儿童英文经典导读pan:当时间重回你手中

当时间重回你手中

When I walked into work on my final day of employment, there was a box sitting on my desk with a note resting beside it.

    在我退休前的最后一天，我走进办公室，发现一个小盒子放在我的桌子上，里面搁了一张小纸条。

The note read:

    上面写到：

Early in the industrial revolution, workplaces typically had no clocks. This was done to reinforce the concept that the company owns you and your time. Thus, on retirement, a watch was given as a token that the worker was given back his time.

    早在工业革命时代，工作场所一般没有钟表。这样做是为了强化一种观念，公司拥有你和你的时间。所以，在退休的时候，收到一块手表就象征着员工的时间重新回到他的手中。

My friend and coworker Craig Collins wrote this note to me, and inside the box on my desk was the clock you see in that picture. This is probably the most heartfelt gift I’ve ever been given. I feel as if I’ve just gone through some major right of passage — as platitudinous as that may sound.

    我的朋友也是我的同事克雷格·柯林斯写的这段话给我，在我办公桌上的盒子里装着你在图片中看见的那样的一只钟。这很可能是我收到过的最贴心的礼物。我感觉好像刚刚通过了一些重要的通行权一样——就像它听起来那样平凡。

As I’m going through this right of passage, I’ve been thinking a lot about:

    当我将通过这项通行权的时候，我想了很多关于下面这个话题：

Owning Your Own Time

拥有你自己的时间

I’ve spoken at great length about the importance of owning your own time vs. renting out your mind. While I still stress the importance of you being in complete control of your time, it’s also worth mentioning that owning your own time isn’t everything.

    我已经讲过很多重要的东西关于自己支配时间和为别人打工之间的对比。当我还在强调一个人完整地支配自己时间重要性的时候，同时也得提醒，拥有自己的时间并不等于拥有了一切。

Owning your own time won’t matter if…

    拥有自己的时间也会变得毫无意义，如果......

You’re just as much of a tyrant/slave driver to yourself as your previous employer. 

     l   你对自己也是一个专横或者苛刻的上司，就像你以前的雇主一样。

You are still influenced by societal pressures and let that dictate what you should be doing with your time. 

     l   你仍然会受到社会压力的影响，并让它指挥你该如何使用你的时间。

You’re not able to exercise self-discipline in staying focused (which you need to be able to pay yourself). 

     l   你无法专心致志地自律行事（你需要集中精神才能够养活自己）。

You don’t know how to say no. You don’t know how to turn down opportunities when you’re spread too thin. 

     l   你不知道如何去拒绝。你也不知道怎样去放弃机会，当你精力有限分身乏术的时候。

You still pay yourself by the hour (instead of by how much value you deliver). 

     l   你仍然按时获取酬劳（而不是按你传递价值的多少）。

You don’t have a good filter for focusing on high-leverage (most important) tasks vs. those that aren’t likely to make much of a difference in your business. 

     l   你不能很好地筛除那些可能对你的事业没有什么帮助的工作，专注于高效的（最重要的）工作。

There are a number of other pitfalls to watch out for, and most of these apply whether you’re employed of self-employed.

    这里有许多其他意想不到的困难需要当心，并且其中的大多数都会碰见，无论你是为别人打工还是做自己的老板。

But no matter how deep the trenches are, there’s no other place I’d rather be. I’m rolling around in the mud of life and getting myself dirty in this messy business of living deliberately.

    但是不管这条路有多艰险，我都会坚持下去。我将在生活的泥潭中摸爬滚打，让自己从容不迫地接受困难重重地生存考验。

And there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.

    没有其他任何事情值得我这样去做。