十三招自我激励法Thirteen Tricks to Motivate Yourself

2008-04-04

Who needs Tony Robbins when you can motivate yourself? Overcoming the emotional hurdle to get stuff done when you’d rather sit on the couch isn’t always easy. But unless calling in sick and waking up at noon have no consequences for you, it’s often a must.

当大家都能够激励自己时谁还需要Tony Robbins？坐在沙发上就想克服情绪障碍来完成任务，并不总是容易。除非你请病假或是睡到中午起床都无济于事时，才需要他。

For those of you who never procrastinate, distract yourself or drag your feet when you should be doing something important, this article isn’t for you. But for the rest of us humans, it’s good to have a library of motivational boosters to move us along.

如果你是属于在担任重要任务时从不拖拉、从不分散注意力或从不感到疲惫的那类人，那这篇文章并不针对你。它是针对我们剩下的这一部分人的。掌握一些激励法对于我们大有益处。

How to Avoid Motivation

如何保持动力

The best way to motivate yourself is to organize your life so you don’t have to. If work is a constant battle for you, perhaps it is time to start thinking about a new job. The idea is that explicit motivational techniques should be a backup, not your regular routine.

最好的自我激励法是主动安排自己的生活，而不是被动的。如果目前的工作已经让你穷于应付，那你也许该考虑跳槽了。也就是说，显式激励法应该是一种支持，而不是例行公事。

Here are some other things to consider making work flow more naturally:

以下是一些可以让工作更顺畅的其他因素：

Passion. Do things you have a passion for. We all have to do things we don’t want to. But if life has become a chronic source of dull chores, you’ve got a big problem that needs fixing.

激情。做自己喜欢的事情。我们都不得已做自己不想做的事。但如果生活变得枯燥乏味时，你的问题就急需解决了。

Habits. You can’t put everything on autopilot. But I’ve found putting a few core habits in place creates a structure for the day. Waking up at the same time, working at the same times and having a similar productive routine makes it easier to do the next day.

习惯。你不可能让一切都自动完成。但我发现，养成一些重要习惯可以创造一种生活方式。在固定的时间起床，在固定的时间段工作学习，一种类似的有益的生活程序，所有这些都可以使第二天过得更顺利。

Flow. Flow is the state where your mind is completely focused on the task at hand. While there are many factors that go into producing this state, having the right challenge level is a big part. Find ways to tweak your tasks so they hover in that sweet spot between boredom and maddening frustration.

意志。意志是你全神贯注于手头任务的一种状态。虽然有很多因素影响着这种状态，但最重要的还是适度的挑战。调整你的目标，不要过于容易实现以至产生厌烦，也不要太难达到从而激化挫折。

Motivation Tips

激励法则

Despite your best efforts, passion, habits and a flow-producing environment can fail. In that case, it’s time to find whatever emotional pump-up you can use to get started. Here are a few:

尽管你尽了最大的努力，激情、习惯和激发意志的环境也可能没有效果。这种情况下，你就该寻求情绪激励了。比如：

Go Back to “Why” - Focusing on a dull task doesn’t make it any more attractive. Zooming out and asking yourself why you are bothering in the first place will make it more appealing. If you can’t figure out why, then there’s a good chance you shouldn’t bother with it in the first place.

寻找“为什么”-对于一项枯燥的任务，再专注也不能让它变得吸引人。那就转移视角，先问问自己为什么厌烦将会更有效。如果你找不出原因，那很可能你并不厌烦这项任务。

Go for Five - Start working for five minutes. Often that little push will be enough to get you going.

坚持五分钟-开始工作五分钟。往往是一点点推力，将足以让你坚持下去。

Move Around - Get your body moving as you would if you were extremely motivated to do something. This ‘faking it’ approach to motivation may seem silly or crude, but it works.

行动起来-如果你非常想做某件事情，那就让你的身体按你所想象的行动起来。这种“假象”做法似乎很傻很幼稚，其实非常有效。

Find the Next Step - It’s impossible to work on a project. All you can do is focus on the next immediate step. Fighting an amorphous blob of work will only cause procrastination. Chunk it up so that it becomes manageable.

