職場好習慣 我們爲什麼總是丟三落四

You've put your keys somewhere and now they appear to be nowhere, certainly not in the basket by the door they're supposed to go in and now you're 20 minutes late for work. Kitchen counter, night stand, book shelf, work bag: Wait, finally, there they are under the mail you brought in last night.
你把鑰匙放在了某個地方，而現在它卻無影無蹤了。它肯定沒在它應該在的門邊的筐子裏，而你現在已經上班遲到20分鐘了。廚房工作臺、牀頭櫃、書架上和公文包裏統統沒有：等一下，找到了，它在昨天晚上你拿進來的那一疊信下面。

Losing things is irritating and yet we are a forgetful people. The average person misplaces up to nine items a day, and one-third of respondents in a poll said they spend an average of 15 minutes each day searching for items -- cellphones, keys and paperwork top the list, according to an online survey of 3,000 people published in 2012 by a British insurance company.
找不到東西讓人心煩意亂，而我們又是健忘的人類。英國一家保險公司2012年發佈的一項有3,000位受訪者參加的網絡調查顯示，受訪者平均每天把東西放錯位置的次數有九次，三分之一的受訪者稱他們平均每天花費15分鐘用來找東西──手機、鑰匙、文件是他們最經常找的物品。

Everyday forgetfulness isn't a sign of a more serious Medical condition like Alzheimer's or dementia. And while it can worsen with age, minor memory lapses are the norm for all ages, researchers say.
日常健忘並不是阿爾茨海默病或癡呆等嚴重疾病的表現。研究人員表示，雖然健忘可能會隨着年齡的增長而惡化，但是輕微的健忘卻是各個年齡層的通病。

Our genes are at least partially to blame, experts say. Stress, fatigue, and multitasking can exacerbate our propensity to make such errors. Such lapses can also be linked to more serious conditions like depression and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders.
專家們稱，人類的基因至少要爲健忘承擔一定的責任。壓力、疲勞和多重任務處理可以增加我們健忘的可能。健忘現象還可能與一些更嚴重的病症相關，比如抑鬱和注意力不足過動症等

'It's the breakdown at the interface of attention and memory,' says Daniel L. Schacter, a psychology professor at Harvard University and author of 'The Seven Sins of Memory.'
哈佛大學(Harvard University)心理學教授、《記憶七罪》(The Seven Sins of Memory)的作者丹尼爾·L·沙克特(Daniel L. Schacter)稱：“健忘是注意力和記憶臨界區域出現的故障。”

That breakdown can occur in two spots: when we fail to activate our memory and encode what we're doing -- where we put down our keys or glasses -- or when we try to retrieve the memory. When you encode a memory, the hippocampus, a central part of the brain involved in memory function, takes a snapshot which is preserved in a set of neurons, says Kenneth Norman, a psychology professor at Princeton University. Those neurons can be activated later with a reminder or cue.
這種故障可能在兩種情況下出現：一是當我們無法啓動記憶、無法對行爲（比如我們把鑰匙或眼鏡放在哪裏了）進行編碼的時候；二是當我們試圖提取記憶的時候。普林斯頓大學(Princeton University)的心理學教授肯尼斯·諾曼(Kenneth Norman)稱，當人類對記憶進行編碼時，大腦中主管記憶的海馬體會拍攝一張快照，並把它存儲在一系列神經元之中。那些神經元可以隨後由提示或線索而啓動。

It is important to pay attention when you put down an item, or during encoding. If your state of mind at retrieval is different than it was during encoding, that could pose a problem. Case in point: You were starving when you walked into the house and deposited your keys. When you then go to look for them later, you're no longer hungry so the memory may be harder to access.
當你放下某件物品或進行其他記憶編碼行爲時，用心至關重要。而在提取記憶時，如果你的情緒狀態不同於編碼時的狀態，那麼就可能會有問題。相關案例：當你走進房子、放下鑰匙時，你正 腸轆轆。而如果你隨後尋找鑰匙時已不再 餓，那麼關於鑰匙的記憶可能會更難提取。

