有时不工作也是工作

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http://nymag.com/scienceofus/article/sometimes-not-working-is-work-too.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_(magazine)

有时不工作也是工作

By Brad Stulberg

It’s well established that intrinsic motivation promotes long-term performance and protects against burnout. Whether it’s on the  playing field  or in the  workplace , the more that your drive comes from within and the more you perceive your work as an end in itself — that is, you enjoy what you’re doing, not just the external rewards and recognition your work brings — the better off you’ll be. But that doesn’t mean intrinsic motivation makes you bulletproof. Even if you love your work — or perhaps  because  you love your work — if you push too hard without appropriate rest and recovery you’re bound to stagnate.

内部的动力提升长期的效率和避免倦怠，这是公认的。不管是在体育场上还是在工作中，你的驱动越多地来自于内部，你越多地把你的工作作为目标本身--也就是说，你享受你正在做的，而不是外部的对你的工作的奖励和认可--你将会做得更好。但这不意味着内部的动机使你是防弹的。即使你热爱你的工作--或者或许因为你爱你的工作--如果你逼自己太紧没有合适的休息和恢复，你注定会停滞不前。

A close friend and collaborator of mine, Steve Magness, is coach to a stable of the world’s best runners. He often says that “the nice part about coaching intrinsically motivated and super driven people is that I rarely, if ever, have to push them forward. That’s not the hard part. The hard part is holding them back.” Without Steve putting on the brakes, his athletes would run themselves into the ground — and not in spite of their intrinsic motivation, but because of it. If you are into what you’re doing and you’re dying to get better the natural inclination is to keep pushing. Unfortunately, even if that pushing is borne out of all the right internal reasons, eventually the body gets tired. Too many miles with too little rest results in what exercise scientists call  overtraining syndrome:  a decrease in performance in conjunction with an increase in illness, injury, and eventually apathy.

我的一位亲密朋友和合作伙伴，Steve Magness，是一群世界上最好的跑步选手的教练。他经常说：“教练自我激励和超级驱动的人的美好的一部分是，我几乎不会，如果有的话，推动他们。这不是最难的部分。最难的部分是拉他们。”如果不是Steve踩刹车，他的运动员会跑趴下--不是因为缺少自我激励，就是因为自我激励。如果你投入你正在做的事情想努力达到最好，自然的倾向就是持续地推动。不幸的是，即使持续推动有所有正确的内部动力的支撑，最终身体会疲惫。跑太远休息太少会导致运动科学家称为的过度训练综合症：伤病和失去兴趣导致的成绩下降。

Although an overworked brain may not literally break down like an overworked body, it too functions better with rest and recovery. Consider a  study  out of the University of York and the University of Florida that found despite spending the vast majority of our waking hours in effortful thought, more than 40 percent of our creative ideas come during breaks, when we allow our minds to wander or turn off altogether. Other research published in the  Journal of Organizational Behavior   and  Occupational and Organizational Psychology   shows that workplace performance improves following periods of rest and recovery, even among those who love their work.

This was a major theme in the reporting for my new book,  Peak Performance.  World-class performers across diverse fields — all of whom love their work and are as intrinsically motivated as anyone — literally  force  themselves to rest. They do so with deliberate intention for the benefit of their work.

虽然过度工作的大脑不会像过度工作的身体一样故障，休息和恢复也会使它工作得更好。根据约克大学和弗洛里达大学的研究，尽管我们花所有清醒的时间无休止地思考，超过40%的我们的创新电子来自于休息的时候，当我们允许我们的头脑神游或者完全关闭的时候。其他的发表在《组织行为学》杂志和《职业和组织心理学》杂志的研究表明周期性的休息和恢复提升工作效率。这是我的新书《高效》的主题。世界级的各种领域的从业者--所有那些和任何人一样内部驱动并且热爱他们的工作的人--都强迫他们自己休息。他们有意这样做来在工作中获益。

• David Goss , the late mathematician who pioneered  number theory  — a unique mathematical language that makes otherwise unsolvable problems solvable — reports that “all these ideas would come to me via my subconscious — when I wasn’t working but instead on the exercise bike or just walking around. Some of these ideas were, in fact, crazy. But others turned out to be not so crazy at all. The subconscious mind is a powerful thing. It’s almost like the sole reason you do the work is to set the stage for what happens when you step away.”

最近的数学家david goss，数论（一种唯一的使难解决的问题易解决的数学语言）方面的先驱者 说：“所有的这些想法来自于我的潜意识，当我没有在工作而是在骑自行车或散步的时候。其中一些想法是疯狂的，但是其他的另一些结果证明一点也不疯狂。潜意识是强大的。看起来就像你工作的唯一原因是设置一个舞台然后期待你离开的时候发生的事。

• Lin-Manuel Miranda , MacArthur genius and creator of the blockbuster musical  Hamilton, puts  it like this: “A good idea doesn’t come when you’re doing a million things. The good idea comes in the moment of rest. It comes in the shower. It comes when you’re doodling or playing trains with your son. It’s when your mind is on the other side of things.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda, 麦克阿瑟奖金获得者，畅销音乐剧《汉密尔顿》的创作者这样说：”在你做一百万件事时，好想法不会来。好想法在休息的时候来。在你淋浴的时候，在你涂鸦的时候，或和你的儿子玩火车玩具的时候。正是那些你把事情放下的时候。

• Emil Alzamora , internationally acclaimed sculptor, told me “there are many times when I want to — and could — stay at the studio forever. But I know if I want to make good work for a long time, I need to step away.”

