Chapter 7 Chapter 6 Self-management, the thief of time

It may surprise you that mental work alone does not tire you out.It may sound ridiculous, but a few years ago, scientists were shocked when they tried to figure out how long the human brain felt "overloaded," the scientific definition of fatigue.They found that when the brain is working, the blood does not show any signs of fatigue when it passes through the human brain, but the blood drawn from the blood vessels of the working workers will contain a lot of fatigue toxins and fatigue products.If you took a drop of blood from Einstein's brain, even after a long day at work, there would be no fatigue toxins whatsoever.

As far as the brain is concerned, after eight or even 12 hours, it is as productive as it was when it started.The brain is completely tireless.So what is it that tires you out? Psychotherapists believe that much of the fatigue we feel is caused by mental and emotional factors.The most famous British psychoanalyst, Hydefield, said in his "Psychology of Power": "Most of the fatigue we feel is the result of psychological influences. In fact, there are very few fatigues caused purely by physiology. " The famous American psychoanalyst Dr. Blier said in more detail."A sedentary worker, if he is in good health, is 100 percent mentally or emotionally driven," he said.

What emotional factors can lead to fatigue?Rigidity, resentment, a feeling of being unappreciated, and fuss, anxiety, worry, etc., of course.These emotional factors make people prone to fatigue, easy to catch a cold, and reduce work performance.We get tired because our emotions strain the body. Oloway Teed is the chairman of the New York Commission on Higher Education, and he has a lot of work waiting for him to make decisions every day.You might think he would be surrounded by a lot of work?On the contrary, instead of being tied up by work, he is known for his efficiency. So, how does Tide achieve efficient management?Here's how he did it, saying: "Worry is a habit, and I broke that habit a long time ago. I think I owe it to the following three actions. I was so busy, There’s no time to wallow in those self-destructive anxieties.”

I have three main activities: first, lecturing at Columbia University, concurrently serving as chairman of the New York City Commission on Higher Education, and running the economic and social books division of Harper's Publishing Company.Each activity is actually full-time work in itself.With these three main jobs, I have no time to worry about myself.Second, transform new activities.I am a very relaxed person.When I leave one job to work on another, I completely let go of what I was thinking about.I find that changing up to a new activity can be exhilarating, resting and clearing my mind.Third, get rid of troubles in the brain.When I'm away from my desk, I train myself to get all my worries out of my head.These problems are continuous, and if I bring them home every night and worry about them, I will lose my health and the ability to solve my worries.

Do these three good working habits of Olewell Ted have any reference for you? Connie Mike, a veteran baseball player and manager of a baseball club in the United States, has a similar experience to Tiede.Mike has been active in professional baseball for 63 years. When he first joined the team, he was completely unpaid and could only play in the open field, often tripping over the debris on the ground.After the game, they took off their hats and passed around to collect money from everyone.But the money is too little for them. Especially Mike has to bear the responsibility of supporting his widowed mother and younger siblings.Sometimes, in order to make money, the team must do some funny performances in order to keep the game going.However, these difficulties did not deter Mike.Through his own hard work, he not only became a famous baseball player in American history, but also became the manager of the club, bringing a third-rate club into a first-class team.

So how did Mike do it?He later recalled: "There are a lot of reasons to bother me. For example, I was the only manager of a baseball club to finish last seven years in a row and lose 800 games in eight years. After this string of failures , I was too worried to eat or sleep. However, I thought I had to find a new way of managing. And I did, and it turned out that I stopped worrying 25 years ago. I believe that if I If I don’t stop worrying, I’ll be in the coffin long ago.” "Recalling now the long course of my life (I was born in the time of President Lincoln), I think that I have been able to conquer all troubles, and live happily to this day, by the following methods:

First, I don't think troubles are good for people.Annoyances do nothing for me other than being a threat to my baseball career. Second, I think worrying will damage my health. Third, I keep myself so busy planning how to win future games that I don't have time to worry about games I've lost. Fourth, I set a rule for myself: within 24 hours after the game, I am not allowed to criticize the mistakes made by the players.I used to always get dressed and change with the players.If a team loses a game, I can't help but criticize the players and argue mercilessly with them about why they lost.I later found out that this only added to my annoyance; and criticizing a player in front of other players only made him less willing to cooperate in the future because I really made him lose face.So I decided that since I wasn't sure about controlling my tongue and myself right after the game, I'd have to make a rule for myself: Never meet a player immediately after losing a game; wait until the next day , I discussed with them why it failed.By that point, I've calmed down enough not to magnify the mistake, and I can discuss the facts calmly with the players without the players getting angry or defending themselves.

