什麼樣子的經歷能夠在你的內心產生最真是的深切的共鳴呢？你到大學是爲了學習什麼的呢？你想要經歷些什麼呢？

2. Imagine your ideal college experience.

2.在內心中構建你理想的大學生活

Once you know why you’re going to college, imagine your ideal outcome. Let it flow outward from the reason you’re there. Whether you’ve already started college or not, stop and simply write down some attributes of your ideal experience. Describe it in as much detail as you can.

一旦你明白了自己到底是爲什麼上大學的，就在你的內心中構建一下你理想中的大學生活的場景吧。讓他直接產生於你來大學的原因中，順快的產生。不管你是否已經開始你的大學生活，先停下來，羅列出你認爲是大學理想生活的事項。描繪的越細緻越好。

Real life will of course turn out differently than you visualize. The point of visualization isn’t to predict the future or to restrict your freedom to decide later. The point is to give you more clarity for making decisions right now. Your ideal scene serves as a map that can guide you through the quagmire of options.

現實生活和你想象中的事情終究會是不一樣的。使得你的夢想形象化並不是爲了預測將來或者是限制你未來的某種自由。而是爲了讓你更加明確的在現在作出決定。你理想的場景就像是地圖一樣讓你走出困住你的現實的沼澤地。

3. Take at least one extra class each semester.

3.每學期至少學一門其他的課程

Now you might be thinking that 12-15 units are supposed to equate to a 40-hour week with all the outside homework and studying, but that’s only going to happen if you do things very inefficiently (which sadly is what most people do). If you follow some of the time-saving tips later in this article, then 15 units should only require a few additional hours outside of class to complete assignments. Obviously I couldn’t have taken 31-39 units per semester if it meant doing double those hours in outside homework. I didn’t succeed by overworking myself.

你可能會認爲12-15個學時會和一個星期四十個小時以上的學習或者是家務事劃等號的，但這種情況僅僅是當你做事情非常沒有效率的時候發生的（而事實上是大多數人確實是如此的）。如果你在接下來的小貼士中遵循我提到的一些關於節省時間的方法，這15個單元僅僅就需要你一點點的課餘時間來完成你的任務。很顯然，我並不會花費31-39個單元的時間，而這意味着我要花費雙倍的課外時間來完成我的任務的話，我並不是靠着過度工作來取得成功的。

What about prerequisites? For the most part I simply ignored them, and fortunately at my school they weren’t enforced too well. I found that most of the time a prerequisite is listed, it’s geared towards below average students. Don’t let pointless bureaucracy slow you down if you want to graduate sooner. There’s always a way around it — it’s usually just a matter of getting some random form signed by someone who’s too bored to care either way. A smile and a compliment go a long way.

那麼先決條件是什麼呢？我曾經忽略過這點，但是後來我發現這是十分重要的。不要讓沒有任何意義的官方政策阻擋住你，如果你想盡快畢業的話。總是會有什麼方法解決的，無非就是從一些無聊的人那裏弄一些表格填寫一下。記住在任何時候微笑都是十分有利的工具！

4. Set clear goals for each class.

4.爲你的每門課程制定一個目標吧！

Decide what you want out of each specific class. Is this a subject you’re eager to learn? Do you want to target this teacher for a letter of recommendation? Is this a required class you must take but which doesn’t otherwise interest you?

作出你每個課程想要達到的目標是什麼，想想這是不是你非常想要學習的課程呢？你是否會想給教授寫一封自己的推薦信呢？這門課是不是你必須學，但是你對他一點都不感興趣呢？

Sometimes you’ll achieve your goals; sometimes you won’t. Even if you do your best, you may still fall short. You may encounter teachers that are unfair, lazy, sexist, racist, or otherwise incompetent. My wife had an overtly sexist professor who would never give a female student a grade higher than a B, no matter how well she did. He would say things like, “If you’re a male, you’ll have to work hard in this class. If you’re a female, just come by my office after hours.” Eventually sexual harrassment charges were filed against him. You’ll have to pick your battles. Some are worth fighting; others are best ignored. Having clear goals will help you decide which is which.

