如何在空闲时间关闭工作想法

How to turn off work thoughts during your free time

演讲者：Guy Winch

 

I wanted to be a psychologist since I was a teenager, and I spent years pursuing that one goal. I opened my private practice as soon as I was licensed. It was a risky move, not getting a day job at a hospital or a clinic, but within one year, my practice was doing quite well and I was making more money than I ever made before. Of course, I was a full-time student my entire life.

我想成为一名心理学家 从我十几岁开始，我花了数年时间追求这个目标。 我开设了我的私人诊所 一旦我获得执照。 这是一个冒险的举动，没有得到一份日常工作 在医院或诊所，但在一年内， 我的实践做得很好，我赚了更多的钱 比我以前做的还要多。 当然，我是全职的 学生我一生。

 

I could have worked at McDonald's and made more money than I ever made before.

我本可以在麦当劳工作，赚更多的钱 比我以前做的还要多。

 

That one-year mark came on a Friday night in July. I walked home to my apartment and got into the elevator with a neighbor who was a doctor in the ER. The elevator rose, then it shuddered and stalled between floors. And the man who dealt with emergencies for a living began poking at the buttons and banging on the door, saying, "This is my nightmare, this is my nightmare!" And I was like, "And this is my nightmare."

那一年的标记 发生在七月的一个星期五晚上。 我走回公寓，和邻居一起进了电梯 谁是急诊室的医生。 电梯升起，然后颤抖 并在楼层之间停滞不前。 还有那个交易的人 随着紧急情况的谋生开始戳按钮 并敲门说：“这是我的噩梦， 这是我的噩梦！ 我当时想， “这是我的噩梦。”

 

I felt terrible afterwards, though. Because I wasn't panicked and I knew what to say to calm him down. I was just too depleted to do it, I had nothing left to give, and that confused me. After all, I was finally living my dream, so why wasn't I happy? Why did I feel so burned out?

不过，事后我感觉很糟糕。 因为我没有惊慌失措，我知道该说什么才能让他平静下来。 我实在是太疲惫了，我无能为力， 这让我感到困惑。 毕竟，我终于实现了我的梦想，为什么我不快乐呢？ 为什么我感到如此疲惫？

 

For a few terrible weeks, I questioned whether I'd made a mistake. What if I had chosen the wrong profession? What if I had spent my entire life pursuing the wrong career? But then I realized, no, I still loved psychology. The problem wasn't the work I did in my office. It was the hours I spent ruminating about work when I was home. I closed the door to my office every night, but the door in my head remained wide-open and the stress just flooded in.

在可怕的几个星期里，我怀疑自己是否犯了错误。 如果我选错了职业怎么办？ 如果我度过了一生会怎样 追求错误的职业？ 但后来我意识到，不， 我仍然喜欢心理学。 问题不在于工作 我在办公室里做了。 这是我度过的时光 在家时反刍工作。 我关上了门 每天晚上去我的办公室，但我脑子里的门一直敞开着，压力就这样涌了进来。

 

That's the interesting thing about work stress. We don't really experience much of it at work. We're too busy. We experience it outside of work, when we are commuting, when we're home, when we're trying to rejuvenate. It is important to recover in our spare time, to de-stress and do things we enjoy, and the biggest obstruction we face in that regard is ruminating. Because each time we do it, we're actually activating our stress response.

这是一件有趣的事情 关于工作压力。 我们没有真正体验 其中大部分都在工作。 我们太忙了。 我们在工作之余，通勤时，在家时，当我们试图恢复活力时，都会体验到它。 恢复很重要 在业余时间，减压做自己喜欢的事情，也是最大的障碍 我们在这方面面临的是沉思。 因为每次我们这样做，我们实际上是在激活 我们的压力反应。

 

Now, to ruminate means to chew over. The word refers to how cows digest their food. For those of you unfamiliar with the joys of cow digestion, cows chew, then they swallow, then they regurgitate it back up and chew it again.

现在，反刍意味着咀嚼。 这个词指的是 奶牛如何消化食物。 对于那些不熟悉的人 带着牛消化的乐趣，奶牛咀嚼，然后吞咽，然后反刍回来 然后再次咀嚼。

 

It's disgusting.

太恶心了。

 

But it works for cows.

但它对奶牛有效。

 

It does not work for humans. Because what we chew over are the upsetting things, the distressing things, and we do it in ways that are entirely unproductive. It's the hours we spend obsessing about tasks we didn't complete or stewing about tensions with a colleague, or anxiously worrying about the future, or second-guessing decisions we've made.