Emil Alzamora, 国际赞誉的雕刻家告诉我“有很多时候我想--或可能--永远呆在工作室中。但是我知道如果我想长期地出好作品，我需要离开。

This is to say nothing of the massive importance of  sleep . If you really love your work and want to do a good job at it, the  last  thing you should do is sacrifice sleep. In the early 2000s, then-groundbreaking research out of Harvard University  found  that it is during sleep that you retain, consolidate, store, and connect information. In other words, your mind doesn’t grow and make leaps when you are at work, but rather when you are at rest.

更不用说睡眠的重要性了。如果你真的热爱工作并想取得好成绩，千万不要牺牲睡眠。在2000年代初，哈弗大学的开拓性研究发现在睡觉中你的大脑保留巩固存储和联系信息。也就是说在工作中你的大脑不会提升和跃迁，而是在你的休息的时候。

Even so, it can be excruciatingly hard to step away from your work, especially if you love it. Steve’s runners aren’t the only folks who struggle to hold back. Ernest Hemingway  said  as difficult as writing could be, it was “the wait until the next day,” when he forced himself to rest, that was his greatest challenge. In his memoir,  On Writing , Stephen King writes, “For me, not working is the real work.”

即使这样，让你离开你的工作可能也是极其痛苦地困难，尤其是如果你热爱你的工作。Steve的运动员不是唯一的需要痛苦地暂停的人。海明威曾说“推迟到明天”是和写作一样困难的事。当他强迫自己休息时，这是他最大的挑战。斯蒂芬.金在他的回忆录《关于写作》中写到：“对我来说，不工作就是真正地工作。”

Tucked away in King’s quote is a pearl of wisdom. If you consider not working a part of the work, you’re more likely to not work. This sentiment was common across much of the reporting I did for my book. The world’s best musicians, athletes, artists, intellectuals, and entrepreneurs tend to consider rest an essential part of their jobs. They think about rest  not  as being something that is passive (i.e., nothing is happening, you’re wasting time) but rather as being something that is active (i.e.,   your brain — or if you’re an athlete, your body — is growing and getting better), and thus, they’re far more liable to respect it. This draws upon something that behavioral economists call the commission bias: an innate human tendency toward action over inaction.

藏在金的话语中的是智慧的珍珠。如果你认为不工作是工作的一部分，你就更乐于不工作了。这种情感在我的书的报告中很普遍。世界上最好的音乐家、运动员、艺术家、知识分子和投资人倾向于认为工作是工作的基础部分。他们认为休息不是消极的（也就是什么都没有发生，你在浪费时间）而是积极的（也就是你的大脑--或者你是个运动员的话--你的身体在成长和变好），因此最好尊重休息。这利用了行为经济学家所称为的行为偏见：人天生倾向于行动而不是不动。

This isn’t to say that you should regularly slouch off. But it does mean that even if you’re in the throes of work you love, you should still prioritize eight hours of  sleep , some form of  regular exercise , and a few  short breaks  every day. Trust that not working is integral to doing good, sustainable work. Not working  is  the work.

这不是说你应该经常懒惰。但是这确实意味着即使你处在你热爱的工作的一些困难中，你仍应该优先每天安排8小时的睡眠，一些形式的规则的锻炼，一些短时间的休息。相信不工作和持续性做好工作是结合在一起的。不工作就是工作。

Brad Stulberg writes about health and the science of human performance. His new book is Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive With the New Science of Success.   Follow him on Twitter  @Bstulberg .

Vocabulary:

end in itself -- A purpose or goal desired for its own sake (rather than to attain something else). For example, For me, writing books is an end in itself; they don't really make that much money.

be better off -- to have more money than you had in the past or more money than most other people: to be in a better situation, if or after something happens

A  stable  or  stables  is an organization that breeds and trains horses for racing. (养殖并训练赛马的) 养马场

bear out -- If someone or something bears a person out or bears out what that person is saying, they support what that person is saying. 支持; 证实

apathy -- You can use  apathy  to talk about someone's state of mind if you are criticizing them because they do not seem to be interested in or enthusiastic about anything. 漠不关心表不满

PHRASAL VERB If a machine or a vehicle  breaks down , it stops working. (机器、车辆等) 出故障

N-COUNT A  blockbuster  is a film or book that is very popular and successful, usually because it is very exciting. 大片; 畅销书

to say nothing of someone or something -- not to even mention the importance of someone or something

If you tuck away something such as money, you store it in a safe place. 把…藏于安全处

When something  is liable to  happen, it is very likely to happen. 很有可能的

If someone  slouches , they sit or stand with their shoulders and head bent so they look lazy and unattractive. 无精打采地坐; 无精打采地站

 If someone is experiencing something bad or emotionally painful, you can say that they are in the  throes  of it, especially when it is in its final stages. (尤指最后阶段的)困境; 痛苦