有的時候你會實現你的目標，而有的時候你不能。即使有的時候你真的竭盡全力了，你仍然會遇到一些小小的挫折。你會遇到形形色色的老師擺明不公平對待的，懶惰的，性別主義者，種族主義者，或者其他的各式各樣的。我的妻子就遇到了一個公開的性別主義者，他甚至宣稱他從來不會給任何一個女生比B更高的分數，即使他做得再好。他或許會這樣說：“如果你是個男人的話，你就必須在這門課上面下工夫，如果你是個女士的話，那就下課後直接來我的辦公室好了。”雖然最終他因爲性騷擾被解聘。所以有的時候該打的仗就要努力去鬥爭。有些事情是值得用鬥爭去爭取的，而有些你最好忽略掉。而確定清晰的目標就會幫助你決定到底什麼樣的事情是應該的，什麼樣的是不應該的。

5. Triage ruthlessly.

5.分工明確

You don’t need to put an equal amount of effort into every class. Inject extra effort when it’s important to you, but feel free to back off a little from classes that are a low priority based on your specific goals. For me this was an important way to conserve energy. I couldn’t play full out in every class, or I’d burn out, so I invested my energy where it mattered most.

你大可不必每門課程上面都花費同樣的時間和經歷。對於你重要的學科來說多多花費一些經歷，但是對於那些並不是很重要的學科來說就大可不必了。而對於我來說，這條定律就是我節省經歷的重要法則。我並不是每門課都是全勤，否則的話我肯定就會崩潰了，我只把我的經歷投資在那些對於我來說最重要的東西上面。

I would also triage individual assignments. If I felt an assignment was lame, pointless, or unnecessarily tedious, and if it wouldn’t have too negative an impact on my grade, I would actually decline to do it. One time I was assigned a tedious paper that represented 10% of my grade. I really didn’t want to do it, and it required a lot more hours than I felt it was worth. I was headed for an A in the class, and if I didn’t do this assignment, I’d drop to an A-. So I respectfully told the professor I was declining the assignment and that I thought it was a fair trade to receive an A- in order to reinvest those hours elsewhere. He already knew me and understood my reasons. He gave me an A-, and I was fine with that. It was indeed a fair trade. In fact, looking back I wish I’d done this sort of thing more often.

我同樣會作出不同的針對性安排的。如果我認爲一個任務是差勁的，沒有任何的意義，單調乏味的，而且並不會對於我的學分產生什麼影響的話，我就不會去做他。有一次我們留了個作業，寫一篇極度乏味的論文，這篇論文會佔我這門功課總成績的10%。我並不是很想做，但是如果不做的話，我的成績就會使A-了。所以我就很充滿敬意的告訴我的授課老師說我不想做這篇作業，而如果把節省下來的時間去做其他的事情的話是一個更加不錯的選擇。這個教授知道我的爲人處世的方式，並且理解這其中的原因，因此他給了我一個A-，我對此感到十分的滿意。這確實是個不錯的交易。實施上，回憶一下，我當時是經常做這樣的事情的。

6. Get an early start to each day.

6.每天儘早的起牀

I’ve written previously about the benefits of becoming an early riser. I wasn’t getting up at 5am when I was in college, but I’d usually get up around 6-7am. I found that getting an early start each day helped me get a lot more done, not just in the morning but throughout the day. I began each day with a 25-minute run followed by a shower and breakfast. This simple morning routine got me out the door feeling alert and energized.

我上大學的時候不到五點是不會起牀的，事實上我基本上是6-7點纔會起牀。我發現每天早起能夠使得我有時間去做更多的事情，不僅僅是在早晨而是這一整天。吃完早餐，洗完澡後，我會慢跑25分鐘。這使得我不再神經衰弱，而且更加的又經歷了。

I’d be lying if I said I got up early because I wanted to. It was really out of necessity. I had many morning classes, including 7:30am classes one semester. But I’m glad I did that because if I didn’t have those morning classes, I just would have slept more than I needed to. Even if you hate morning classes, you may find as I did that you’re a lot more productive if you schedule them anyway.

