【中英双语】有效利用空闲时间，只需六招

尽管远程办公对大家来说是个挑战，但这也有积极的一面：对于许多人来说，通勤已成为过去式。仅在美国，无需通勤每周可以帮员工们节省出约8900万小时——相当于自新冠疫情暴发以来节省了超过4450万个工作日。这些数字表明，远程办公可以帮我们夺回最宝贵、最有限的资源：时间。

While the widespread shift to remote work hasn’t been without its challenges, it does offer a major silver lining: For many of us, commuting has become a thing of the past. In the United States alone, eliminating the daily commute has saved workers around 89 million hours each week — equivalent to time savings of more than 44.5 million full workdays since the pandemic began! These numbers suggest that working remotely could be a deus ex machina for reclaiming one of our most precious and limited resources: time.

然而，尽管有可能节省出大量时间，许多人仍然很难如愿用省下的时间完成当初设下的目标：学习烘焙、冥想或撰写下一部伟大的文学杰作。相反，我们在疫情期间收集的1.2万名美国和欧洲人的数据表明，省下的时间通常被浪费在没价值的工作和不尽如人意的休闲活动上。拥有更多的时间并不一定意味着我们能够明智地使用它。到底哪里出了问题？

But despite the potential for staggering time savings, many have struggled to achieve everything they hoped the pandemic would finally make time for: baking sourdough, meditating, or writing the next great literary masterpiece. On the contrary, data we collected from 12,000 people across the U.S. and Europe during the pandemic show that the additional time is often burned on unproductive work and unsatisfying leisure activities. Having more time does not necessarily mean that we use it wisely. So, what are we doing wrong?

启示1：居家办公，还是办公生活混为一谈？

Lesson #1: Working from home or living at work?

不再通勤之后，工作与家庭之间的界限变得模糊。尽管研究表明，人们将通勤视为一天中最紧张而不愉快的时刻之一，但取消通勤也会造成问题。

Without an office to commute to, the separation between work and home becomes tenuous. Although research shows that people rate their commutes as one of the most stressful and undesirable parts of the day, having no commute at all causes problems too.

在一系列研究中，我们发现通勤可以帮助人们在家庭和工作之间切换，没有通勤，人们很难将工作和个人生活区分开。如果没有在下午6点关闭电脑、挤上车回家，许多人会比往常更晚下班，“再发一封电子邮件”的想法会让人在电脑前再多窝上两个小时。可是，这种超时工作往往效率很低。

In a series of studies, we found that being on the road can help people switch gears between home and work, and that without a commute, people struggle to separate their work and personal lives. Instead of shutting down the computer and rattling home on a crowded train at 6 PM, many people are working later than ever, “just one more email” stretching into an extra two hours hunched over the laptop. And that additional work time is not always well spent.

在研究中，人们表示，疫情期间的“文山会海”更多，有太多的“设定议程”，而没有足够的创造性协作，大家的时间花在了更多没价值的工作上。这充分验证了帕金森定律（Parkinson’s law，也可称之为“官场病”“组织麻痹病”或者“大企业病”——编者注），只要还有时间，工作就会不断增加，直到用完所有的时间，每天平均省出的53分钟的通勤时间通常会被其他效率较低的工作占用。

In our studies, people reported being stuck in more meetings during the pandemic than before, doing too much “agenda-setting,” not doing enough creative collaboration, and filling their time with more unproductive work. In a perfect illustration of Parkinson’s law, that work expands to fill the time available for its completion, the average 53 minutes per day people saved by not commuting was often immediately absorbed by additional, less productive work.

启示2：节省时间还是浪费时间？

Lesson #2: Saving time or wasting time?

人们通常不会明智利用来之不易的空闲时间。我们的调查发现：“被动消遣”的活动（例如看电视）急剧增加，而当志愿者或社交等“主动消遣”活动却有所减少。虽然一些“被动消遣”也是健康的放松方式，但我们的研究表明，它比“主动消遣”带来的幸福感要小得多。

When people did manage to gain free time, it often wasn’t spent wisely: Our surveys found that activities we call “passive leisure” — such as watching TV — rose dramatically, while “active leisure” activities such as volunteering or socializing became less frequent. While a bit of passive leisure is a healthy way to relax, our research suggests that it’s much less likely than active leisure to promote happiness.

