How To Focus On What Truly Matters《做真正重要的事》

　　It matters to focus on what matters.

　　Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Sid Savara of Analysis Driven Personal Development.

　　In my life I’ve gone through periods of intense, driven productivity – months where everything fell into place, and my goals almost seemed to accomplish 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?

　　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 and focus on what truly matters – and then discuss some strategies for making time for them.

　　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.

　　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.

　　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, 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.

　　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.

　　What can I let slide? 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.

　　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.

　　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:

　　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.

　　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.

　　Treat it as an emergency. 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, is an emergency.

　　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.

　　Focusing on what truly matters, truly matters.

　　Find out what drives and truly matters to Sid Savara at his blog, Analysis Driven Personal Development. Sign up for his email newsletter and get a free copy of The Little Book Of Big Motivational Quotes.

　　—

　　If you liked this guide, please bookmark it on Delicious or share on Twitter. Comments? @zen_habits me.

　　生活，有时过得紧张充实、目标明确、胸有成竹、一连数月一切都有条不紊，目标胜利在望。当然有时则完全相反，被各种项目、无数的工作职责压得喘不过气来，完全无法翻身，直到精疲力竭。我不禁想这是为什么?要如何摆脱那种混乱?

　　我们的工作中，有一些是极其重要的，有一些并不那么重要，而另一些则是完全的不重要。在这篇指南中，我想谈一谈如何定义真正重要的事，怎样集中精力处理它们，以及时间分配上的一些策略。

　　剥离

　　下面的几个问题可以帮助你从无关紧要的生活琐事中找出并关注那些真正重要的事情。

　　十年后你会有怎样的生活?我喜欢规划未来，憧憬生活：将自己置身于脑海中浮想的画面里。当你认为你就是被自己所创造出来的，那么这样去做则会收效更甚。回想一下那些曾经最珍爱的记忆、人物和重要时刻，你就会发现一些东西，它们影响你，把你塑造成了如今的你。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就要好好维护着亲朋关系。

　　你追求什么?一旦你认定了生命中的使命，这便为你在时间分配上奠定了基础，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并无关联，我并不同意这种看法。当我们通过现实中的工作还清债务，大胆冒险投资，或是把孩子送入大学进修时，没有人对此产生异议。但当现实中的工作用钱填加着你银行的户头，而那些钱对你来说已经并无多大意义了的时候，你便会不满，并开始希望能够活出真正的追求。

　　什么能让你兴奋?有时我们不敢对自己承认自己真正想要去做的事和真正想要去成为的人，因为那想法并不被大众所接受，或是并没有现在的这份工作来的安稳。但在内心深处，我们知道是什么能让我们激动，是什么能让自己心跳加速，而又是什么能让我们兴奋得从早晨的被窝里一跃而起。

　　你能忽略什么?从来就不可能有足够的时间去做每件事，去做每一件都你感兴趣的事。但你却有足够的时间去做那些你确实感兴趣，并且真正重要的事。就把那些不重要的都忽略掉吧。

　　结果是否有意义?每项工作和任务都会产生结果，但结果本身却并不重要。重要的是它们对我们有多大的意义。有时因为别人希望我们最终取得成就，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转变了。所以如果一件事对你没有意义，那就别管它对其他人是多么重要，它会多么值得赞叹或是曾经它多么重要过，是时候放手了。

　　安排时间

　　或许你已经知道了自己生命中真正重要的事，但是否又在为如何安排时间，专注于此而发愁?下面就给你一些小建议：

　　首先去做。在《简单做》中，作者Leo建议挑出三件，放在早上先做。同样的，既然你找到了生命中真正重要的事，那就尝试在花时间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，效率会明显更高。我个人则崇尚先花时间用在自己身上，这样去过每一天。早上第一件事就是为个人目标而努力，然后再去做其他事。 那么每一天都会有一个积极的开始，并一直通向理想的未来。

　　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，并备忘在我的Google日历上。如同对待生活中任何其他事一样，我很认真的看待这个约定。它是我自己对未来的一个承诺，并且它真的很重要。

　　当作紧急的事处理。我的生活被一个接一个的工作、约会和各种承诺所填满，毫无喘息。但当我不得不因为胰腺炎而动手术时，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，或不确定去哪里找时间，那么就把你的人生使命看成紧急的事来做吧。从你的工作日程中去掉那些重要但非必要的事，尝试一天，不要再去想它们。那些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，这就是紧急的事。

　　真正有意义的事，才是重要的

　　我们都深深懂得有不同的事物在驱使着我们——使我们兴奋的爱好，让我们付出更多时间去探索的激情，还有那些我们希望可以与之长久呆在一起的人们。我相信发现、专注于有意义的事，并对此倾注时间，并不是仅仅是停留在思想上。

　　专注于真正重要的事，去真正认真地对待吧。