时间和注意力是不一样的。正确的说法不是”我没有时间”，事实上挤出时间并不难，我无法挤出的是注意力。
我每天有8小时用于工作，但真正能够专注的时间可能只有4小时。我不能再把这点时间分出来了。
— 《时间和注意力的区别》
The difference between time and attention
时间和注意力的区别
A few years ago I realized that if I’m too busy to take something on, I shouldn’t say “I don’t have the time”. In fact, I often do have the time. It’s not that hard to squeeze in some extra time for someone.
几年前，我意识到，如果我太忙而无法承担某些事情，我不应该说“我没有时间”。事实上，我经常有时间。为某人挤出一些额外的时间并不难。
What I don’t have – and what I can’t squeeze in – is more attention. Attention is a far more limited resource than time. So what I should say is “I don’t have the attention”. I may have 8 hours a day for work, but I probably have 4 hours a day for attention.
我没有的——以及我挤不进去的——是更多的关注。注意力是一种比时间更有限的资源。所以我应该说的是“我没有关注”。我可能每天有8个小时的工作，但我可能每天有4个小时的注意力。
One summer, a guy wrote me out of the blue asking if he could intern for me. His email was great – clear, thoughtful, kind, inviting, confident but not pushy, and not too long (but long enough to say what he had to say without leaving anything out). He was studying at Harvard Business School and was going to be back in Chicago that summer.
有一年夏天，一个人突然给我写信，问他是否可以为我实习。他的电子邮件很棒——清晰、周到、善良、热情、自信但不咄咄逼人，而且不会太长（但足够长，可以说出他要说的话而不会遗漏任何东西）。他当时在哈佛商学院学习，那年夏天将回到芝加哥。
He asked if he could swing by and say hi. His email made it easy for me to say yes. So he did, and we had a great session. We spent maybe an hour or so together. I learned about his background, what kind of stuff he was interested in, what he wanted to learn, what he could teach us, etc. Then we riffed on a few ideas. It was natural, flowing, effortless. Really promising.
他问他是否可以过来打个招呼。他的电子邮件让我很容易说是。所以他做到了，我们有一个很棒的会议。我们在一起度过了大约一个小时左右。我了解了他的背景，他对什么样的东西感兴趣，他想学什么，他可以教我们什么，等等。然后我们提出了一些想法。这是自然的，流动的，毫不费力的。真的很有前途。
Then I told him I’d think a few things over and get back to him soon. He checked in a few weeks later, and I said I’d get back to him soon again. And I didn’t.
然后我告诉他我会考虑一些事情，并尽快回复他。几周后他办理了入住手续，我说我很快就会再回复他。而我没有。
A month or so after that I wrote him and told him I was really sorry. I’d mislead him – and myself – thinking I had enough time to take on a intern that summer. I wanted to, I really liked him, I thought he’d be great, but I just didn’t have as much time as I thought I had to even consider it more and line up work and spend time with him, etc.
大约一个月后，我写信给他，告诉他我真的很抱歉。我会误导他——还有我自己——以为我有足够的时间在那个夏天接受实习生。我想，我真的很喜欢他，我认为他会很棒，但我只是没有那么多时间，我什至需要考虑更多，安排工作，花时间和他在一起，等等。
But really, as I thought about it, I realized I had the time. Every day is the same 24 hour cycle. Every workday around 8 hours. Surely I could have found even 20 minutes a day to work with him. But it wasn’t that. It wasn’t that I couldn’t find the time. I couldn’t find the attention — especially sustained attention.
但实际上，当我思考它时，我意识到我有时间。每一天都是相同的24小时周期。每个工作日约8小时。当然，我甚至可以每天找到20分钟和他一起工作。但事实并非如此。不是我找不到时间。我找不到关注——尤其是持续的关注。
My mind fills up with a few key projects and that’s it. I’m absorbed by those. That’s where my attention is. Had I made 20 minutes here and there for him, I’d be physically present in that moment, but mentally I’d be elsewhere. And that’s not fair to either of us.
我的脑海里充满了几个关键项目，仅此而已。我被这些所吸引。这就是我的注意力所在。如果我在这里和那里为他腾出20分钟，我会在那一刻身体上存在，但在精神上我会在其他地方。这对我们两个人都不公平。
Time and attention aren’t the same thing. They’re barely related.
时间和注意力不是一回事。它们几乎没有关系。
