Reduce Interruptions

　　减少打扰

　　If colleagues have a habit of hanging around your desk to chat， or if the phone is constantly ringing， you might find that it takes you half the day to finish a simple task like writing a letter. Constant interruptions don’t just eat up time -- they also break your concentration.

　　如果同事们会徘徊在你办公桌旁和你闲谈，又或者电话老是响起，你将发现仅仅是去完成一件简单的事占去你半天时间了，比如写一封信。无休止的干扰不仅仅是耗尽了时间--它们也让你无法集中注意力做事。

　　When you’ve got a big task to focus on， let your calls go to voicemail. If you have an office door， close it. If you work in a cubicle， wear headphones: having them on makes it less likely that people will try to strike up a conversation.

　　当你需要集中精力在一件大事上，那么把来电转到语音信箱吧。如果你的办公室有一扇门，那么关上它。如果你有一个小的独立工作间，那戴上你的耳麦：戴着它不太会有人找你聊天。

　　Stay Focused on Your Work

　　专注你的工作

　　You might have heard the saying “procrastination is the thief of time.” When you want more hours in the day， procrastination can be a real problem. A few minutes chatting， browsing the web， updating your Facebook status， and so on， can easily turn into hours of wasted time over the course of a day.

　　也许你曾听过这样的说法“拖延是窃取时间的贼”。当你想要更多的时间，那拖延真的是一个问题。几分钟的闲谈，浏览网页，更新脸谱网的状态，如此种种都会轻易地把时间浪费过去了。

　　When you’re working， work. If your concentration is slipping， take a proper break: go and get a glass of water， or stretch your legs a bit. And if you’re facing a difficult task， try breaking it into small steps or stages so that it’s easier to tackle.

　　当你在工作的时候，那工作。如果你走神了，那休息一下：去喝杯水，或者散散步等等。如果你面对一项艰难的任务，试着把它分解成几个小步骤或阶段，这样完成它比较容易。

　　Go Home on Time

　　准时回家

　　If you’re supposed to finish work at 4pm， but you never make it out of the office door until 6pm at the earlier， then it’s no wonder you don’t have enough hours in the day.

　　如果你理应在4点完成工作，但你甚至还不能在6点以前完成工作离开办公室，那难怪你会没有多余的时间。

　　In some jobs， it is difficult to get away on time (if all your colleagues work late， you might feel obliged to do the same). But if you’re staying because you only ever seem to get any work done in a mad dash at the end of the day， then your working habits need to change.

　　对于某些职业，要准时下班是件难事(如果你所有的同事都工作到很晚，你可能觉得也要这样做才行)。但如果你留下来，是因为你要赶在结束前匆忙地完成工作，那么你的工作习惯需要改变。

　　Delegate Some Chores

　　放权他人做事

　　Perhaps you seem to be the only person in your household who’s capable of unstacking the dishwasher or ironing the clothes. If your evenings get taken up with a long list of chores， see whether you can delegate some of those.

　　也许你是家中既要折叠洗碗机又要熨衣服的那个人。如果你的每个晚上都被一大堆的琐事排满了，那么看看你能不能把这些事交给别人去做。

　　Your partner， housemates， or kids can pitch in and help out. Even if you just free up 20 or 30 minutes every evening， you’ll have a bit of extra time to spend on something important to you.

　　你的伴侣，同住一个屋的室友，或是孩子也能做点贡献帮你解决一点问题。即使每晚你只能多出20到30分钟空闲，你也有了一点多余的时间去做对你而言重要的事情。

　　Eat Dinner at Home

　　在家吃饭

　　Although going out for dinner might seem like it saves time (after all， you don’t have to cook) -- you’ve got the time cost of traveling to the restaurant， ordering the food， waiting for it to arrive， paying the bill ... and it might well be faster just to cook and eat at home.

　　虽然在外吃饭看起来是省了时间(毕竟，你不需要做饭)--但你却花了时间在去餐馆、点餐、等候以及买单等等事情上。也许在家做饭吃饭反而来的更快些。

　　If you don’t have much time to cook during the week， try making extra portions at the weekend so that you can freeze some. That way， you’ve got an almost-instant meal (and one that’s probably healthier and cheaper than a restaurant meal， too).

　　如果你在没有很多时间用来做饭，试着调整其它事情的安排这样你能腾出一些时间来了。这样的话，你有时间做饭了(同时这顿饭比起餐馆的饭菜可能更健康也更划算)。

　　Limit Your TV Watching

　　限制看电视的时间

　　If you put the TV on as soon as you get in from work， it’s easy to end up spending hours slumped on the sofa. Instead of watching whatever happens to be showing， try watching just one or two programs each night.

　　如果你下班一回来打开电视机，那么结果是你躺在沙发上看了数小时的电视。不要放任自己无选择地看电视，试着每晚只收看一个或两个电视节目。