The Real Reason You Feel So Busy (and What To Do About It) | Dorie Clark | TED

Transcriber: Leslie Gauthier

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

We live in a time-pressed culture.

我們生活在時間緊迫的文化中。

There is never enough time.

時間永遠不夠。

And we see it,

每天，我們在周遭 都可以看到、感覺到。

we feel it around us every day.

We live in a world that valorizes work,

我們所處的世界重視

工作、成就、

accomplishment,

busyness.

忙碌。

And there’s real upside to that;

這個現象有好的一面， 是真的有價值的。

there’s real value.

We’re pushed,

我們被逼迫、被驅使

we’re driven toward achievement and action and creation.

朝向成就、行動，和創造邁進。

And that’s great,

那很棒，

but there’s also a downside.

但也有不好的一面。

And that's something that I think is worth talking about.

我認為那是值得談談的題材。

「管理研究團體」 不久前做了一項研究，

There was a study done a while back,

by the Management Research Group,

of 10,000 senior leaders.

對象是一萬名資深領導者。

And they asked them,

他們被問到：

“What is key to your organization’s success?”

「你的組織會成功，關鍵是什麼？」

And 97 percent said long-term strategic thinking.

97% 的受訪者

都說是長期策略思考。

I mean, when was the last time that 97 percent of people agreed on anything?

97% 的人都認同 一件事，是多麼難得啊？

There is near unanimity that being a long-term thinker --

幾乎全體一致認同，

做一個「長思」的人—— 有遠景，有能力

having perspective,

having the ability to think and ask big questions --

去思考並問重要的問題——

is essential to our success.

是成功不可或缺的條件。

And yet in a separate study,

但，在另一項研究中，

96 percent of leaders were surveyed,

被調查的領導者中有 96%

and they said they don’t have time for strategic thinking.

都說他們沒有時間做策略性思考。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

What is going on?

這是怎麼回事？

Why is it --

為什麼——怎麼可能

how can it be

that 96 percent of people are not doing the one thing

96% 的人沒做他們認為

that they say is most critical to their success?

對他們的成功最關鍵的那件事呢？

Well, I think we know the answer ...

我想，我們知道答案……

or at least we think we do.

或者，至少，我們認為我們知道。

The average professional attends 62 meetings per month.

一般的專業人士每個月 要參與六十二場會議。

That sounds pretty outrageous.

聽起來好誇張，怎麼有可能？

How could that be?

But if you actually break it down,

但如果你真的拆開來看，

it’s not that many.

並沒有那麼多， 一天只有兩、三場會議，

It’s two to three meetings per day,

which is probably average for many of you.

對在座很多人來說可能是常態。

So 62 meetings a month.

所以，一個月六十二場會議。

That does not help,

那沒有幫助，那沒有錯。

and that is not wrong.

It is a contributor.

它是一個促成因子。

Also, we know --

此外，我們知道—— 我們知道還有什麼……

we know what else ...

email.

電子郵件。

A study a while back by McKinsey

麥肯錫不久前做的研究 顯示，一般專業人士

showed that the average professional spends 28 percent of their time

會把他們 28% 的時間

just responding to email.

花在回覆電子郵件上。

Of course that drains us,

那當然會榨乾我們， 當然會讓我們忙碌。

of course that makes us busy.

But the truth is, it’s also, I believe, not the full picture.

但，事實是，我相信， 這也還不是全貌。

Those are manifestations.

那些只是表現出來的狀況。

Those are problems, legitimately.

那些是問題，名正言順。

But there are also some other things going on underneath the surface,

但在表面之下還有 其他的因素在運作，

reasons that perhaps we are,

理由可能是，也許我們在某種層面上

in some ways,

working at cross-purposes.

為了相反的目的在做事。

Because for so long

因為，長久以來，幾乎所有人都會說

almost all of us have said we want desperately to be less busy,

我們非常希望能不要這麼忙碌，

and yet we keep making choices that put ourselves in the position

但，我們卻不斷做出選擇，

讓我們的處境

where we’re just as busy as we’ve always been.

維持和原本一樣忙碌。

What is going on?

這是怎麼回事？

Well, some research out of Columbia University

哥倫比亞大學有項研究

sheds a little bit of light on this.

多少可以解釋一點這個現象。

Silvia Bellezza and her colleagues have done interesting research

希爾薇雅‧貝萊札和她的同事

做了有趣的研究，探討的是，

into the fact that in some cultures --

在某些文化中—— 特別是美國文化——

American culture chief among them --

busyness is actually a form of status.

忙碌其實是地位的一種形式。

When we say, “Oh, I am so crazy busy,”

當我們說：

「喔，我忙到翻了。」

what we’re really saying

我們在做的其實

is a societally-accepted version of “I am so important --

是用社會能接受的版本來說

「我超重要的——」（笑聲）

(Laughter)

“I am so popular!

「我好搶手！好多人需要我！」

I am so in demand!”

And the truth is that feeling can be hard to give up ...

而事實是，

那種感覺是很難放棄掉的……

even if we say that we want to.

即使我們嘴上說想擺脫它。

That’s not the only reason, of course.