Fifth, I will praise the players and motivate them instead of always picking on them like I used to.I wanted to say some nice words of praise for everyone. Sixth, I found that when I was physically tired, I was more troubled.So, I take 10 hours of rest every night and a small nap every afternoon.Even a 5 minute nap goes a long way for me. Seventh, I believe that by being constantly busy, I am no longer disturbed by all kinds of troubles, and thus I have prolonged my life.Now that I'm 85, I don't want to retire yet.I didn't know I was really old until I told the same story over and over again.

In my opinion, Connie Mike didn't read a book like Overcome Worry and Be Happy, but he was able to set some rules for himself to be an effective manager, so why can't you Woolen cloth?Can you, like him, list some things that you used to find helpful and make a rule list for yourself?


Do things according to their importance.When you have a problem, if you have to make a decision, make it on the spot, without hesitation. Learn how to organize, hierarchically manage and supervise. If you are always emotionally disturbed at work and feel exhausted.Why not take a look at the following content, it will definitely benefit you a lot.Because when we are busy, it is not the heavy work itself, but that we do not have a plan for our work, and we have not figured out how much work we have, and what should we do first?What to do next?What must be done?What can be temporarily shelved?

The reason why you can't find the north at work is caused by bad work habits.In fact, people are not born with certain vices and bad habits, but they are gradually acquired.For our life and work, although some habits are bad, they may not hinder the big things, and will not cause direct conflict and serious harm to our life; while some are the resistance to our happiness and success.For the latter, we should work hard to correct and resolutely abandon it.Below we will introduce you to four vigilant work habits. I hope that after reading the following content, you will correct them. Roland Williams, president of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company, said: "A man whose desk is full of many kinds of papers, if he can clear his desk and leave some at hand for processing, will find his It’s easier and more practical to work. I call it housekeeping, and it’s the first step to productivity.”

