工作压得你喘不过来气？15分钟一口一口吃掉它！

Are you working on something BIG right now? If you are, my guess is that your to-do list is a mess, some part of you is afraid the project will fall apart, and your stress level is through the roof. You are simply overwhelmed.

你现在正在做一些大项目吗？如果你回答是，我猜想你的待办事项列表一定非常混乱，你内心的某一部分在害怕这个项目会失败，你内心的紧张心情都要爆棚了。你只不过是压力太大了罢了。

The reality is this—if you’re feeling overwhelmed right now, you are simply being foolish. Being overwhelmed is proof that your perspective has been knocked totally out of whack.

事实是这样的——如果你现在正感觉被大量工作压得喘不过气，那你真的很愚蠢。这种不知所措的状态证明你的思维方式被完全的打乱了。

Why? Because overwhelm is nothing more than a product of becoming too focused on the big picture…when all you really need to worry about is what you must accomplish in the next 15 minutes.

为什么呢？不知所措不过是因为你变得对项目的整体情况太过于关注了，其实你真正需要担心的是你接下来15分钟必须完成的事情。

How to Master “Small Bite” 15-Minute Tasks

达成15分钟零碎小任务的诀窍

You can reverse the creation of any project, no matter how huge it might seem, into small components that can each be done in 3-to-15-minute chunks of time. And if you think three minutes can’t be a long time, try jump roping for three minutes. I bet you can’t do it. I’m serious. You cannot do it. Time it. Three minutes is longer than you think.

你可以逆向思考任何项目的创建，无论它看起来有多么的庞大，把它分为可以在3-5分钟的时间内完成的小模块，如果你认为3分钟不算长，那试着跳绳3分钟。我打赌你做不到，我是认真的，你做不到的。走着瞧吧，实际上三分钟的时间会比你认为的还要久。

After working in the publishing industry as both a manager and an author for over 30 years, the example I always come back to is writing a book.

作为一名管理者兼作家，在出版行业里工作了30多年后，我每每想起的是自己写书的经历。

When you reverse the creation of a book, you see that each one is made up of chapters. Every chapter is made up of paragraphs. Every paragraph is made up of sentences. Every sentence is made up of words. Every word is made up of letters.

当你逆向思维看一本书，你会发现每本书都由章节组成，每个章节又由段落组成，而每个段落由句子组成，每条语句由单词组成，每一个单词都是由字母的。

With that in mind, think about the big project YOU want to start (or are currently working on), and do the following:

由此可见，思考一下你想开始进行的这个庞大的项目（或正在进行中的），按照下面的几点来做：

1. List the 10 main components that make up your project.

列出10个组成你的项目的主要模块。

Pick one and hone in on the one aspect of that component on which you can spend the next 15 minutes. Some of those tasks could be totally scratched off your list with 15 minutes of intense work. If you spend 15 minutes creating a list of titles, you will at the very least create a wave of momentum that will keep the ideas coming for the next 24-48 hours.

选择你能在15分钟内完成的某模块的一个方面。花上紧凑的15分钟，就可以完成列表上的某些任务。如果你花费15分钟来建立列表标题，你将最少用接下来的24-48小时来兴起一波势头以保持那些创意源源不断地到来。

2. Ride the motivation.

驾驭动力。

The funny thing about motivation is that it only truly comes after you start working and creating movement. Despite the millions of “motivational” books, programs, and speakers out there, the truth is that none of that stuff provides real, long lasting motivation.

有趣的是动力只有在你开始工作和创造行动之后才会真正来到。尽管在周围有数以百万计的励志书、电视节目和演讲者，事实是，这些东西不会提供真正且持久的动力。

Think about it—when do you feel motivated? Before you sit down and make yourself start working on something…or after you’ve pushed through those initial feelings of discomfort and the really good ideas start to flow?

想一想，在什么时候你会感觉有动力？在你坐下来开始做些什么之前……或是在你经历过最初那些不悦感受后，真正的好主意开始泉涌而来时？

Once you hit that wave of motivation, keep riding it. Every 15 minutes, move on to the next 15-minute task.

一旦你有了这股动力，请保持劲头。每完成15分钟，再移到下一个15分钟的任务上。

3. Realize that you’re halfway there.

意识到你已在半路上了。

One time in high school I was totally stuck on writing a term paper. I had all these ideas, but wasn’t sure of the direction I wanted to take. When I asked my teacher for help, he offered a piece of advice that has stayed with me ever since.

在高中时，有一次我彻底被期末论文难住了。我有许多想法但不确定选哪一个方向。当我向我的老师寻求帮助时，他提出一个建议，这个建议从那时起就一直陪伴着我。

“Robert,” he said, “just start. Starting is half finished.”

“罗伯特，”他说，“只要开始就好，开始就意味着完成了一半。”

Start. Right now. No matter how unsure of yourself you may be. Take that leap forward, list your 10 tasks, and pick the one thing you’re going to give 100% of your focus to for the next 15 minutes. If you stay focused on the 15-minute moment in front of you, you can forget about feeling overwhelmed.

开始，就趁现在，无论你对自己多么不自信。跨过那一步，列出你的10个任务，选一件事，在接下来的15分钟里你要付出100%的努力。如果你的注意力集中在眼前的15分钟，你会忘记那种不知所措感。

So often we completely overestimate what we are capable of doing in the next year…while drastically underestimating what we can do in the next 15 minutes. This moment is all you have. Don’t underestimate its power.

我们常常太过于高估在这一年我们能做到的事……然而却低估了在接下来的15分钟里我们能做到的事。这一刻是你所拥有的一切。不要低估它的力量。

What will you do with the next 15 minutes? Yes, I literally mean the NEXT 15 minutes.

在接下来的15分钟里你要做什么？是的，我指的就是接下来的15分钟。