Juggling Life and Learning

1.翻译

对大多数人来说，学习涉及许多不同任务的复杂平衡。

1.写任务清单大有好处

对你来说，保持对你想要学习和完成的事情的看法的一个好方法是，每周写一次简短的任务清单，列在计划日志上。然后每天在你的计划表的另一页上，写下你可以合理完成的任务。试着在前一天晚上写下每天的任务清单。为什么是前一天晚上?研究表明，这能帮助你的潜意识处理清单上的任务，这样你就能知道如何完成它们。睡前写下清单，列出你的僵尸，帮助你第二天完成清单上的任务。如果你不把任务列在清单上，它们就会潜伏在你工作记忆的四个左右位置，占据你宝贵的精神空间。但一旦你列了一个任务清单，它就会释放工作记忆来解决问题。让我们看看我每天的任务清单。

2.计划的详细项目

正如您在这里看到的，只有6个项目。有些是面向过程的。例如，我有一篇论文要在几个月后交一份期刊。所以，我每天花了一点时间来集中精力完成它；有几个项目是面向目的的，因为它们在有限的时间内是可行的。请注意我的提醒，我想把注意力集中在每一件事上。我想要有乐趣。我确实发现自己走弯路了，因为我忘了关掉我的电子邮件。为了让自己回到状态，我在电脑桌面上设置了一个计时器，设置了一个22分钟的番茄工作法挑战。为什么22分钟?好吧,为什么不呢?我，我不必每次都做同样的事情。请注意，通过切换到番茄工作制模式，我已经切换到了面向进程的模式。我的清单上没有一项是太大的，因为我每天都有其他事情要做。要参加的会议，要做的演讲。有时候我把一些需要身体运动的任务列在清单上，即使只是清理一些东西。我承认，这通常不是我最喜欢做的事情之一。然而，因为我使用它们作为发散模式的时间，我经常期待它们。

3.计划休息时间

把其他任务和学习混在一起似乎能让一切都变得更愉快，让你远离长时间的不健康的坐着。随着时间的推移，随着我获得了更多的经验，我在衡量完成任何一项任务需要多长时间方面变得更加擅长。你会发现自己进步很快，因为你对自己在任何时候都能合理地做什么变得更加现实。在你的计划日志中记下哪些可行，哪些不可行。注意我一天的目标完成时间，下午5点似乎不太合适，对吧?但这是正确的，它是你的日常计划日志中最重要的组成部分之一。规划你的休息时间和规划你的工作时间一样重要。一般来说，我的目标是下午5点下班。,尽管当我学习新的东西,它有时是一种乐趣看一遍后我已经一个晚上休息,就在我睡觉前,和偶尔的,有一个大项目,我结束,比如,这意味着我得加班。你可能会想，嗯，是的，你知道，但是你是一个教授，我们可以说，你已经度过了年轻的学习时光。当然，早一点下班对你来说是可以的。然而，我最敬佩的研究专家之一卡尔·纽波特(Cal Newport)利用了下午5点的时间。在他的学生生涯中，大部分时间他都在休息。他最终在麻省理工学院获得了博士学位。换句话说，这种方法，虽然对一些人来说似乎是不可信的，但它可以在严格的学术项目中适用于本科生和研究生。

4.先做困难的事情

一次又一次，那些致力于在努力工作的同时保持健康休闲时间的人，比那些坚持不懈地进行无休止跑步的人表现得更好。当然，你的生活可能不适合这样一个有休息和休闲时间的计划。你可能因为有两份工作和太多的课程而精疲力竭。但是无论你的生活如何，试着挤出一点休息时间。写作教练达芙妮·格雷格兰特(Daphne Graygrant)向她的写作客户推荐的另一件事是，早上先做困难的事情。试着先做最重要和最不喜欢的任务。至少一个番茄工作制，只要你一醒来。这是非常有效的。你是否需要在你的计划中做一些改变，因为一些不可预见的事情?当然，但要记住机缘巧合定律;幸运女神总是眷顾那些勇于尝试的人。做好计划是尝试的一部分。关注你的学习目标，不要因为偶尔遇到的障碍而感到不安。