我曾曾經即使是說了會起牀還是會在創上面躺一會的。但是我在第一學期的時候有一門早上七點半上的課。但是當時我起來了，並且去上課了，我很高興我做到了，如果沒有那門早課的話，我想我永遠會睡懶覺的。隨意即使你很討厭早課，還是去上吧，這回幫助你像我一樣精力充沛的。

7. Reclaim wasted time during your classes.

7.找回在你課程上被浪費的時間

Let’s face it. Not every class is going to require your utmost concentration. Sometimes teachers babble. Sometimes they reiterate what you already know. What percentage of class time requires your complete, focused attention? For some classes it’s 90%. For others it’s 20%. If you aren’t actively learning during class, you’re wasting time. If a class is really challenging, sit in the front and soak up every word. But if a class isn’t challenging you, then sit in the back, do homework for other classes, and pop your head up every once in a while to see if there’s anything worth jotting down. Always have a book open, so when your hippie professor goes off on yet another nostalgia trip about the 60s, you’ll have something productive to do.

直面現實吧!並不是所有的科目都需要你極度的注意力。有的老師很差勁。有的時候老師總是反覆說你已經記得很清楚的知識點。課堂到底需要你多大程度的注意力呢？有的課程需要90%，而對於另外一些課程來說，僅僅需要20%就夠了。如果你在課堂上面並不是很積極的，那麼你就是在浪費時間。如果一門課程真的很有挑戰性的話，那麼就坐在最前排，認真的咀嚼每句話的含義。但是如果一門課並不能吸引你的話，做到後面去吧，做作業。然後是不是的擡擡頭看看有沒有什麼需要你記下來的東西。主意要讓你的課本是打開的以防你的教授會突然襲擊！

You can’t concentrate at peak efficiency continuously, so be sure to take breaks. When you need a break though, take a real break. I used to meditate or nap on the grass between classes in order to recharge myself. I’d use my wristwatch alarm to signal when it was time to get up and go again. Those breaks were very restorative, and I could go to the next class and work full out once again. I never worked flat out all day long. I worked in waves between total concentration and total relaxation, cycling many times per day.

你不能一刻不停的做工作，那樣你會達到一種極限，適當的休息一下。如果你覺得自己累了，那就休息一下。我經常在課後打個盹或者沉思一下以此使得自己重新充滿精力。我會用我的手錶丁鬧鐘，告訴我什麼時候該起來去上下節課或者重新去工作了。我從來不會整天工作，把自己弄得精疲力盡。我按照自己完全放鬆和全神貫注的工作之間的週期安排自己的作息時間。

8. Learn material the very first time it’s presented.

8.在資料現身的第一時間吃透他！

One of the biggest time wasters in school is having to relearn something you didn’t learn properly the first time. When students say they’re studying, most of the time they’re making up for a previous failure to learn the material.

時間最大的浪費就是不得不重新學習已經學過但是沒有理解透徹的東西。當一些學生說他們在學習的時候，其實他們是在彌補當初沒有學習透徹的漏洞！

9. Master advanced memory techniques.

9.學一些速記的技巧

One of the keys to learning material the first time it’s taught is to train yourself in advanced memory techniques. I used them often in classes that required rote memorization of certain facts, including names, dates, and mathematical formulas. If a teacher wrote something on the board that had to be memorized verbatim for an upcoming exam, I’d memorize it then and there. Then I wouldn’t have to go back and study it later.

學習新東西的最爲重要的一點就是要有一點記憶的小技巧。我經常在需要熟記一些人名或者是時間以及數學公式的時候使用這些小技巧。如果老師在黑板上面寫下一些考試的時候必考的內容的話，我會當堂記下，這樣的話我就不用花費課餘的時間去重新記憶了。

10. Have some serious fun!

10。有一些良好的愛好

Challenge yourself academically, but give yourself plenty of time for fun as well. Don’t squander your leisure time hanging around doing nothing. Go out and do something active that will blow off steam and increase your energy.

不停的給自己挑戰的同時，別忘了自己要找點樂子。不要把自己的時間浪費在帶着不做任何事情上面，有事沒事的出去逛逛，緩解一下壓力，並且還能使得自己經歷充沛。