The act of physically and mentally retracing your steps when looking for lost objects can work. Think back to your state of mind when you walked into the house (Were you hungry?). 'The more you can make your brain at retrieval like the way it was when you lay down that original memory trace,' the more successful you will be, Dr. Norman says.
在尋找丟失的物品時，實際上或在頭腦中重演當時的路徑可能會起到作用。回憶當時你走進房子時的心態（你是否很餓？）。諾曼博士稱：“你越是能夠讓自己提取記憶時的心態向原始記憶時刻的心態靠攏”，你就越有可能成功。

In a recent study, researchers in Germany found that the majority of people surveyed about forgetfulness and distraction had a variation in the so-called dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2), leading to a higher incidence of forgetfulness. According to the study, 75% of people carry a variation that makes them more prone to forgetfulness.
在最近的一項研究中，德國的研究人員發現，大多數接受健忘和注意力分散調查的受訪者都攜帶一種名爲“多巴胺D2受體”(DRD2)的基因的變體，這種變體會導致健忘多發。研究結果顯示，75%的人都攜帶該基因變體，該基因變體會令人更易忘事。

'Forgetfulness is quite common,' says Sebastian Markett, a researcher in psychology neuroscience at the University of Bonn in Germany and lead author of the study currently in the online version of the journal Neuroscience Letters, where it is expected to be published soon.
德國波恩大學(University of Bonn)的心理神經科學研究員塞巴斯蒂安·馬克特(Sebastian Markett)表示：“健忘非常常見。”馬克特博士是上述研究的首席作者，目前該研究論文發表在了《神經科學通訊》(Neuroscience Letters)的網絡版上，預計將很快出版。

The study was based on a survey filled out by 500 people who were asked questions about memory lapses, perceptual failures (failing to notice a stop sign) and psychomotor failures (bumping into people on the street). The individuals also provided a saliva sample for molecular genetic testing.
該研究基於一項由500名受訪者參與的問卷調查，調查內容包括記憶失誤、感官失誤（未能注意到停車牌）和精神運動失誤（在路上誤撞別人）等。每位受訪者還提供了一份以供分子基因檢測的唾液標本。

About half of the total variation of forgetfulness can be explained by genetic effects, likely involving dozens of gene variations, Dr. Markett says.
馬克特博士表示，在健忘的各種不同形式中，約有一半能夠用基因的影響來解釋，這其中大概涉及了幾十種基因變體。

The buildup of what psychologists call proactive interference helps explain how we can forget where we parked the car when we park in the same lot but different spaces every day. Memory may be impaired by the buildup of interference from previous experiences so it becomes harder to retrieve the specifics, like which parking space, Dr. Schacter says.
心理學家所稱的前攝干擾的累積可以部分解釋爲什麼我們會記不住在每天停車的停車場中我們具體把車停在了哪個停車位上。沙克特博士稱，源自過去經歷的干擾的累積可能不利於記憶的形成，因此回憶起具體的瑣事──比如車停在哪個停車位上──會變得更難。

A study conducted by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California found that the brain keeps track of similar but distinct memories (where you parked your car today, for example) in the dentate gyrus, part of the hippocampus. There the brain stores separates recordings of each environment and different groups of neurons are activated when similar but nonidentical memories are encoded and later retrieved. The findings appeared last year in the online journal eLife.
一項由加利福尼亞州索爾克生物研究所(Salk Institute for Biological Studies)的研究人員進行的研究發現，大腦會在齒狀回（海馬體的一部分）中持續記錄相似但截然不同的記憶，比如你今天把車停在哪兒了這個信息。在齒狀回中，大腦儲存着對各種環境的記錄，當相似但不同的記憶被編碼儲存並隨後被提取時，不同的神經元則相應地被激發起來。這些研究成果去年發表於網絡期刊eLife。