If you go into the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., you can see hanging from the ceiling the words that the famous poet Pope once wrote: "Order, is the first law of heaven." Order should also be the first rule in business.But is it so?The desks of ordinary businessmen are full of documents that may not be looked at for weeks.A New Orleans newspaper publisher once told me that his secretary helped him clear a desk and found a typewriter that had been missing for two years. Just seeing a desk full of unanswered letters, reports, memos, etc., is enough to create feelings of confusion, tension, and worry.What's worse is that it often makes you think that "there are 1 million things to do, but I just don't have time to do them", which will not only make you nervous and tired from worry, but also make you suffer from high blood pressure from worry , heart disease and gastric ulcers. Dr. John Stocker, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, presented a paper at the National Congress of the American Medical Association-the title is "Psychological Complications Caused by Physiological Diseases."In this paper, Dr. Stock listed a total of 11 situations under the title of "Research on the Psychological Conditions of Patients", the first of which is as follows: "There's always a sense of having to do or have to, that there's always more to do and that has to be done." How can simple things like clearing the table, making decisions, etc., help you avoid all the stress—the "have to do" and the "must do and never finish" stress How do you feel?The famous psychotherapist, Dr. William Sadler, had one patient avoid a nervous breakdown in this simple way.The patient, a senior executive of a large Chicago company, was very nervous and worried when he first came to Dr. Sadler's clinic.He knew he might have a nervous breakdown, but there was no way he could quit his job.He needs someone to help him. "While this man was telling me about his problems," Dr. Sadler said, "my phone rang and it was the hospital. I didn't discuss the issues too much, and I made a decision on the spot. ...I always try to fix things on the spot when I can. I just hung up the phone when it rang again. This time it was an urgent matter and I took a moment to discuss it. The third time it was one of my Colleague, came to ask my opinion for a very sick patient of his. When I finished discussing with him, I turned around to apologize to my patient for keeping him waiting. But his face I am very happy." "No need to apologize, doctor," the man said to Sadler, "for the last 10 minutes, I think I have figured out what my problem is. I Now I'm leaving to go back to my own office and change my work habits...but before I go, can you show me your desk?" Dr. Sadler opened several drawers of his desk, all of which were empty except for some stationery. "Please tell me," said the patient, "where do you keep your unfinished business?" "It's all done," Sadler said. "And where are the letters you haven't answered?" "Everything is answered," Sadler told him. "My rule is never to drop letters. I dictate them right away and have my secretary type them." Six weeks later, the senior executive invited Dr. Sadler into his office.His whole body had changed, and his desk was different.He opened the drawer of the desk, and there were no unfinished business in the drawer. "Six weeks ago," said the senior executive, "I had three desks in two offices, and I was buried in work, never getting done. When I talked to you, I Back in the office, clear out a large cart of reports and old documents. Now I only need a desk for my work, and I can finish things as soon as they arrive. In this way, there will no longer be piles of unfinished official business threatening me, let me I was nervous and apprehensive. But, to my surprise, I am fully recovered and now I am not sick at all." Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes said, "Men don't die of overwork, but of wasting and worrying." Yes, of wasting energy—and they worry, It's because their work never seems to be done. Charles Luckman, from obscurity, became chairman of Pasodent in 12 years, earning $100,000 a year and making another $1 million - says he All thanks to his ability to act on priorities. Charles Luckman said: "As far as I can remember, I get up at 5 o'clock every morning because my mind is clearer then than at other times - when I can be thoughtful and plan my day. Plan to prioritize things according to their importance." Frank Bettage, one of America's most successful insurance salesmen, didn't wait until 5 a.m. to plan his day's work.He had planned it the night before.He set a goal for himself, a goal of how much insurance he would sell in a day.If he didn't, the difference was rolled over to the next day—and so on. I know from long-term experience that it is impossible for a person to always decide the order of doing things according to the importance of things.But I also know that it is definitely better to do things according to the plan than to do things according to the whim. If George Bernard Shaw hadn't adhered to the principle of doing what should be done first, he might not have become a writer, but he would have been a bank teller all his life.He made a plan and must write 5 pages every day.This program kept him writing 5 pages a day for 9 years.Although in these 9 years he only got a total of thirty or so dollars - about a dime a day.Even Crusoe Robinson, who was drifting on a desert island, made plans for what to do every hour of every day. A former student of mine—the late H. P. Howell told me that when he was a director of U.S. Steel, it always took a long time to start a board of directors—there were many, many, many discussions in the meeting. problems, few resolutions have been reached.As a result, every member of the board of directors had to go home with a large package of statements. In the end, Mr. Howell persuaded the board to discuss only one issue at a time and then reach a conclusion without delay or delay.The resolution thus obtained may require further study, may or may not make a difference, but in any case it will lead to some kind of resolution on this question before the next one is discussed.Mr. Howell told me the results were amazing and very effective.All the old accounts are cleaned up, the calendar is clean, the directors don't have to go home with a pile of statements, and everyone doesn't worry about unresolved issues anymore. That's a good idea, not just for the U.S. Steel board, but for you and me. Many people dig a grave for themselves because they don't know how to delegate responsibility to others and insist on doing everything themselves.As a result, he was very confused by many small details.He always felt rushed, worried, anxious and tense.It is not easy to learn to be responsible in layers.I know, I used to find this difficult, very difficult.However, although hierarchical responsibility is difficult, a superior supervisor must do so if he wants to avoid worry, tension and fatigue. Good working habits can keep a person full of energy and work continuously and efficiently.If you want to get rid of the predicament of fatigue, then, from now on, you must develop the following 4 good working habits: 1.Clear all paper from your desk, leaving only what is relevant to the problem you are working on. 2.Do things according to their importance. 3.When you have a problem, if you have to make a decision, make it on the spot, without hesitation. 4.Learn how to organize, hierarchically manage and supervise.