安排好下一步-这对于做一个项目是不可能的。你所能做的就是专注于紧接着的那一步。穷于应付工作的细枝末节只会引起拖拉。统筹安排可以使其变得容易完成。

Find Your Itch - What is keeping you from working. Don’t let the itch continue without isolating it and removing the problem. Are you unmotivated because your tired, afraid, bored, restless or angry. Maybe it is because you aren’t sure you have time or delegated tasks haven’t been finished yet.

发现自己的需求-是什么让你对工作缺乏动力？你是因为疲劳、害怕、腻烦或是生气而没有动力吗？其实很可能你是因为不确定自己有没有时间或者分配的任务是否已完成。

Deconstruct Your Fears - I’m sure you don’t have a phobia about getting stuff done. But at the same time, hidden fears or anxieties can keep you from getting real work completed. Isolate the unknowns and make yourself confident you can handle the worst case scenario.

消除恐惧-我敢肯定你对完成任务不存在恐惧。但同时内心适度的担忧或焦虑可以让你完成工作。正视未知，让自己自信可以使最糟糕的情况变成一种享受。

Get a Partner - Find someone who will motivate you when you’re feeling lazy. I have a friend I go to the gym with. Besides spotting weight, having a friend can help motivate you to work hard when you’d normally quit.

找一个搭档-找一个在你偷懒时会督促你的人。比如我就有一个一起健身的朋友。其他方面也一样，有一个这样的朋友可以在你想放弃时鼓励你努力工作。

Kick start Your Day - Plan out tomorrow. Get up early and place all the important things early in the morning. Building momentum early in the day can usually carry you forward far later.

精神饱满地开始每一天-为第二天做好计划。早起并把所有重要事项都安排在上午完成。尽早做好当天的备忘录通常可以让你顺利地度过接下来的一天。

Read Books - Not just self-help or motivational books, but any book that has new ideas. New ideas get your mental gears turning and can build motivation. Learning new ideas puts your brain in motion, so it requires less time to speed up to your tasks.

读书-不只是读自我激励或是历志的书，还要读任何有新观点的书。新观念可以启动你的思维，从而产生动力。学习接受新思维可以让你的大脑活跃起来，更好更快地完成任务。

Get the Right Tools - Your environment can have a profound effect on your enthusiasm. Computers that are too slow, inefficient applications or a vehicle that breaks down constantly can kill your motivation. Building motivation is almost as important as avoiding the traps that can stop it.

创造有利的环境-环境会对你的热情有很大的影响。版本过低的电脑、低效率的应用软件或着时常会发生故障的交通工具都会抹杀你的积极性。所以激发动机跟扫除障碍一样都很重要。

There are No Small Problems - The worst killer of motivation is facing a seemingly small problem that creates endless frustration. Reframe little problems that must be fixed as bigger ones, or they will kill any drive you have.

没有“小问题”-看似很小却足以引起无止境挫折感的所谓的小问题是动力的最大杀手。因此，要像处理大问题一样去解决那些小问题，否则它们会扼杀你所有前进的动力。

Develop a Mantra - Find a few statements that focus your mind and motivate you. It doesn’t matter whether they are pulled from a tacky motivational poster, or just a few words to tell you what to do. If you aren’t sure where to start, a good personal mantra is, “Do it now!”

找一句激励语-找到一些可以让自己集中注意力和激发动力的话语，可以取自低俗的励志标语，也可以是告诉自己怎么做的几个词。如果你还是不知从何入手，有一句很棒的自我激励语，“现在就做！”

Build on Success - Success creates success. When you’ve just won, it is easy to feel motivated about almost anything. Emotions tend not to be situation specific, so a small win, whether it is a compliment from a colleague or finishing two thirds of your tasks before noon can turn you into a juggernaut. There are many ways you can place small successes earlier on to spur motivation later. Structuring your to-do lists, placing straightforward tasks such as exercising early in the day or giving you an affirmation can do the trick.

建基于原有的成功-原有的成功可以造就新的成功。如果你刚取得成绩，那就会觉得干任何事情都很带劲。情绪不会表现得很具体，因此一次小小的成功，无论是同事祝贺还是中午前就完成了任务的三分之二，都会让人你处于一种自我陶醉的状态。其实你可以有很多种方法把原先各次的小成功累置起来激发新的动力。列出该做事项的清单，先完成诸如锻炼之类的简单任务，亦或是给自己一个承诺都不失为一个好方法。

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