In my life I’ve gone through periods of intense（adj.强烈的）, driven productivity – months where everything fell into place, and my goals almost seemed to accomplish(v.实现) themselves. At the other extreme, there have been times in my life where I was completely overwhelmed, burdened by my different projects and responsibilities – and frustrated because so many of them not only challenged me, but didn’t matter to me. There were days when I asked myself how did I end up here? How did I end up working on all these things that aren’t who I am, and that don’t represent where I am going?
生活中，我有时过得紧张充实、一切都有条不紊、目标胜利在望。而有时则完全相反，被各种项目、无数的工作职责压得透不过气来，无法翻身，直到精疲力竭。许多工作挑战着我的极限，但对我来说却并不重要。我曾自问何以至此，要怎样才能停止所有这些跟我无关，而又让我迷茫的事情？
Some of our projects are extremely important to us, some matter a little – and some simply don’t matter to us at all. In this guide I’d like to discuss how to define(v.界定) and focus on what truly matters – and then discuss some strategies for making time for them.
我们的工作中，有一些事极其重要，有一些不那么重要，而另一些则完全不重要。在这篇指南中，我想谈一谈如何定义什么是真正重要的事，怎样集中精力处理它们，以及一些时间的管理策略。
Breaking It Down
Here are a few question to help you focus on what truly matters – and cut from your life items that don’t.
透彻分析
下面的几个问题可以帮助你找出并关注那些真正重要的事，而剔除无关紧要的生活琐事。
1.What does my life look like ten years from now? I love projecting into the future and imagining my life: mentally time traveling to picture where I want to be. The power of this exercise is even more apparent when you consider that you are the product of where you came from. Think of your favorite memories, people and events from your past and you’ll see things that have shaped you into the person you are today. Similarly, looking ten years down the road and imagining what I want helps me focus my energies today to make it happen tomorrow. If my future daydream is filled with thoughts of spending time with my family and celebrating with friends – then that tells me I need to focus on maintaining those relationships today.
十年后你会过什么样的生活？我喜欢规划未来，憧憬生活：将自己置身于脑海中的联翩浮想。如果你认定自己就是过去的产物，那么收效会更大。回想一下那些最美好的记忆、人物和重要时刻，你就会发现一些东西，是它们影响并塑造了今天的你。同样的，顺着这条路展望未来十年，设想自己的追求，这会帮助我们把握当下，实现明朝。假使我幻想自己的未来是与家人其乐融融，和朋友把酒欢庆，那么这就意味着我现在开始就要好好维护和亲朋的关系。
2. What is my purpose? Leo has previously discussed his life’s purpose and tips for finding your own life’s mission. If you have determined your life’s mission（n.任务）, that provides a foundation for where you should be spending your time – along with the activities, and ends, you should be focusing on. This is sometimes difficult because we may believe our life’s purpose is not in line with a “practical career” – but I disagree. There is no contradiction in using a “practical career” to pull yourself out of debt so you can be free for adventure, or perhaps to send your children to college. The disconnect occurs however, when your “practical career” is padding your bank account with money which means little to you – and you wish you were out living your true purpose instead.
你追求什么？一旦你确定了自己的生命使命，你的时间分配就有了依据。所以你应当重视这个问题。这有时很难，因为我们会认为自己的使命与现实中的工作毫无关系。我不同意这种看法。当我们通过工作还清债务，进而大胆投资，或是把孩子送入大学进修时，工作和使命是没有矛盾的。但当现实中打入你银行账户的工资对你来说已经并无多大意义的时候，你便会不满，并开始希望能够活出真正的追求。
3. What excites me? Sometimes we are scared to admit to ourselves what we really want to do, and who we really want to be because it’s not popular, or because it’s not as secure as the job we have. Deep down however, we know what excites us. We know what gets our heart pumping, and what gets us excited to jump out of bed in the morning.
什么让你兴奋？有时我们不敢承认自己真正想要去做的事和真正想成为的人，因为这些想法不被大众接受，或是没有现在的工作来的安稳。但在内心深处，我们很清楚什么能
让我们激动，什么能让自己心跳加速，什么能让我们兴奋得早晨从被窝里一跃而起。
4. What can I let slide（v.听任其自然发展）? There are never enough hours in the day to do everything, absolutely everything, that I have some interest in doing. There is, however, enough time in the day to do everything that I am truly interested in, and that truly matters. Find what you can let slide -and then let it.