它对人类不起作用。 因为我们咀嚼的东西 是令人不安的事情，令人痛苦的事情，我们以各种方式去做 完全没有生产力。 这是我们花费的时间 沉迷于我们没有完成的任务或炖于紧张关系 和同事在一起，或者焦虑地担心未来，或者我们做出的决定。

 

Now there's a lot of research on how we think about work when we are not at work, and the findings are quite alarming. Ruminating about work, replaying the same thoughts and worries over and over again, significantly disrupts our ability to recover and recharge in the off hours. The more we ruminate about work when we're home, the more likely we are to experience sleep disturbances, to eat unhealthier foods and to have worse moods. It may even increase our risk of cardiovascular disease and of impairing our executive functioning, the very skill sets we need to do our jobs well. Not to mention the toll it takes on our relationships and family lives, because people around us can tell we're checked out and preoccupied.

现在有很多研究 关于我们不工作时如何看待工作，调查结果相当令人震惊。 沉思工作，重播同样的想法和担忧 一遍又一遍，严重破坏我们的能力 在下班时间恢复和充电。 我们越是反刍工作 当我们在家时，我们的可能性就越大 经历睡眠障碍，吃不健康的食物和更糟糕的情绪。 它甚至可能增加我们的风险 心血管疾病和损害 我们的执行功能，我们需要的技能 做好我们的工作。 更不用说它需要付出的代价了 关于我们的人际关系和家庭生活，因为我们周围的人可以告诉 我们被检查出来并全神贯注。

 

Now, those same studies found that while ruminating about work when we're home damages our emotional well-being, thinking about work in creative or problem-solving ways does not. Because those kinds of thinking do not elicit emotional distress and, more importantly, they're in our control. We can decide whether to respond to an email or leave it till morning, or whether we want to brainstorm about work projects that excite us. But ruminations are involuntary. They're intrusive. They pop into our head when we don't want them to. They upset us when we don't want to be upset. They switch us on when we are trying to switch off. And they are very difficult to resist, because thinking of all our unfinished tasks feels urgent. Anxiously worrying about the future feels compelling. Ruminating always feels like we're doing something important, when in fact, we're doing something harmful. And we all do it far more than we realize.

现在，同样的研究发现，在反刍时 关于工作 当我们在家时会损害我们的情绪健康，思考创造性的工作 或者解决问题的方式没有。 因为那些想法 不要引起情绪困扰，更重要的是， 他们在我们的控制之下。 我们可以决定是否 回复电子邮件或将其留到早上，或者我们是否想集思广益 关于让我们兴奋的工作项目。 但沉思是非自愿的。 它们是侵入性的。 他们突然出现在我们的脑海中 当我们不希望他们这样做时。 他们让我们心烦意乱，当 我们不想难过。 他们打开我们 当我们试图关闭时。 而且他们很难抗拒，因为想到所有 我们未完成的任务感到紧迫。 焦虑地担心未来 感觉很有吸引力。 反刍总感觉 就像我们正在做一件重要的事情，而事实上，我们正在做 有害的东西。 我们都做得比我们意识到的要多得多。

 

Back when I was burned out, I decided to keep a journal for a week and document exactly how much time I spent ruminating. And I was horrified by the results. It was over 30 minutes a night when I was trying to fall asleep. My entire commute, to and from my office -- that was 45 minutes a day. Totally checked out for 20 minutes during the dinner party at a colleague's house. Never got invited there again.

当我筋疲力尽的时候，我决定写一个星期的日记，并准确记录多少时间 我沉思了一遍。 我对结果感到震惊。 每晚超过30分钟 当我试图入睡时。 我的整个通勤， 往返我的办公室 - 每天45分钟。 在晚宴期间完全退房20分钟 在同事家。 再也没有被邀请去那里。

 

And 90 minutes during a friend's "talent show" that, coincidentally, was 90 minutes long.

和 90 分钟期间 一个朋友的“才艺表演”，巧合的是，长达90分钟。

 

In total, that week, it was almost 14 hours. That's how much "downtime" I was losing to something that actually increased my stress. Try keeping a journal for one week. See how much you do it.

总的来说，那一周， 差不多14个小时了。 这就是我实际上损失了多少“停机时间” 增加了我的压力。 试着写日记一周。 看看你做了多少。

 

That's what made me realize that I still loved my work. But ruminating was destroying that love and it was destroying my personal life, too. So I read every study I could find, and I went to war against my ruminations. Now, habit change is hard. It took real diligence to catch myself ruminating each time, and real consistency to make the new habits stick. But eventually, they did. I won my war against ruminating, and I'm here to tell you how you can win yours.