The best way to remember where you put something may be the most obvious: Find a regular spot for it and somewhere that makes sense, experts say. If it's reading glasses, leave them by the bedside. Charge your phone in the same place. Keep a container near the door for keys or a specific pocket in your purse.
專家表示，記起你把某件物品放在哪裏的最佳方法可能再簡單不過了：爲這件物品找個合乎情理的固定位置。比如：把老花鏡放在牀邊；在固定的位置給手機充電；把鑰匙放在門邊的某個容器內或提包的某個內袋裏。

Mark McDaniel, a psychology professor at Washington University in St. Louis and co-author of 'Memory Fitness: A Guide for Successful Aging,' says one effective technique is to think or even say out loud, 'I'm putting my wallet on the dresser.'
路易斯華盛頓大學(Washington University in St. Louis)的心理學教授、《健康記憶：成功老齡化指南》(Memory Fitness: A Guide for Successful Aging)的合着者馬克·麥克丹尼爾(Mark McDaniel)說，一個有效技巧就是思考甚至大聲說出來：“我把我的錢包放在了梳妝檯上”。

Visualize a future task by associating it with the environmental cues that you expect will be present, he says. For example, if you want to remember to buy chicken, avocados and lettuce at the grocery store, imagine the produce and meat departments and those items. 'When you get to the store, those cues help you remember,' Dr. McDaniel says.
他說，可以把未來的任務和你能預想到的環境線索聯繫起來。例如，如果你想記得去食雜店時要買雞肉、牛油果和生菜，你可以想象一下蔬菜和肉類櫃檯以及這些商品本身。麥克丹尼爾博士說：“當你身處食雜店時，這些線索可以幫你回憶起這些任務。”

Cognitive functioning, particularly processing speed, peaks at age 20 and the brain shrinks as we age, so things like multitasking and memory retrieval may take longer.
認知功能──特別是處理速度──在我們20歲時達到巔峯狀態，而隨着我們年齡的增長，大腦會萎縮，因此多項任務處理和記憶提取所需要的時間可能會變長。

Doug Scharre, a neurologist at Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center, says an increase in minor memory lapses can be related to other conditions such as stress, depression or conditions like sleep apnea, which results in fatigue. Medications can also impact memory.
俄亥俄州威克什納醫療中心(Wexner Medical Center)的神經病學家道格·莎爾(Doug Scharre)表示，輕微記憶失誤的增加可能與壓力、抑鬱等狀態或睡眠呼吸暫停（該病症會造成疲憊）等病症相關。藥物也會對記憶產生影響。

Roseanne Wholey, 60-years-old, is constantly multitasking. The Pittsburgh resident runs a medical consulting business, helps manage her husband's business, runs a family foundation and takes care of her 91-year-old blind mother, high school daughter and dog.
現年60歲的羅絲安妮·霍里(Roseanne Wholey)經常同時處理多項任務。霍里家住匹茲堡，經營着一家醫學諮詢機構，她還要幫丈夫打理生意、管理一個家庭基金會並且照顧自己91歲的失明母親、上高中的女兒和一隻狗。

In addition to a running to-do list, she writes reminder notes on her hand. 'Sometimes I use every finger and I write all over my hand and sometimes I get down my arm because I remember so many things I need to do at night,' she says.
除了列出待做事項清單之外，她還會在手上寫提醒便條。她說：“我有時會寫滿每一根手指和整個手掌，有時還會寫到手臂上，因爲我想起來太多需要晚上做的事情。”

Even so, last week she was supposed to pick up a friend for lunch. She drove to her daughter's school instead. She loses her keys all the time, forgets to buy things at the grocery store.
即便如此，上週當她應該接一位朋友共進午餐的時候，她卻把車開到了女兒的學校。她經常找不到自己的鑰匙，還會忘記採買應該採買的食雜品。

The one thing she doesn't seem to lose is her notes. Two years ago she lost a purple Kate Spade sweater she had never worn. 'I still have a note to myself: Find purple sweater.'
她不會丟失的東西似乎就是她的便條。兩年前，她弄丟了一件從未穿過的Kate Spade牌紫色毛衣。她說：“我現在還給自己留着一張便條：找到紫色的毛衣。”