Highly effective professionals have one thing in common. They are masters of time management, while inefficient workers are invariably bad at time management. Fragments of time, if used swiftly, can become whole hours.The so-called "accumulate soil to form a mountain" is true. It is easy to lose a day, and there is no way to get it back. The French thinker Voltaire once asked his students such a question: "What in the world is both the longest and the shortest, the fastest and the slowest, divisible and indivisible; without it, what Nothing can be done; it annihilates all small things and keeps all great things alive." Everyone has different opinions and can't figure it out. At this time, a student named Zadig stood up and said: "The longest is time, because it is endless; the shortest is time, because it is also fleeting; for those who are waiting, time is the shortest." Slow; for those who are enjoying themselves, time is the fastest; it can be expanded endlessly, and it can also be divided infinitely; without time, nothing can be done; time can remove all people and things that are not worthy of commemoration in the future from people's hearts Take it away, and time can also make all the extraordinary people and things remain in history forever." Yes, this amazing and great thing is time.There is no privileged class in time, it is fair to any of us, and no one will be given extra time in a day for any reason.It follows an unchanging law, and it never advances to anyone to waste. In real life, there is a well-known principle called "80/20 rule", which has a great impact on our work and life. An important revelation of the "80/20 Rule" for work is: avoid spending time on trivial issues, because even if you spend 80% of your time, you can only achieve 20% of the results.You should spend your time on the important few problems, because on these important few problems, you only need to spend 20% of the time to achieve 80% of the results. In our work and life, we have seen many such people. Although they have the idea of ​​doing a great job and making brilliant achievements, they never see action. They just talk about these ideas and make progress every day. .Therefore, in order to avoid being a talker and to improve our work efficiency more effectively, we must act now. The plan cannot keep up with the changes. If the goal is not revised in time as the work progresses, it will easily become an obstacle to the improvement of work efficiency. Therefore, we should insist on revising our life goals once a month.Review the goals you have set every day, and use daily actions to get closer to this goal.You can put a statement of your life purpose in your office as a reminder to yourself.Even when doing the smallest thing, keep the long-term goal in mind.Plan every morning and prioritize your day's work.Every day, there is a list of things to do that day, and they are arranged in order of importance, and then try to do the most important work as soon as possible.Set work deadlines for yourself and for others.Form a good habit of doing things in the order of the "task list" and never skip difficult tasks.Forget "wait time" forever. If you have to wait for something, use it as a "gift of time" to take a break or do something you would otherwise not do.Examine your old habits to see if there is anything that needs to be broken or improved. French philosopher Blaise Bascal said: "What to put first is the most difficult thing for people to understand." It is often difficult for a person to avoid being entangled in various trivial and chores at work.Many people are exhausted and distracted by these things because they have not mastered high-efficiency working methods. They are always unable to calm down and do what they should do most, or they are blinded by those seemingly urgent things , I don’t know what is the most important thing to do, and as a result, the good time is wasted, resulting in low work efficiency and insignificant effectiveness.To this end, everyone should have a priority list for their own handling of things, list some problems that they need to solve urgently within a week, and arrange the corresponding work progress according to the priority list, so that their work can be carried out steadily and efficiently. The things that each of us face every day can be divided into the following four levels according to the degree of priority, namely important and urgent things; important but not urgent things; urgent but not important things; neither urgent nor important things . 1.important and urgent. These are the things that are most important to you and the ones you need to do right now. Some are critical to your career and goals, and some are so relevant to your life that they deserve priority over any other.Only when they are resolved reasonably and efficiently, can you proceed with other tasks smoothly. 2.Important but not urgent. This kind of thing requires us to have more initiative, enthusiasm and self-consciousness.From how well a person handles this kind of thing, we can see the person's ability to judge career goals and progress.Because most of the really important things in our lives aren't necessarily urgent.Such as reading a few useful books, leisure and entertainment, cultivating relationships, controlling diet, and exercising.Are these things important?Of course, they affect our health, our careers, and our family relationships.But are they urgent?No.So many times we can procrastinate these things, and it seems that we can procrastinate until we regret why we didn't pay attention to them at the beginning, and we didn't start to pay attention to solving them earlier. 3.Urgent but unimportant things. Urgent but unimportant things are very common in our lives.For example, you have already washed up and are ready to rest, so that you can refresh yourself and go to the library to read a book tomorrow, suddenly the phone rings, and your friend invites you to go clubbing and chatting now.You just don't have enough guts to say no to them, and you don't want to disappoint your friends.Then, you go, and when you come home early the next morning, you are dizzy and groggy all day long.You are led away by other people's affairs, but you have not done what you think is important, which may cause you to be relatively passive for a long time. 4.Things that are neither urgent nor important. A lot of these things come up in our lives, and they may have a little value, but if we indulge in them without restraint, we are wasting a lot of precious time.For example, we sit down to watch TV after eating, but we often don’t know what we want to watch and what will be broadcast later.Just passively accept the information sent by the TV.Often after watching TV, we feel that it is better to read a few books, or even go for a run on the exercise bike, so what we did just now is a waste of time.In fact, if you have to pay attention, a lot of time we spend on TV is wasted. According to the above classification, we can classify important and urgent things as category A, important but not urgent things as category B, urgent but unimportant things as category C, and things that are neither urgent nor important. Class D, in actual work, we should do important things first, that is, things of type A. The more things of this type are done, the higher our work efficiency will be. At work, we need to always remind ourselves: "At this moment, what is the best way to use my time?" In the monthly work plan arranged in advance, we should allow ourselves to set aside extra time for "key" projects In addition, it can make the work change and maintain balance.