你可以忽略什么？人从来就不可能有充足的时间去做每件事，每件你觉得有趣的事。但你却有足够的时间去做你确实感兴趣、并且也是真正重要的事。把那些不重要的都忽略掉吧。
5. Do the consequences have meaning Every task and project has outcomes and consequences – but consequences don’t matter in and of themselves. What matters is how much those consequences mean to us. Sometimes we fight, claw and struggle towards down a path because other people want us to have the rewards at the end, or because the ends sound impressive – but if they don’t have meaning to us, then we will not be satisfied with the accomplishment. In other cases we may have initially pursued a goal, but our interests and purpose changed. If something doesn’t mean anything to you, then regardless of how important it is to others, how impressive it may be or how important it may have been in the past, it may be time to let it go.
结果是否有意义？每项工作和任务都会产生结果，但结果本身并不重要。重要的是它们之于我们的意义。有时因为别人期盼我们最终能取得成就，或是这结果会令人赞叹钦佩，我们便拼死拼活努力挣扎走下去。但如果这些对我们毫无意义，那么我们是不会满足于结
果的。另一种情况，或许一开始我们取得了成就，但我们的兴趣点和追求却变了。所以如果一件事对你没有意义，那就不用太在乎它对其他人是多么重要，它多么值得赞赏或它曾经多么重要，该放手时就放手。
Making Time
You may already know what truly matters in your life – but are finding it difficult to make time for it, and to focus on it. Here are some tips to help you make time for what truly matters:
时间规划
也许你已经明确了自己生命中真正重要的事，但又在为如何安排时间、专注做这些事情而发愁，下面就给你一些小建议：
1.Do it first. In Zen To Done Leo suggests picking your 3 Most Important Tasks (MITs) and doing them first thing in the morning. Similarly, once you find what truly matters, try to take care of it first before spending time on tasks that matter less to you. Some people have experienced significant increases in productivity when writing, working out, or meditating early in the morning. I personally believe in paying myself first with my time, and live it every day. I work on my personal goals first thing in the morning, before I do anything else. This way every day begins positively and in line with my future.
首先就去做。 挑出几件对你最重要的事，放在早上先做。同样道理，既然你已经找到
了生命中真正重要的事，那就试着在做其他事情之前最先去关注它。已经有人证实过在一大早写作、工作或思考，效率明显提高。我个人提倡先花时间在自己身上，这样去开始每一天。早上第一件事就为个人目标而努力，然后再做其他事。 这样每一天都会有一个积极的开始，一直通向理想的未来。
2.Schedule it in. I’m very busy, and so is m family. My parents and I want to make time for each other however, so I literally schedule dinner in on my Google Calendar. I treat that appointment with the same seriousness as anything else in my life. It’s a commitment to my future and what truly matters.
制定计划。我很忙，我的家人也是。但我和父母都想花时间互相陪伴，所以我写下家庭晚餐计划，并放入日历备忘录。像对待生活中任何其他事一样，我认真看待这个约定。它是我自己对未来的一个承诺，它的确很重要。
3.Treat it as an emergency（n.紧急情况）. My life is booked back to back with work, appointments and various commitments – but when I had to go into surgery for appendicitis, none of the little boxes in my task list got checked off that day. Instead, my routine came to a halt as I dealt with my medical emergency. If you’re having trouble letting things slide, or aren’t sure where you can make time, then consider treating your life mission as an emergency. Clear important, but unnecessary items off your schedule for a day – and let them go. Every day that you spend on tasks that don’t matter is a day you can never recover – and that, to me, isan emergency.
当做紧急情况处理。我的生活被一个接一个的工作、约会和各种承诺所填满，无法喘
息。当我不得不因为胰腺炎要动手术时，查看当天的工作列表却一个任务都去不掉。然而因为需要紧急治疗，我的日程安排还是为此停滞了下来。如果你正苦于无法摆脱琐事，或不确定如何挤出时间，那么就把你的人生使命看成紧急手术。从你的工作日程中去掉那些重要但非必要的事，尝试一天，不要再想它们。你荒废于不重要的事情上的每一天，是你永远也无法补救的，对我来说，这才是是紧急的事。
What Truly Matters, Matters
We all know deep down there are different things that drive us – hobbies that excite us, passions that we wish we had more time to explore, people we wish could spend more time with. I believe that identifying, focusing on, and spending time on what matters to us, is not simply a thought exercise.
真正有意义的，才是重要的
我们深知自己被不同的事物所驱使——让人兴奋的爱好，想花更多时间去探索的激情，还有希望可以与之长久相处的那些人。我相信发现、专注于有意义的事，并对此倾注时间，并不仅仅是项思考练习，它会改变你的生活。
Focusing on what truly matters, truly matters.
专注于真正重要的事就是最重要的事。