2.原文

Learning for most people involves a complex balancing of many different tasks. A good way for you to keep perspective about what you’re trying to learn and accomplish, is to once a week write a brief weekly list of key tasks in a planner journal. Then each day on another page of your planner journal, write a list of the tasks that you can reasonably work on or accomplish. Try to write this daily task list the evening before. Why the evening before? Research has shown that this helps your subconscious to grapple with the tasks on the list so you can figure out how to accomplish them. Writing the list before you go to sleep, enlists your zombies, to help you accomplish the items on the list the next day. If you don’t write your tasks down on a list, they lurk at the edge of the four or so slots of your working memory, taking up valuable mental real estate. But once you make a task list, it frees working memory for problem solving. So let’s look at one of my daily task lists.

As you can see here, there are only six items. Some are process oriented. For example, I have a paper due to a journal in several months. So, I spend a little focus time on most days working towards completing it. A few items are product oriented. But that is only because they are doable within a limited period of time. Note my reminders. I wanted to keep my focus on each item when I’m working on it. And I want to have fun. I did catch myself getting side tracked, because I forgot to shut down my email. To get myself back into gear, I set a 22 minute Pomodoro challenge, using a timer on my computer desktop. Why 22 minutes? Well, why not? I, I don’t have to do the same thing each

time. And notice, too, that by moving to Pomodoro mode, I’ve switched to a process orientation. None of the items on my list is too big, because I’ve got other things going on in my day. Meetings to go to, a lecture to give. Sometimes I sprinkle a few tasks that involve physical motion on my list, even if it’s just cleaning something. Which, I’ll admit, isn’t ordinarily one of my favorite things to do. Somehow because I’m using them as diffuse mode breaks, I often look forward to them.

Mixing other tasks up with your learning seems to make everything more enjoyable and keeps you from prolonged and unhealthy bouts of sitting. Over time, as I’ve gained more experience, I’ve gotten much better at gauging how long it takes to do any given task. You’ll find yourself improving quickly as you become more realistic about what you can reasonably do in any given time. Make notes in your planner journal about what works and what doesn’t. Notice my goal finish time for the day, 5 p.m. doesn’t seem quite right, does it? But it is right, and it’s one of the most important components of your daily planner journal. Planning your quitting time is as important as planning your working time. Generally, I aim to quit at 5 p.m., although when I’m learning something new, it can sometimes be a pleasure to look at it again after I’ve taken an evening break, just before I go to sleep, and occasionally, there’s a major project that I’m wrapping up, like say, this MOOC that has me running into a bit of overtime. You might think, well, yeah, you know, but you’re a professor who’s shall we say, past your youthful study days. Of course an early quitting time is fine for you. However, one of my most admired study experts, Cal Newport, used the 5 p.m., quitting time through most of his student career. He ended up getting his PhD from MIT. In other words, this method, implausible though it may seem for some, can work for undergraduate and graduate students in rigorous academic programs.

Time after time, those who are committed to maintaining healthy leisure time along with their hard work, outperform those who doggedly pursue an endless treadmill. Of course, your life may not lend itself to such a schedule with breaks and leisure time. You may be running on fumes with two jobs and too many classes. But however your life is going, try to squeeze a little break time in. One more thing –

as writing coach Daphne Graygrant recommends to her writing clients, eat your frogs first in the morning. Try to work on a most important and most disliked task first. At least just one Pomodoro, as soon as you wake up. This is incredibly effective. Do you need to sometimes make changes in your plans because of unforeseen events? Of course, but remember the law of serendipity; Lady Luck favors the one who tries. Planning well is part of trying. Keep your eye on your learning goal, and try not to get too unsettled by occasional roadblocks.