While on vacation at Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies, I went fishing in Coral Bay for days on end.The way there was an eight-hour journey through tall bushes and over fallen beams.But I don't feel tired at all.Why is this?Because I was so excited at the time, I only thought about the goal to be accomplished today, catching 6 sturdy big trout.But if I'm not interested in fishing, will I not feel tired?At 7,000 feet above sea level, I'm bound to be exhausted. Columbia's Dr. Edward Thorndike has done an experiment on fatigue.He organized a group of young people, kept them up for a week, and constantly arranged for them something that interested them.In the end, he came to the conclusion: "Boredom is the only thing that reduces work capacity." For example, if one day, you are always interrupted, the letters you have been waiting for have not been delivered, the appointments you have booked are missed, and troubles continue.Then you must not be able to cheer up that day and feel like you can't get anything done.You may feel exhausted and dizzy.If by the next day everything is going well and you've done multiple times as much work as you did the day before, you'll be energized and excited until you get home.You must have had such an experience. Here we come to a conclusion: our fatigue is not caused by work, but by emotions such as annoyance, frustration and dissatisfaction.Before writing this text, I just watched a musical comedy movie "The Show Boat". This ship is called "Cotton", and the captain is Andy.In the movie, Andy said something quite philosophical: "How lucky is that person to be able to do what he likes to do." Often these people are more energetic and able to experience more happiness, without worry and fatigue, only Vitality of interest. Alice is a white-collar worker. One day, she dragged her exhausted body back home with dizziness and back pain. She didn't even want to eat, and all she wanted was to lie on the bed and sleep soundly.But unable to resist her mother's request, she sat down at the dinner table.Then the phone rang and her boyfriend invited her to the prom.Alice's eyes lit up immediately, and her whole body seemed to have changed immediately. She rushed upstairs full of energy, changed her outfit and went out.That night, she didn't come home until 3 a.m., when she didn't feel tired at all and was still too excited to fall asleep. Alice's changes and distinct feelings are enough to suggest something.Will she still act that tired during the next eight hours of work?Of course she would, because she was uninterested in her work, and even bored with life.In this world, there may be thousands of Alices, and maybe you are one of them.Emotional negativity is more likely to cause fatigue than physical exertion. Dr. Joseph Barmack published an experiment a few years ago called "Archives of Psychology".In this report, he explains how burnout can lead to fatigue.Experimental results show that: when people feel tired, the body's blood pressure and oxygen consumption will be significantly reduced.And when the work is more interesting and engaging, the metabolic phenomenon is accelerated. In July 1953, the Canadian government asked domestic mountaineering clubs to provide instructors to train members of the Prince of Wales Forest Guard.The instructors are between the ages of 42 and 50. They lead a group of young team members to cross glaciers and snow fields, climb cliffs, and cross several mountain ranges.After 15 hours, this group of young and strong players were exhausted. Is the fatigue really caused by physical or muscular exertion?These commandos are strictly trained.The reason they get tired is because they are not interested in climbing.Some of the team members went to bed without eating, and they were not as good as those instructors who were two or three times older. Instead of showing exhaustion, these "old" people happily ate dinner and talked about their experiences during the day .This is because they like to climb mountains. There is a young man named Sam, who specializes in removing screws in a factory.He felt that the work was too boring, so he wanted to quit.But he was afraid that he could not find other suitable jobs, so he tried to cultivate his interest in work.He started a speed race with the machines on one side.Some machines next to it are used to smooth the screw heads, while others are responsible for trimming the thickness of nails.He competed with these machines who could finish faster. The factory supervisor was impressed with Sam's efficiency, and it didn't take