这就是让我意识到的原因 我仍然热爱我的工作。 但是反刍正在摧毁这种爱，它正在摧毁 我的个人生活也是如此。 所以我读了我能找到的每一项研究，我开始反对我的沉思。 现在，改变习惯很难。 需要真正的努力才能抓住自己 每次反刍，真正的一致性 让新习惯坚持下去。 但最终，他们做到了。 我赢得了反刍的战争，我在这里告诉你 你怎么能赢得你的。

 

First, you need clear guardrails. You have to define when you switch off every night, when you stop working. And you have to be strict about it. The rule I made to myself at the time was that I was done at 8pm. And I forced myself to stick to it. Now people say to me, "Really? You didn't return a single email after 8pm? You didn't even look at your phone?" No, not once. Because it was the '90s, we didn't have smartphones.

首先，您需要明确的护栏。 你必须定义 当你每天晚上关机时，当你停止工作时。 你必须严格要求。 我当时对自己制定的规则 是我晚上8点就完成了。 我强迫自己坚持下去。 现在人们对我说：“真的吗？你没有回来 晚上 8 点之后一封电子邮件？ 你连手机都没看？ 不，一次也没有。 因为那是90年代， 我们没有智能手机。

 

I got my first smartphone in 2007. You know, the iPhone had just come out, and I wanted a phone that was cool and hip. I got a BlackBerry.

我在2007年有了我的第一部智能手机。 你知道，iPhone刚刚问世，我想要一部手机。 这很酷很时髦。 我买了一只黑莓手机。

 

I was excited, though, you know, my first thought was, "I get my emails wherever I am." And 24 hours later, I was like, "I get my emails wherever I am."

我很兴奋，不过，你知道，我的第一个想法是， “无论我身在何处，我都会收到电子邮件。” 24小时后，我想，“我收到我的电子邮件 无论我在哪里。

 

I mean, battling ruminations was hard enough when they just invaded our thoughts. But now they have this Trojan horse, our phones, to hide within. And each time we just look at our phone after hours, we can be reminded of work and ruminative thoughts can slip out and slaughter our evening or weekend. So, when you switch off, switch off your email notifications. And if you have to check them, decide on when to do it, so it doesn't interfere with your plans, and do it only then.

我的意思是，与沉思作斗争 当他们刚刚侵入我们的思想时，已经足够难了。 但是现在他们有这个特洛伊木马，我们的手机，可以藏在里面。 每次我们只是看 下班后，在手机上，我们可以想起工作，沉思的想法可能会溜出来，杀死我们的夜晚或周末。 因此，当您关闭时，请关闭电子邮件通知。 如果你必须检查它们， 决定什么时候做，这样它就不会干扰你的计划，然后才做。

 

 

Cell phones aren't the only way technology is empowering rumination, because we have an even bigger fight coming. Telecommuting has increased 115 percent over the past decade. And it's expected to increase even more dramatically going forward. More and more of us are losing our physical boundary between work and home. And that means that reminders of work will be able to trigger ruminations from anywhere in our home. When we lack a physical boundary between work and home, we have to create a psychological one. We have to trick our mind into defining work and nonwork times and spaces. So here's how you do that.

手机不是唯一的方式 技术正在增强反刍的能力，因为我们有 一场更大的战斗即将到来。 远程办公有所增加 过去十年为115%。 预计还会增加 更是戏剧性地向前发展。 我们中越来越多的人 正在失去工作和家庭之间的物理界限。 这意味着工作提醒将能够引发沉思。 从我们家的任何地方。 当我们缺乏物理边界时 在工作和家庭之间，我们必须创造一种心理。 我们必须欺骗我们的大脑来定义工作和非工作 时间和空间。 所以这是你如何做到这一点的。

 

First, create a defined work zone in your home, even if it's tiny, and try to work only there. Try not to work on the living room couch or on the bed because really, those areas should be associated with living and ... bedding.

首先，创建一个定义的 您家中的工作区，即使它很小，也尽量只在那里工作。 尽量不要在客厅沙发或床上工作，因为实际上，这些区域 应该与生活和...床上用品。

 

Next, when you're working from home, wear clothes you only wear when you're working. And then at the end of the day, change clothes, and use music and lighting to shift the atmosphere from work to home. Make it a ritual. Now, some of you might think that's silly. That changing clothes and lighting will convince my mind I'm no longer at work. Trust me, your mind will fall for it. Because we are really smart, our mind is really stupid.

