如何真正放鬆又有效率地度假？

We are told the winter holidays are supposed to be a magical time of deep connection with loved ones, good meals, warm fires, and gift-giving. And yet, for many of us, the winter holidays don’t live up to our expectations, because we don’t know how to strike the right balance between rest and productivity.

我們知道，寒假應該是與親人、美食、溫暖的爐火和禮物相伴的神奇時刻。然而，對於我們許多人來說，寒假並沒有達到我們的期望，因爲我們不知道如何在休息和生產力之間找到正確的平衡。

While it can be tough to find that balance – especially if our in-laws, spouses, friends, and even bosses have strong opinions for how we should spend our holidays – there are some ways you can get what you need this holiday season.

雖然很難找到平衡——特別是如果我們的親戚、配偶、朋友、甚至老闆對我們應該如何度過假期有許多意見——這裏有一些方法可以讓你在這個假期裏得到你需要的東西。

The last week of the year offers a special opportunity to rest, reflect on the past year, and prepare for the year ahead. To understand how to recapture this opportunity and make our holidays both restful and productive, it’s important to first understand our tendencies. Among working professionals, we have found that there are three types of “holiday time misusers.”

一年的最後一週提供了一個休息的特別機會，可以回顧過去的一年，爲來年做準備。要理解如何抓住這個機會，讓我們在假期既能休息好又有成果，首先要了解我們自己的意向。在調查了許多上班族後，我們總結出了三種典型的“假期誤用”。

After couch potatoes send their last work email before the holidays, they flip the off switch and sink into complete disengagement. Their only goal for the holidays – and it’s less of a goal and more of an involuntary compulsion – is to see how many full seasons of TV shows they can binge watch. While they expect to come to the end of their holidays refreshed by this extreme inactivity, they instead often feel frustrated and unprepared. They typically ask themselves: “What did I do that whole time?” and find it difficult to answer.“

沙發土豆”:度假前，“沙發土豆”(Couch Potato)把最後一封工作郵件發送出去，之後關掉電腦，開啓了隔絕工作的狀態。他們唯一的目標——而且這不是一個目標，更多的是一種不由自主的衝動——是想看看他們能看多少個完整的電視節目。雖然他們希望在假期結束時，能夠從這種狀態中得到休息因而精力充沛，但通常他們會感到沮喪和毫無準備。他們通常會問自己:“我一直在做什麼?”並且發現自己什麼都沒做。

Why is it that a couch potato holiday feels so unsatisfying when it appears to be so relaxing? The reason is that while you do need some time to disengage from productive activities, you also have a host of other needs that you have been neglecting for the last several months that aren’t replenished by “vegging out.” You need meaningful social interaction, physical activity, and active contemplation, among other things.

爲什麼沙發土豆的假期看起來如此令人放鬆，卻讓人感覺如此不舒服呢?原因是，雖然你確實需要一些時間來逃離工作，但你也有很多其他的需求，你在過去的幾個月裏一直忽視了這些需求。“你需要有意義的社交互動、體育活動、積極的思考等等。”

Holiday humbugs keep working straight through the holiday. Even if they’re technically taking time off, they cram work in around their holiday meals and other personal commitments. The problems here are obvious. Research shows that we all need regular lulls and breaks in our calendars. If we continue to ignore this need, it will, without a doubt, lead us to burnout.

假日謊言:他們假期裏也會一直工作。儘管他們是放假了，但是還會插空完成工作。這裏的問題是顯而易見的。研究表明，我們都需要定期的休息。如果我們繼續忽視這種需求，毫無疑問，它將導致我們精疲力竭。

If it’s so obvious that this is not a good idea, why is it so easy to become a holiday humbug? Certainly, sometimes it’s beyond our control: our boss or business simply demands it. However, for the chronically overwhelmed and over-tasked professional, there is often a more subversive reason. The holidays present an opportunity that is too difficult to pass up: the opportunity to catch up.

如果很明顯這不是一個好主意，爲什麼很多人還是會這樣做？這自然是因爲有時候事情會超出我們的控制範圍：我們的老闆或公司要求我們這樣做。然而，對於長期超負荷工作的上班族來說，原因更加明顯。假期提供了一個很難錯過的機會:趕上其他人。

The workaholidayic takes their workaholic tendencies and simply applies them to a different context. Rather than rushing from one work meeting to next, they rush from one holiday party to the next. They travel miles and hours to meet every family member who will accept their offer, leaving themselves no time to stop, rest, or be alone. When they finally do get time to themselves, they are too tired to do anything but collapse in exhaustion.

