How burnout makes us less creative | The Way We Work, a TED series

Transcriber: TED Translators admin

譯者: Kai Bian 審譯者: 恩豪 李

A few years ago, my obsession with productivity

幾年前，我過度關注工作效率。

got so bad that I suffered an episode of burnout

情況很嚴重，

導致我有一段時間職業倦怠，

that scared the hell out of me.

我嚇壞了。

I'm talking insomnia, weight gain, hair loss -- the works.

我說的包括失眠、變胖、 掉髮，全部都有。

I was so overworked that my brain

我當時太勞累了，

literally couldn't come up with another idea.

以致大腦真的想不出任何新點子。

這表示我的身分認同 和效率這個想法是相關的。

That indicated to me that my identity was linked with this idea of productivity.

[The Way We Work]

[我們的工作方式]

Do you feel guilty if you haven't been productive enough during the day?

如果你白天的工作不夠，

你會覺得內疚嗎？

Do you spend hours reading productivity hacks,

你是否花幾個小時 讀提升效率的訣竅、

trying new frameworks and testing new apps

嘗試新的體系、測試新的軟體，

to get even more done?

進一步提高工作效率？

I've tried them all -- task apps, calendar apps,

這些我都嘗試過——

任務管理軟體、日曆軟體、

time-management apps,

時間管理軟體......

things that are meant to manage your day.

這類管理每日事項的東西。

We've been so obsessed with doing more

我們總是渴望完成更多事情，

that we've missed the most important thing.

但卻忽視了最重要的事情。

Many of these tools aren't helping.

這類工具大多是沒用的，

They're making things worse.

它們只讓情況更糟糕。

OK, let's talk about productivity for a second.

好，我們花一點時間聊聊工作效率。

Historically, productivity as we know it today

從歷史角度來看， 我們現在所說的工作效率

was used during the industrial revolution.

是工業革命期間的概念，

It was a system that measured performance based on consistent output.

它是根據連續產能來 衡量表現的系統。

You clocked into your shift

假設你開始打卡上班，

and were responsible for creating X number of widgets

在裝配線上

負責完成 x 件產品。

on the assembly line.

At the end of the day, it was pretty easy to see

下班後，很容易看出來

who worked hard and who hadn't.

每個人的勤奮程度。

When we shifted to a knowledge economy,

當我們轉向知識型經濟之時，

people suddenly had tasks that were much more abstract,

人們的工作突然抽象了很多，

things like writing, problem-solving or strategizing,

比如寫作、處理問題或制定策略，

tasks that weren't easy to measure.

這些任務是不太容易衡量的。

Companies struggled to figure out

各家公司想盡辦法計算、

how to tell who was working and who wasn't,

判斷誰工作了？誰偷懶了？

so they just adopted the old systems as best as they could,

所以他們盡可能採用以往的方法，

leading to things like the dreaded time sheet

做出像工時表之類可怕的東西，

where everyone is under pressure

讓大家都倍感壓力，

to justify how they spend every second of their day.

因為要證明他們 每分每秒都專注在工作上。

There's just one problem.

但這裡有個問題，

These systems don't make a lot of sense for creative work.

這些方法對創新的工作無益，

We still think of productivity as an endurance sport.

我們仍然把生產效能看作耐力運動。

You try to churn out as many blog posts

你拼命生出一堆部落格文章

or we cram our day full of meetings.

或給自己一整天的會議，

But this model of constant output isn't conducive to creative thought.

但這種不斷產出的模式對創意無益。

Today, knowledge workers are facing a big challenge.

現在，知識型員工面臨很大的挑戰，

We're expected to be constantly productive and creative

人們希望我們持續高產、持續創新，

in equal measure.

並同時做到這兩點，

But it's actually almost impossible

但要同時做到幾乎不可能；

for our brains to continuously generate new ideas

要是不好好休息，

with no rest.

大腦無法一直產出新點子。

In fact, downtime is a necessity for our brain

事實上，我們的大腦必須休息，

to recover and to operate properly.

這樣才能重新正常運轉。

Consider that according to a team of researchers

根據南加州大學的團隊研究，

from the University of Southern California,

letting our minds wander is an essential mental state

放空是一種必要的精神狀態，

that helps us develop our identity,

能夠幫助我們建立身分認同、

process social interactions,

處理社會互動，

and it even influences our internal moral compass.