不可否认，疫情阻断了许多“主动消遣”活动。但是，在遵守社交隔离的前提下，已经有许多创新的方法可以让我们追求“主动消遣”，例如，Zoom推出的游戏之夜和欢乐时间、聪明的远程集体运动和虚拟志愿者。

Admittedly, the pandemic has made many active leisure activities challenging. But we’ve seen plenty of creative ways to pursue active leisure while following social distancing guidelines, such as Zoom game nights and happy hours, clever socially distant sports, and virtual volunteering.

在全球危机时期，优先考虑放松是健康的做法，我们努力最大限度地提高工作效率也是人之常情。但是，当我们回到接近工作常态时，怎样才能确保用节省下的时间做真正让我们感到开心、有意义的事情？

During a time of global crisis, it’s healthy to prioritize relaxation, and it’s natural that we might struggle to maximize productivity at work. But as we return to semi-normalcy, what can we do to ensure we use our time savings to pursue meaningful activities that make us truly happy?

以下几种策略有助你规划工作时间、设立明显的工作生活界限，并增加“主动消遣”时间：

Through our research, we found several strategies that can help you structure your workday to enable clearer boundaries and more time for active leisure:

1. 创建专属于自己的通勤时间

1. Create your own commute.

对于许多人而言，通勤是即将进入“工作模式”的时候。这种过渡不一定必须是真正的通勤。研究表明，最理想的通勤时间是16分钟，因此当你准备开始远程办公时，可以花些时间寻找一种调整到工作模式的方式（我们并不是真要像一些伦敦人那样假装在坐地铁）。

For many of us, commuting was when we would get into “work mode.” But that transition doesn’t have to come from a physical commute. Research shows that the most-desired commute length is 16 minutes, so when you’re working remotely, take that time to find another way to transition into work mode. (We don’t mean literally pretending to be on a subway, as some Londoners have taken to doing.)

最近的一项研究表明，最幸福的通勤者是那些利用通勤时间规划工作的人。因此，无论是在家还是出去散步，尝试花15分钟做日程规划，然后再开始远程办公。实际上，散步是减少压力的“主动消遣”，因此，日常有意做些步行锻炼也不错。

Specifically, a recent study of ours revealed that the happiest commuters are those who use their commutes to plan their workdays. So try starting your remote workday by taking 15 minutes to plan your day, either at home or with a short morning walk. In fact, walking is a form of active leisure that’s known to reduce stress, so it’s good idea to find ways to deliberately build some walking back into your day.

2. 给自己一个收工信号

2. Give yourself a Feierabend.

在德国，Feierabend（含义：下班后的休息）是每天傍晚的“小确幸”，标志着一天工作的结束。通常是酣畅淋漓地来一杯德国啤酒。无论是喝饮料、吃零食、去跑步还是给朋友打电话，你可以用标志收工仪式的活动来结束一天的工作，给自己一些期待。这些细微的小事可以帮你庆祝白天取得的成就，而不是专注于仍需要做的事情，给生活带来意义和幸福感。

In Germany, the Feierabend is a daily evening celebration marking the moment when work is switched off for the day — often accompanied by a hearty German beer. Whether you finish the day with a beverage, a snack, going for a run, or calling a friend, find a ritual that can mark the end of your workday and give you something to look forward to. These daily routines help you celebrate what you have accomplished during the day (rather than focusing on what still needs to be done), bringing life meaning and happiness.

3. 集中攻克每日必须完成的任务

3. Focus your workload on a daily “must win.”

为了避免被无穷无尽的工作淹没，你要找出每天必须完成的任务，无论如何都要完成的一件事，然后全力以赴。屏蔽电子邮件和消息的不断干扰，专注于头等大事才最重要。研究表明，如果你完成了必须做的事，那么最终的成就感可能会极大提升幸福感。

If your to-do list is anything like ours, it is always too long. To avoid drowning in work, identify a must win for each day — one thing you need to achieve no matter what — and then pursue it at full steam. In the face of constant interruptions from email and messaging platforms, staying focused on your top priority is a real accomplishment. And if you complete your must win, research shows the resulting sense of achievement is likely to have a significant impact on your happiness.

4. 留出处理非紧急要务的时间

4. Put “proactive time” on your calendar.

预先留出处理重要但非紧急任务的时间，以免日程被永无休止的Zoom会议占据。我们的研究发现，每天定时留出时间屏蔽所有干扰，只专注于特定任务，可以帮助员工提高工作效率，减轻负担。定时留出时间可以防止你因为只专注下一个截止时间，而陷入毫无意义的工作，从而提高效率、减少压力。

Protect your calendar from never-ending Zoom meetings by blocking out “pro time,” or time reserved for work that is highly important, but not urgent. Our studies have found that scheduling a daily pro-time block, in which you turn off all distractions and focus on specific tasks, helps employees feel more effective and less overwhelmed. Pro-time can prevent you from focusing only on the next deadline and getting bogged down with less meaningful work, making your days feel more productive and less stressful.