當然，那不是唯一的理由。

It turns out it is very hard

結果發現，

人類的大腦很難

for the human mind to deal with conditions of uncertainty.

去處理充滿不確定性的狀況。

And in modern life, there’s a lot of it.

在現代生活中，這種狀況很多。

Sometimes we are given tasks or challenges,

有時，我們會被賦予任務或難題，

and the truth is, tactically, we just don’t know how to do it.

事實是，戰略上來說，

我們就是不知道該怎麼做。

“Increase sales by 30 percent.”

「業績要增加三成。」

Well, how?

嗯，怎麼做？

There’s a lot of ways you could do it.

有很多方式可以用， 你不確定要怎麼做。

You’re not sure how.

Sometimes it’s easier, frankly, to just double down

有時，坦白說，比較容易的是

更努力持續去做更多 你已經在做的事。

and keep doing more of what you’re already doing.

That might not be the best answer,

那可能不是最好的答案，

but it’s an answer,

但那是個答案，

and it removes uncertainty.

且能去除不確定性。

The picture gets even worse

更糟糕的是

when we’re talking about existential questions;

如果我們談的是存在主義的問題；

when we’re talking about uncomfortable matters

如果我們談的是讓人不舒服的事，

可能是我們並不想真正去處理的事。

that we might not actually really want to deal with.

That might be, “Am I in the right job?”

可能是：「這是適合我的工作嗎？」

It might be, “Am I in the right career?”

可能是：

「我選對職業了嗎？」

Those are often questions,

通常，對於這些問題，

truth be told,

說實話，

我們可能不想知道答案。

we might not want the answer to.

And so we become busy

所以我們就變忙碌，

as a way so that we don’t even have to ask the question.

這麼一來，我們就 不需要問這類問題了。

Now, there's a third reason,

還有第三個理由，

and I’ll admit it’s one that I know well, personally,

且，我承認，

我個人和這個理由很熟，

and that is that sometimes we use busyness as a way to numb ourselves out.

那就是，有時，我們把忙碌當作是

讓我們自己麻木的方式。

I’ve experienced that.

我就曾經經歷過。

This is my boy Gideon,

這是我的毛孩子吉迪安，

and he died in 2013.

牠在 2013 年過世。

I’d had him for 17 years,

牠跟我在一起十七年， 牠是我最好的朋友。

and he was my best friend.

And after he died,

牠過世之後，

I’ll be honest,

老實說，我不想待在家裡，

I didn’t want to be home

because I knew that he wouldn’t be there.

因為我知道牠不會在那裡。

And so for two years,

所以，有兩年的時間，

my life basically was an Uber to an airport,

我的人生基本上就是：

搭優步去機場，

to a hotel

再到飯店，

and back again,

再回來，

because I just really didn’t want to face that.

因為我就是不想面對它。

For a lot of us, there are things we sometimes don’t want to face.

很多人有時都會有不想面對的事。

What we’re really looking for with work is an anesthetic.

我們工作所尋求的其實是麻醉效果。

And as I like to say,

我常說工作總比古柯鹼好。

work is better than crack --

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

所以，如果你要選的話……

so if you’re choosing ...

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

it’s not the worst.

它不是最糟的。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But the truth is, it's also not a sustainable solution.

但，事實是，

這也不是永續的解決方案。

For many of us, we get trapped in the pattern of busyness,

我們許多人都被困住了，

困在忙碌的模式中，

of overwork.

工作過度的模式中。

It's hard sometimes even to remember what it was like before.

有時，甚至很難記得

以前是什麼樣子的。

Oftentimes in our mind’s eye,

通常，在我們的想像中，

when we think of busyness,

談到忙碌時，

what we think of is this.

這是我們會聯想到的。

What we think of is triumphant success

我們會聯想到勝利成功，

世界垂手可得。

and the world at your fingertips.

The truth is, more often, busyness looks like this.

事實上，忙碌更常 看起來像是這個樣子。

It looks like loneliness.

它看起來像是寂寞。

它看起來像是挫折。

It looks like frustration.

It looks like having a life

它看起來像是你的人生

that’s not really in your full control.

並非你能全權掌控。

So I would like to propose that we make a change.

所以我想要提議

我們做個改變。

Because if we are ever going to succeed

如果我們真的想要成功

in beating back busyness once and for all,

一勞永逸擊退忙碌，

first of all, we have to get real

首先，我們得要回到現實，

and acknowledge what is actually behind some of the busyness

並承認

背後有什麼原因造成用忙碌

that is filling our days.

塞滿我們的一整天。

We have to really get honest about what it is that’s motivating us

我們必須要真正坦誠面對

驅使我們的原因，這樣 我們才能做不同的選擇。

so that we can make a different choice.

Because it is about our choice.

因為重點就是我們的選擇。

We need to recognize that real freedom is about creating the space

我們得要了解， 真正的自由，重點在於

創造出讓我們能呼吸的空間，

so that we can breathe,

the space so that we can think.

讓我們能思考的空間。

Ultimately, real freedom is about choosing how

最終，真正的自由，重點是在於選擇

我們要把時間花在誰身上、怎麼花。

and with whom we want to be spending our time.

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Cheers)

（歡呼聲）

(Applause)

（掌聲）