long for Sam to be promoted to another department. Thirty years later, Sam became the director of the Bowen Machine Works.If he hadn't changed his way of working at the beginning, he might still be an ordinary mechanic when he grows old. The Story of a Female Stenographer: From Fake Liking to Genuine Interest.Miss Willie Gordon of Elmhurst, Illinois, a stenographer, once wrote me this letter: In my office there are four stenographers, each assigned to a particular correspondence.We all get a headache from those letters sometimes.Once, a department assistant asked me to retype a very long letter, but I was very reluctant to do it.I told him that as long as the typo on the letter was corrected, there was no need to reprint it.But he still insisted, saying that if I don't do it, he will find someone else to do it. After hearing what he said, I was very angry, but I had to reprint the letter.Because I thought, if I don't do it, someone else will replace me, and the company will pay me.Thinking this way, I felt much better and pretended to be happy to do it.By pretending to like my job, I started to like it a little bit.I've found that once I'm willing to work, my productivity can improve.Now, I work very little overtime and am able to complete tasks well. With a new work attitude, I have become a good employee who works hard.Later, a department head needed a personal secretary, and I was chosen.Because he thinks I'm always happy to do some extra work. The power of changing my mindset has been truly amazing.Miss Gordon is using the "pretend" philosophy taught by Hans Wassinger.His method is to let us pretend that we are happy and interested in work, and sometimes this kind of pretending tends to become a reality, making the fake come true, which can reduce fatigue and tension.This method often works, and at first you will think it is fake, but with more practice, this fake feeling will naturally disappear. The famous broadcast news analyst Katenberg once told me about his experience.In her twenties, Katenberg worked on a cattle boat, feeding and watering the cattle.The ship is going across the Atlantic.Then he cycled around the whole of England, and then went to Paris, France.When he arrived in Paris, he had spent all the money on his body, so he had to pawn a few dollars for the camera he carried with him.He placed a job ad in the Paris edition of the New York Herald and found a job selling stereoscopes. Although he can't speak French, after a year of sales promotion, he actually earned a commission of 5,000 US dollars and became the highest paid salesman in France that year.How did he perform miracles?At the beginning, he asked the boss to write down what he should say in pure French, and then memorized it by rote.When he knocked on someone's door and saw a housewife, he began to use the sales language taught by his boss.His French with a strong American accent made people feel very funny, so he took the opportunity to hand over the real photo.If the other person wanted to ask other questions, he shrugged and said, "American...American." At the same time, he took off his hat and pointed out the speech hidden in the hat.Of course the housewife laughed, and he laughed too, and showed her more pictures. As Katenberg recounts these memories, he candidly admits that the work was hard.But he was able to complete the task well, relying on a firm belief that he wanted to make this job more enjoyable.Every morning before he leaves the house, he looks at himself in the mirror and says, "Katenberg, if you're going to make a living, you've got to do this job well. If it's something you have to do, why do you want to make yourself unhappy? Think of yourself as an actor, standing in the middle of the stage, with a lot of audience watching you. What you are doing now is like acting, why not be happy?" These daily pep talks, Katenberg told me, helped turn a job he once hated and dreaded into something he loved and made him highly profitable. I asked Mr. Katenberg if he could give some advice to young Americans eager to succeed.He said: "Yes. Make a bet with yourself every morning. We often feel that we need to do some exercise to wake ourselves up from a half-asleep state. But we need some mental and ideological exercise to make us wake up every morning.能够真正地活动起来，每天早上给自己打打气吧。”每天早晨给自己打气，是不是一件很傻、很肤浅、很孩子气的事呢？No, it is very important psychologically. 一千八百多年前，马可·奥勒留在中有这么一句话：“生命是由思想组成的。”这句话在今天仍然适用。要不断地提醒自己。如果你在工作上得不到快乐，那你在别的地方也不可能找到，因为你一天的大部分清醒时间都花在工作上了。 如果你经常给自己打气，创造工作的兴趣。那你就会把疲劳降到最低程度，这样也许就会给你带来升迁和发展。即使没有这样的好处。至少在减少了疲劳和忧虑之后，你可以更好地享受自己的闲暇时间。