5. 在隔离期恢复社交活动

5. Reclaim the social in social distancing.

上面的策略可以帮你节省一些时间，但获得更多时间本身并没有任何意义，如何利用时间才最重要。你是否会用省下来的空闲时间联系其他人？开始运动或做志愿服务？就像在工作日中定时留出时间一样，我们建议在工作之余安排一些“主动消遣”活动。

The strategies above can help you get some of your time back. But more time in and of itself is meaningless — it’s what you do with it that matters. Are you using your newfound free time to connect with other people? To start exercising, or volunteering? Just like scheduling pro-time during the workday, we recommend being proactive about scheduling active leisure activities after work.

这不一定要投入很多。研究显示，短暂的非正式社交互动（无论是线下或线上），抑或10分钟或20分钟的“主动消遣”，都可以增加幸福感。这不是要你每天花两个小时社交，你只需花上20分钟与朋友聊聊天或散个步。

This doesn’t have to be a big commitment. Research suggests that short informal social interactions (whether in person or digital), as well as just 10 or 20 minutes of active leisure, boosts well-being. This isn’t about dedicating two hours to socializing every day, but rather spending 20 minutes catching up with a friend or going for a walk.

你甚至可以将社交时间与其他追求相结合，例如与朋友一起运动，从而最大程度地提升“主动消遣”。这不仅可以一石二鸟，还能让其他人敦促你实现目标，也更容易坚持。

You can even maximize active leisure by combining social time with other pursuits, such as exercising together with a friend. This way you can kill two birds with one stone; plus, involving others in your goals makes it easier to stick to them.

此外，尝试在日常工作中增加社交机会。例如，利用通勤时间与他人（哪怕是同车的陌生人）建立联系可以增进幸福感。如果是远程办公，或许你可以每天固定与家人或朋友聊聊天。

In addition, try building social opportunities into the flow of your normal workday. For instance, studies show that using commute time to connect with others — even strangers on a train — promotes happiness. To replicate this while working remotely, perhaps part of your end-of-day routine could be a chat with a family member or friend.

6.  进行时间管理实验

6. Run time-management experiments.

例如，我们的团队在苏黎世大学发明了“3-2-2周”模式，让我们保持工作和生活的良好平衡：我们每周在办公室工作三天（办公室给我们带来欢乐，让通勤时间变得有价值），在家工作两天，还有两天留给家人和朋友。尝试用不同的方法分配时间，找出在疫情期间和疫情后最适合自己的方案。

For example, here at the University of Zurich, our team invented a “3-2-2 week” that gives us a good balance: each week, we spend three days at the office (yes, we think the commute time is worth the conviviality that only the office can afford), two days working from home, and two days dedicated to family and friends. Experiment with structuring your days and weeks in different ways to see what feels best for you, during the pandemic and beyond.

在全球范围内，转向远程办公可以节省数十亿小时。但是，如何用好这些时间取决于我们自己。现在是时候应该认真地思考一下，如何重塑工作才能得到更多我们最渴望的东西：时间。

Around the world, shifting to remote work could save billions of hours — but it’s up to us to spend that time well. Now is the time to make thoughtful choices about how we reshape work to get more of what we all crave most: time.

如今我们都在参与一场如何利用时间的大型实验。但是，即使取消疫情期间的社交限制，我们还是要继续尝试新的时间管理方案，找出最适合自己的那个。

Today, we’re all part of a grand experiment in how we use our time. But even after pandemic restrictions are lifted, it’s a good idea to keep trying out new time management schemes to see what works best for you.

劳伦·豪是苏黎世大学未来工作课题的博士后研究员。

艾希莉·惠兰斯是哈佛商学院谈判、组织和市场部门专业的助理教授。她的研究主要关注时间、金钱和幸福感。她的第一本书《巧用时间：如何找回时间并过上幸福的生活》（Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time & Live a Happier Life）将由哈佛商业出版社于2020年10月出版。

约亨·门格斯是苏黎世大学领导力和人力资源管理专业的教授，也是剑桥大学组织行为学的讲师。

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