工作狂:工作狂會繼續瘋狂工作，並將其應用到不同的環境中。他們不是匆匆忙忙地從一個工作會議趕到另一個工作會議，而是匆匆忙忙地從一個假日聚會到另一個假日派對。他們旅行數英里，探訪每一個接受他們的邀請的家庭成員，他們沒有時間停下來，休息，或者獨處。當他們終於有時間做自己的事時，他們累得做不出任何事，精疲力竭。

Once you’ve recognized your tendencies, the challenge is to figure out a strategy for charting a healthier course. A few tips may help:

一旦確定假期中你的目標，唯一的困難就是給自己制定計劃來有效利用假期了，下面的一些方法應該能幫到你：

Set sustainability goals for your holiday: Most high-performing professionals are driven at work, focused on getting tasks done and achieving goals. To make the holidays restful, we can channel that drive to benefit us. I’d recommend setting goals around how much you want to sleep, how much you want to exercise, how much you’ll allow yourself to do “work work,” among other categories of importance to you.

爲你的假期設定可持續發展目標: 在工作中，大多數表現出色的上班族都專注於完成任務和實現目標。爲了使假期過得舒適，我們可以利用這一動力。我建議你設定一個目標:你想要多少睡眠時間，你想鍛鍊多久，你允許自己做多少“工作”，以及其他對你重要的事情。

Prioritize processing time: If you’re as busy as most are, there’s a good chance that you haven’t taken the time to sufficiently process your past year. Not processing your experiences is like leaving the email inbox of your mind overflowing: it taxes your cognitive load and reduces your ability to calmly and effectively address new experiences. Whether processing looks like finding a quiet place with a journal or having deep conversations with friends or family, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you take the time to clear your mental inbox.

優先反思過去一年:如果你和大多數人一樣忙碌，那麼你很有可能沒有花時間充分思考過去的一年。不反思你的經歷就像把你大腦中的電子郵件收件箱塞滿了:它會增加你的認知負荷，降低你冷靜和有效地處理新經歷的能力。處理過程可以是找一個安靜的地方寫日記或與朋友或家人進行深入交談。最重要的是你要花時間整理你的經歷。

Set goals for the next year and spend more time planning how to achieve your goals than you do setting your goals: Many take advantage of the winter holidays to set New Year’s resolutions, but the data shows many of these will go unfulfilled. This creates angst and anxiety. A way to increase our chances of achieving our goals and give ourselves peace during the holidays is to spend sufficient time planning upfront. You’re less likely to set unrealistic goals if you also come up with an execution plan. “I will work out three times a week for 20 minutes before going to work” may not sound impressive, but you’ll be more likely to lose the weight you want with this plan than ending your holiday with only this goal, “I will lose 20 pounds by March.”

爲下一年設定目標，花更多時間規劃如何實現目標，而不是一直專注於設定目標:許多人利用寒假來制定新年計劃，但數據顯示，這些計劃中的許多都是無法實現的。這會使人更加焦慮。增加我們實現目標的機會、並在假期裏充分休息的方法是花足夠的時間提前制定計劃。如果你制定了一個執行計劃，你就不太可能設定不切實際的目標。“我每週鍛鍊三次，每次20分鐘，然後去上班。”這聽起來可能不太令人印象深刻，但相比只是說“3月前我要減掉20磅”更有可能減掉體重。 

Create and uphold holiday traditions: Traditions are a form of habits, and habit development and modification is the key to meeting our goals and becoming more productive without driving ourselves crazy. It is no different for the holidays. Developing meaningful, productive, and restful traditions around the holidays will guarantee that we do the things that actually ensure we have the holidays we want. Productive and restful holiday traditions also help shield us against the demands of the many other people in our lives who have their own ideas for how we should spend our holidays.

創造和維護節日傳統:傳統是習慣的一種形式，習慣的發展和修改是實現我們目標的關鍵，可以讓我們一步步更有效率。這和假期沒有什麼不同。在假期中培養有意義的、有成效的、可以休息的習慣，將保證我們可以做一些我們真正想做的事情。也可以幫助我們不受其他人意見的困擾。

For many working professionals, the holidays hold great promise of a time to really rest and rejuvenate. Grab that chance before the New Year is here.

對於許多上班族來說，假期是一個可以真正休息和恢復活力的好機會。在新的一年到來之前抓住這個機會吧！