创设遍及全美的事务公司的亨瑞·杜哈提说：“不论我出多少钱的薪水，都不可能找到一个具有两种能力的人。这两种能力是：第一，能思想；第二，能按事情的重要程度来做事。” 在工作中，如果我们不能选择正确的事情去做，那么唯一正确的事情就是停止手头上的事情，直到发现正确的事情为止。由此可见，做事的方向性是至关重要的。然而，在现实生活中，无论是企业的商业行为，还是个人的工作方法，人们关注的重点往往都在于前者：效率和正确做事。 实际上，第一重要的却是效能而非效率，是做正确的事而非正确做事。“正确地做事”强调的是效率，其结果是让我们更快地朝目标迈进；“做正确的事”强调的则是效能，其结果是确保我们的工作是在坚定地朝着自己的目标迈进。 换句话说，效率重视的是做一件工作的最好方法，效能则重视时间的最佳利用——这包括做或是不做某一项工作。 “正确地做事”是以“做正确的事”为前提的，如果没有这样的前提，“正确地做事”将变得毫无意义。首先要做正确的事，然后才存在正确地做事。正确做事，更要做正确的事，这不仅仅是一个重要的工作方法，更是一种很重要的工作理念。任何时候，对于任何人或者组织而言，“做正确的事”都要远比“正确地做事”重要。 正确地做事与做正确的事是两种截然不同的工作方式。正确地做事就是一味地例行公事，而不顾及目标能否实现，是一种被动的、机械的工作方式。工作只对上司负责，对流程负责，领导叫干啥就干啥，一味服从，铁板一块，是制度的奴隶，是一种被动的工作状态。在这种状态下工作的人往往不思进取，患得患失，不求有功，但求无过，做一天和尚，撞一天钟，混着过日子。 而做正确的事不仅注重程序，更注重目标，是一种主动的、能动的工作方式。工作对目标负责，做事有主见，善于创造性地开展工作。这种人积极主动，在工作中能紧紧围绕公司的目标，为实现公司的目标而发挥人的能动性，在制度允许的范围内，进行变通，努力促成目标的实现。 这两种工作方式的根本区别在于：是只对过程负责，还是既对过程负责又对结果负责；是等待工作，还是主动地工作。同样的时间，这两种不同的工作方式产生的区别是巨大的。 我来给你举个工作中的例子，比如说某客户服务人员接到服务单，客户要装一台打印机，但服务单上没有注明是否要配插线，这时，客户服务人员有3种做法： 第一种做法：照开派工单； 第二种做法：打电话提醒一下商务秘书，是否要配插线，然后等对方回话； 第三种做法：直接打电话给客户，询问是否要配插线，若需要，就配齐给客户送过去。 第一种做法，可能导致客户的打印机无法使用，引起客户的不满；第二种做法，可能会延误工作速度，影响服务质量；第三种做法，既能避免工作失误，又不会影响工作效率。 你觉得，哪种做法最好呢？相信大多数人会选择第三种做法。第三种做法就是在做正确的事，第一、第二种做法就是在正确地做事，这两者的区别就在结果的不同，其原因是没有把公司的目标与自己的工作结合在一起。 若要集中精力于当急的要务，就得排除次要事务的牵绊，此时需要有说“不”的勇气。 我的妻子曾被选为社区计划委员会的主席，可是既放不下许多更重要的事，又不好意思拒绝，只好勉为其难地接受。后来她打电话给一位好友，问她是否愿意在委员会工作，对方却婉拒了，我的妻子大失所望地说：“我那时也能拒绝就好了。” 这不是说社区活动或社会服务不重要，而是人各有志，各有优先要务。必要时，应该不卑不亢地拒绝别人，在急迫与重要之间，知道取舍。我在一所规模很大的大学任教时，曾聘用一位极有才华又独立自主的撰稿员。有一天，有件急事想拜托他。他说：“你要我做什么都可以，不过请先了解目前的状况。”他指着墙壁上的工作计划表，显示超过20个计划正在进行，这都是我俩早已谈妥的。 然后他说：“这件事至少占去几天时间，你希望我放下或取消哪个计划来空出时间？”他的工作效率一流，这也是为什么一有急事我会找上他。但我无法要求他放下手边的工作，因为比较起来，正在进行的计划更为重要，我只有另请高明了。 我的训练课程十分强调分辨轻重缓急以及按部就班行事。我常问受训人员：你的缺点在于： 1.无法辨别事情重要与否？ 2.无力或不愿有条不紊地行事？ 3．缺乏坚持以上原则的自制力？ 答案多半是缺乏自制力，我却不以为然。我认为，那是“确立目标”的功夫还不到家使然。而且不能由衷接受“事有轻重缓急”的观念，自然就容易半途而废。这种人十分普遍。他们能够掌握重点，也有足够的自制力，却不是以原则为生活重心，又缺乏个人使命宣言。由于欠缺适当的指引，他们不知究竟所为何来。 以配偶或金钱、朋友、享乐等为重心，容易受第一与第三类事务羁绊。至于自我中心者则难免被情绪冲动所误导，陷溺于能博人好感的第三类活动，以及可逃避现实的第四类事务。这些诱惑往往不是独立意志所能克服的，只有发乎至诚的信念与目标，才能够产生坚定说“不”的勇气。
