Why Successful People Spend 10 Hours a Week on ‘Compound Time’ -- 为什么成功人士每周花10个小时的复合时间

One question has fascinated me my entire adult life: what causes some people to become world-class leaders, performers, and changemakers, while most others plateau?
有一个在成人世界中很为人着迷的问题：有人可以成为世界级的高手，而绝大多数人泯然众人？

I’ve explored the answer to this question by reading thousands of biographies, academic studies, and books across dozens of disciplines.
我阅读了大量的传记，学术论文和相关学科的书

Over time, I’ve noticed a deeper practice of top performers, one so counterintuitive that it’s often overlooked.
随着时间的深入，我意识到高手的神秘方法，其实是一种违反直觉，经常被忽视

Despite having way more responsibility than anyone else, top performers in the business world often find time to step away from their urgent work, slow down, and invest in activities that have a long-term payoff in greater knowledge, creativity, and energy.
尽管任何人都拥有更多的责任，高手往往抽出时间远离他们的紧急的工作，慢下来，投资于更长远的知识中。

As a result, they may achieve less in a day at first, but drastically more over the course of their lives.
作为回报，他们可能在一开始获得很少，但他们往后的生活更充实

I call this compound time because, like compound interest, a small investment now yields surprisingly large returns over time.
我称这种为复合时间，类似复利，现在的小投入，往后的大回报

Warren Buffett, for example, despite owning companies with hundreds of thousands of employees, isn’t as busy as you are.
举个栗子：巴菲特自己的公司就成百上千的员工，不比你忙

By his own estimate, he has spent 80 percent of his career reading and thinking.
具他估算，他的职业生涯花费80%时间阅读和思考

At the 2016 Daily Journal annual meeting, Charlie Munger, Buffett’s 40-year business partner, shared that the only scheduled item on his calendar one week was getting his haircut and that most of his weeks were similar.
在2016年的年会，巴菲特40年的商业合作伙伴查理·蒙格分享说每周的日程安排就只有一项 – 剪头发，每周的内容都相似

This is the opposite of most people who are overwhelmed with short-term deadlines, meetings, and minutiae.
这和大多数人不堪重负的日程、会议是相反的

Ben Franklin once wisely said: “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
本杰明·富兰克林有一次说到：“在知识的投资是最好的收益”

Perhaps the source of Buffett’s true wealth is not just the compounding of his money, but the compounding of his knowledge, which has allowed him to make better decisions.
因此最终巴菲特最正确的财富不单单是金钱上的复利，还有知识上的复利，这使他做出更好的决策

Or as billionaire entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist Paul Tudor Jones has eloquently said, “Intellectual capital will always trump financial capital.”
另外亿万富翁、投资家、慈善家 – 保罗·图多尔·琼斯意味深长地说：“智力资本总胜于金融资本”

To build your own intellectual capital, here are six compound time activities that you can start incorporating into your life immediately:
为了构建自己的智力资本，这里有6个“复利”方法，可以马上在生活用上：

1: Keep a journal. It could change your life.
保持每天的日记，它可以改变你的生活
– 这应该是说每天的自省

2: Naps can dramatically increase learning, memory, awareness, creativity, and productivity.
小睡可以提高学习、记忆、意识、创造力和生产力

3: Only 15 minutes of walking per day can work wonders.
每天15分钟的行走可以使工作更舒心
– 特别是脑袋堵得慌的时候

4: Reading is one of the most beneficial activities we can invest in
阅读是我一生中投资最具收益之一

5: Conversation partners lead to surprising breakthroughs
交流的伙伴可带来惊喜的收获
– People get desperate when they’re lonely
人孤独的时候会不顾一切

6: Success is a direct result of the number of experiments you perform
成功是你经历多少的结果而已

As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better.”
正如 拉尔夫·瓦尔多·爱默生（美国作家）所说的：“生活是一段经历，更多的经历使你更出色”

Go Ahead, Take That Hour Now
走下去吧，现在开始

In a world where everyone is speeding up and cramming their schedule to get ahead, the modern knowledge worker should do the opposite: slow down, work less, learn more, and think long-term.
在所有人都为当下工作忙得焦头烂额的时候，他们反而慢下来，每天都为未来多做一些智力投资 – 《观察家》