甚至會影響到我們內心的道德標準。

Our need for a break flies in the face of our cultural narrative about hustling,

我們需要休息，

這與文化中所說的 努力工作是有衝突的，

in other words, the stories that we as a society

也就是我們社會中所說的：

tell each other about what success looks like

成功的定義是什麼？

and what it takes to get there.

要成功要怎麼做？

Stories like the American Dream,

美國夢這樣的故事

which is one of our most deeply rooted beliefs.

是深植於我們心中的信念之一。

This tells us that if we work hard, we'll be successful.

它告訴我們，努力工作就會成功，

But there's a flip side.

但這是有負面影響的。

If you aren't successful,

如果你沒成功，

it must mean that you're not working hard enough.

那就意味著你不夠努力；

And if you don't think you're doing enough,

如果你覺得自己做的還不夠多，

of course you're going to stay late, pull all-nighters

那你肯定會加班、通宵學習、

and push yourself hard even when you know better.

施加壓力給自己， 即使你知道不該這樣。

Productivity has wrapped itself up in our self-worth,

工作效率跟自我價值感密不可分，

so that it's almost impossible for us to allow ourselves

所以我們幾乎不可能允許自己放鬆，

to stop working.

讓自己停止工作。

The average US employee only takes half of their allocated paid vacation leave,

大多數美國員工僅僅享用

一半的有薪年假，

further proving that even if we have the option

這證明即使我們可以選擇，

to take a break, we don't.

我們也不會休息。

To be clear, I don't think that productivity

我想說明的是，我認為提高效率

or trying to improve our performance is bad.

或努力提高成績並不是壞事。

I'm just saying that the current models we're using to measure our creative work

我只是認為，目前我們用來 衡量創意工作的方式

don't make sense.

並不合理。

We need systems that work with our creativity

我們需要一個體系 讓我們可以發揮創意

and not against it.

且不會牴觸它。

[SO HOW DO WE FIX IT?]

[那我們該怎麼解決呢？]

There is no quick fix for this problem.

解決這個問題沒有捷徑。

And I know, I know, that sucks.

我懂，我懂，感覺很糟！

No one loves a good framework or a good acronym

沒人比我還想要有 一個好的體系或好記的方法。

better than me.

But the truth is everyone has their own narratives

但事實是，每個人都有自己的情況

that they have to uncover.

需要由自己發現。

It wasn't until I started digging around my own beliefs around work

直到我開始檢視自己的工作理念時，

that I began to unravel the root of my own work story,

我才開始看清自己 工作情況的根本問題，

finally being able to let go of destructive behaviors

最終才能擯棄不好的做法，

and make positive, long-lasting changes.

做出積極、持久的改變。

And the only way to do that

實現這件事只有一種方法，

is by asking yourself some hard questions.

就是向自己提出難以回答的問題。

Does being busy make you feel valuable?

忙碌讓你覺得自己有價值嗎？

Who do you hold up as an example of success?

你心中的榜樣是誰？

Where did your ideas of work ethic come from?

你的職業道德理念來源於哪裡？

How much of who you are is linked to what you do?

你對自我認知和你的工作 有多大的關係？

Your creativity, it has its own rhythms.

你的創造力有著自己的節奏。

Our energy fluctuates daily, weekly, even seasonally.

我們的精力起伏不定，

每天、每週、甚至是每年都不一樣。

I know that I'm always more energetic at the beginning of the week

我知道我每週一開始都會精力充沛，

than at the end,

後來就相對差一些。

so I front-load my workweek to account for that fact.

因此我把工作向前排。

As a proud night owl, I free up my afternoons and evenings

身為自豪的夜貓子，

我把每天下午和晚上的時間騰出來

for creative work.

做一些創造性的工作。

And I know I'll get more writing done

我知道我的寫作產量高峰

in the cozy winter months than during the summer.

是在舒適的冬天，而不是夏天。

And that's the secret.

這就是秘訣。

Dismantling myths, challenging your old views,

揭開神秘的面紗、挑戰陳舊的觀念、

identifying your narratives --

探尋自己的故事，

this is the real work that we need to be doing.

這才是我們要做的事。

We aren't machines,

我們不是機器，

and I think it's time that we stopped working like one.

我想我們應停止像機器般工作了。