接下来，当您在家工作时，穿只穿的衣服 当你在工作时。 然后在一天结束时，换衣服，使用音乐和灯光 将氛围从工作转移到家庭。 让它成为一种仪式。 现在，你们中的一些人可能认为这很愚蠢。 改变衣服和照明会说服我的思想 我不再工作了。 相信我，你的思想会爱上它。 因为我们真的很聪明， 我们的头脑真的很愚蠢。

 

It falls for random associations all the time, right? I mean, that's why Pavlov's dog began drooling at the sound of a bell. And why TED speakers begin sweating at the sight of a red circle.

它属于随机关联 一直，对吧？ 我的意思是，这就是为什么巴甫洛夫的狗 听到铃铛声开始流口水。 以及为什么TED演讲者开始出汗 看到一个红色的圆圈。

 

Now those things will help, but ruminations will still invade. And when they do, you have to convert them into productive forms of thinking, like problem-solving.

它属于随机关联 一直，对吧？ 我的意思是，这就是为什么巴甫洛夫的狗 听到铃铛声开始流口水。 以及为什么TED演讲者开始出汗 看到一个红色的圆圈。

 

My patient Sally is a good example. Sally was given the promotion of a lifetime, but it came with a price. She was no longer able to pick up her daughter from school every day, and that broke her heart. So she came up with a plan. Every Tuesday and Thursday, Sally left work early, picked up her daughter from school, played with her, fed her, bathed her and put her to bed. And then she went back to the office and worked past midnight to catch up. Only, Sally's rumination journal indicated she spent almost every minute of her quality time with her daughter ruminating about how much work she had to do.

我的病人莎莉就是一个很好的例子。 莎莉被给予 一生的晋升，却是有代价的。 她再也没能力了 每天接女儿放学，这让她心碎了。 于是她想出了一个计划。 每周二和周四， 莎莉早早下班，接女儿放学，陪她玩，喂她， 给她洗澡，把她放到床上。 然后她回到办公室，工作到午夜才赶上。 只是，莎莉的沉思日记显示她几乎每一分钟都花在 她和女儿一起思考多少的美好时光 她必须做的工作。

 

Ruminations often deny us our most precious moments. Sally's rumination, "I have so much work to do," is a very common one. And like all of them, it's useless and it's harmful, because we'd never think it when we're at work, getting stuff done. We think it when we're outside of work, when we're trying to relax or do things that we find meaningful, like playing with our children, or having a date night with our partner.

沉思经常否认我们 我们最珍贵的时刻。 莎莉的沉思， “我有很多工作要做”，这是一个很常见的问题。 像所有这些人一样，它是无用的，也是有害的，因为我们永远不会想到它。 当我们在工作时，把事情做好。 当我们在工作之外，当我们试图放松时，我们会这样想。 或者做一些我们认为有意义的事情，比如和我们的孩子一起玩，或者和我们的伴侣约会之夜。

 

To convert a ruminative thought into a productive one, you have to pose it as a problem to be solved. The problem-solving version of "I have so much work to do" is a scheduling question. Like, "Where in my schedule can I fit the tasks that are troubling me?" Or, "What can I move in my schedule to make room for this more urgent thing?" Or even, "When do I have 15 minutes to go over my schedule?" All those are problems that can be solved. "I have so much work to do" is not.

转换沉思思想 变成一个富有成效的，你必须摆出它 作为一个需要解决的问题。 解决问题的版本 “我有很多工作要做”是一个调度问题。 比如，“我可以在我的日程安排中适合什么地方 困扰我的任务是什么？ “或者，”我可以在我的日程安排中移动什么 为这更紧急的事情腾出空间？ 甚至，“我什么时候有 15 分钟 超过我的日程安排？ 所有这些都是可以解决的问题。 “我有很多工作要做”不是。

 

Battling rumination is hard, but if you stick to your guardrails, if you ritualize the transition from work to home, and if you train yourself to convert ruminations into productive forms of thinking, you will succeed. Banishing ruminations truly enhanced my personal life, but what it enhanced even more was the joy and satisfaction I get from my work.

与沉思作斗争是困难的，但如果你坚持你的护栏，如果你将过渡仪式化 从工作到家庭，如果你训练自己 将沉思转化为富有成效的思维形式，你就会成功。 驱除沉思 真正改善了我的个人生活，但它更增强的是快乐和满足感 我从我的工作中得到。

 

Ground zero for creating a healthy work-life balance is not in the real world. It's in our head. It's with ruminating. If you want to reduce your stress and improve your quality of life, you don't necessarily have to change your hours or your job. You just have to change how you think.

创造的原点 健康的工作与生活平衡并不存在于现实世界中。 它在我们的脑海中。 这是反刍。 如果你想减轻压力 提高你的生活质量，你不一定要改变 您的工作时间或工作。 你只需要改变你的想法。

 

Thank you.

谢谢。