你有没有想过，如果你突然拥有了100万，你将会如何使用这笔钱？威廉·伦道夫·赫斯特每个月就有100万收入——他每天的收入达3万元。当你阅读这篇短故事的几分钟里，他又会有大约100元的进账。 认识他的人，没有一个叫他威廉·伦道夫·赫斯特或威廉，甚至他最亲近的朋友也只叫他“W．R”，而他手下的7万员工，在谈到他时，都是说我们的“头儿”。 他经营的出版物多达24种，其中包括9种杂志，拥有的读者有数百万之多。他是世界上最富有、最有影响力的出版家，他的名字在美国妇孺皆知，家喻户晓。然而，他也是一位很神秘的人，一个普通人对印度“圣雄”甘地的了解也要比对赫斯特的了解多得多。 最令人惊讶的是，身为全美出版大王的他，竟然是一位相当沉默而且羞涩的人。半个世纪以来，他不断应邀在各种公共场合发表自己的观点，但事实上，他非常不愿意见陌生人。 平时，他总会邀请10到60位客人住在他在加利福尼亚的豪宅里。然而他认为最有趣的消遣，便是悄悄地离开他们，独自去玩牌。而到了纽约之后，他最大的兴趣就是逛街。 赫斯特在加州的牧场，是美国西部规模最大的产业。这个牧场足有25万英亩，从海岸线开始一直延伸到内陆50英里开外的地方，全都属于他的私人产业。 赫斯特有座名叫“迷人的山峦”的城堡，建在高出太平洋海面2000尺的山顶之上。他又花费了数百万美元巨款对这座城堡进行装饰——当年挂在法国城堡里的壁毯如今挂在他的城堡内；幽静的大厅里，挂着欧洲名画家伦伯朗、鲁本斯和拉斐尔等人的珍贵画作：在用来招待朋友的大餐厅四周，摆放着各种珍贵的艺术品。不过，城堡里的食物并没有什么特别，用的也是普通的纸餐巾。 赫斯特非常喜欢动物，因此他所养的野兽数量之多，即使当年的马戏大王巴纳姆的马戏团也无法与之相比。成群的斑马、水牛和袋鼠在山上随处可见；数千只奇形怪状的鸟儿在树林中飞来飞去；而他的私人动物园里，则不时地传来狮子、豹子和老虎的怒吼。 一次，好莱坞磋电影公司的一帮制片人，特意坐飞机来与赫斯特就一件重要的事情进行商磋，他却因为要照顾一条断了半截尾巴的蜥蜴而让他们等候了很久。还有一次，他深夜派人乘自己的汽艇去接一位名医，来治疗一只断腿的土拨鼠，并付给500美元的医药费。 我的一位朋友梅森先生，曾经专程到法国为赫斯特收购古董。赫斯特经常购买整整一船的艺术珍品，有时甚至会把一所城堡买下来，然后拆卸装箱运回美国。每一块石头、砖瓦、木材等，都要编号注明来自何处，然后依照原样把它们重建起来。 他买的艺术品实在是太多了，后来只好在纽约买了一个大仓库专门用来存储。这些物品种类繁博，从布谷鸟报时钟到埃及出土的木乃伊，简直是无奇不有。这个仓库雇了20位工人，每年需要6万美元的经费。 赫斯特的父亲是密苏里州的一个农夫。在1849年淘金热兴起之时，这个农夫跋涉了2000里跟着一队牛车，一路上还要遭受印第安土著人的攻击，最后终于到了西部发现了金矿，成为一名百万富翁。到他年老时，总喜欢在自家院子里的一棵大树下休息。 后来，赫斯特发现这棵大树恰好挡住了他从窗户眺望大海的视线。赫斯特不忍心砍掉老父亲所喜爱的那棵树，结果他花了4万美元，请植树专家把那棵大树移了30尺。 赫斯特现在已经七十多岁了，但他还能打网球，甚至还能做一些剧烈的动作。他已经打了40年的网球，但他为了提高自己的网球水平，仍在不断地学习。 他是一位优秀的业余摄影师，每年他都会拍摄几千张照片。 他还很喜欢打猎，有一天，当他和朋友坐着汽艇在海中游玩时，只见他随手一抬手中的枪，“砰”的一声，一只海鸥就被击落了，子弹准确地击在海鸥的翅膀上。 他喜欢跳踢踏舞，也很擅长模仿和讲故事。他的脑袋就像是一个百科全书。如果你问他英国亨利八世的许多后妃的芳名或是美国历任总统的名字，恐怕问100次也难不倒他一次。 有一次，吉姆·沃克和著名喜剧表演家查利·卓别林到赫斯特的牧场去拜访他，他们为《圣经》中一段内容的准确措辞而争论起来，结果，赫斯特把这一段话整句背了出来，从而结束了这场争论。 他喜欢和年轻人在一起，他不允许别人在他面前提到“死”字。 他父亲给他留下了3000万美元的遗产，他本可以优哉游哉地逍遥一世。但是50年来，他每天都要工作8到15个小时，而且从未间断。他曾公开说过：除非有一天上帝要召唤他去，否则他绝不退休。