Poisoning the day  毒化白日

A rockstar might seem an unusual choice for a personal productivity guru.
一个摇滚明星似乎是一个不太寻常的个人生产力大师的选择。

But Jack Antonoff manages to be both the lead vocalist of a rock band and the producer for many of the great contemporary musicians of our time (think Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, and - most recently - Kendrick Lamar).
但杰克·安东诺夫既能担任摇滚乐队的主唱，也是我们这个时代许多伟大当代音乐家的制作人（比如泰勒·斯威夫特、拉娜·德雷，以及最近的肯德里克·拉马尔）。

So he’s probably as good a candidate for productivity wisdom as anyone else.
所以他可能和任何人一样，是提高生产效率的明智选择。

A few months ago, Antonoff was interviewed by Zane Lowe ahead of his band’s latest album release. The interview began on a grim Manhattan morning, with a walk-and-talk before they headed to a nearby recording studio.
几个月前，安东诺夫在接受 Zane Lowe 采访时，谈到了他的乐队即将发布的最新专辑。采访开始于一个阴沉的曼哈顿早晨，他们在前往附近录音室的路上边走边谈。

When they arrived, Lowe asked Antonoff whether he’d taken drugs (the answer: lots), if he’d stopped (the answer: yes), and why.
当他们到达时，洛夫问安东诺夫是否吸过毒（答案是：很多），是否已经停止了（答案是：是的），以及为什么。

His reason, unexpectedly, was productivity.
他的理由，出乎意料的是生产率。

“The magic is when the magic is. The magic isn’t when you’re fucked up at three in the morning. For me, the kind of music I’m writing, the kind of stories I’m telling, the magic is kind of right now. I feel like myself. I haven’t been poisoned by the day yet.”
“魔力在于它发生的那一刻。凌晨三点神志不清的时候，魔力就不在了。对我而言，我正在创作的音乐，我正在讲述的故事，魔力现在就在身边。我感觉很自在。我还没有被日间的纷扰所毒害。”

What does it mean to have your day poisoned?
什么叫做“你的日子被糟蹋了”？

Here’s Antonoff’s explanation, slightly edited:
以下是安东诺夫的解释，略有编辑：

“Every day is a new beginning. You wake up and at some point in the day, someone shoots up a school, or something’s going on with your family, or you wake up and eat the wrong thing. And then you’re done. Emotionally cooked. Literally and emotionally poisoned.
每天都是一个新的开始。你醒来，在一天中的某个时刻，有人朝学校开枪，或者你的家庭发生了些事情，或者你醒来后吃错了东西。然后你就完了。情感上被煎煮。字面上和情感上都受到了毒害。

Every day I wake up and can get to the studio before something has shattered my existence, I am grateful. And I can do things.
每天醒来，能在某些事情摧毁我的存在之前赶到工作室，我都感到感激。而且我还能做事。

Then, at some point throughout the day - whether it’s reading about the state of the world, or something happens in my personal life, or even just my own emotions. I disintegrate. That’s when I focus on food, calling friends and family, or watching TV.”
然后在一天中的某个时刻——无论是阅读关于世界现状的内容，还是我的个人生活中发生了什么事，甚至仅仅是我的情绪波动。我都会崩溃。那时我会专注于食物，给朋友和家人打电话，或者看电视。”

This, to me, is what 90% of productivity advice on the internet is really about: how to get through as much of your day as possible before something takes you out.
这对于我来说，就是互联网上 90%的提高效率建议真正关注的问题：如何在某些事情让你停下之前，尽可能多地完成你的一天计划。

It’s why podcasters love early mornings. Start work at 4:30 a.m., and no family member is going to message you with the ominous words: “Can I call you?”
播客爱好者喜欢早起的原因就在于此。早上 4:30 开始工作，不会有家人给你发来令人不安的消息说：“我能给你打电话吗？”

Same with digital minimalism. No phone, no early morning notifications - no sudden alert about Putin’s latest military actions.
同样适用于数字极简主义。没有手机，没有清晨的通知——也没有关于普京最新军事行动的突然警报。

It’s also probably why founders like productivity advice so much: try to start something from nothing, it’s guaranteed something will come along at least once each day with the potential to knock you off your stride.
这也可能是为什么创始人如此喜欢提高效率的建议：试图从无到有开始一件事，可以肯定的是，至少每天都会有一些事情冒出来，有可能让你偏离轨道。

This is what I particularly love about Antonoff’s idea: its fatalistic acceptance that focus can’t be sustained indefinitely. At some point, you’re done. The magic is gone. You’re not getting it back.
这就是我特别喜欢安东诺夫观点的地方：它宿命般地接受焦点不可能无限期地保持下去。在某个时刻，你结束了。魔力消失了。你再也找不回来了。

Give up on trying to get back on the horse. Accept that it’s bolted, and focus on the easy stuff instead.
放弃试图重新上马。接受它已经脱缰，转而专注于简单的事情。

Adherents of this approach to productivity find an unlikely ally in Jeff Bezos.
这种生产力方法的拥护者在一个不太可能的人物那里找到了盟友——杰夫·贝索斯。

Lots of people have seen the interview where Bezos talks about the value of his time spent puttering around each morning. Most haven’t seen what he says next:
许多人看过采访，其中贝索斯谈论了他每天早晨无所事事的价值。但大多数人没看到他接下来说的内容。

“I like to do my high IQ meetings before lunch, like anything mentally challenging, that’s a 10am meeting. By like 5pm I can’t think about anything. Let’s try this tomorrow at 10am.”
“我喜欢在午饭前进行高智商的会议，比如任何需要动脑筋的事情，那应该是上午 10 点的会议。到了下午 5 点我什么也思考不了。我们明天早上 10 点试试这个吧。”

Straight out of the Antonoff playbook.
直接出自安东诺夫的策略手册。

Helpfully, this is one area of productivity where people with children are actually ahead of the curve.
在这一点上，有孩子的人在生产力方面实际上处于领先地位。

Because kids are professional day poisoners.
因为孩子们是专业的“日间投毒者”。

If they’re not waking you up at 6 a.m. by prying your eyelids open, they’re upending your schedule when childcare falls through or illness strikes.
如果他们不是在早上 6 点扒开你的眼皮把你弄醒，就是在托儿服务不到位或生病时打乱你的计划。

In this world, there are no delusions about the possibility of an unpoisoned day - there is no perfect game.
在这个世界上，对于没有毒害的日子可能性没有幻想——没有完美的游戏。

So how do you actually manage this? Embarrassingly simply.
实际上你该如何管理这个问题呢？令人尴尬的简单。

Best option. Get as much done as early as possible. Limit your exposure to outside stimuli. And run the gauntlet until the poison strikes.
最佳选择。尽可能早地完成更多工作。限制接触外界刺激。直到毒药发作，一直奔跑。

And when it does, don’t fight it. Reschedule anything demanding to the next day. Shift to easier tasks or simply call it and start on dinner.
当它发生时，不要抗拒。将任何要求高的任务重新安排到第二天。转而做些简单的工作，或者直接结束工作开始准备晚餐。

Not an early riser? No problem, just flip it.
不是早起的人？没关系，翻转一下即可。

Avoid the day. And when it’s done, that’s when your focussed work starts (my favourite adherent of this approach is Demis Hassabis: who works a “second day” from between 11pm and 4am).
避免在白天工作。当一天结束后，你专注的工作才刚刚开始（这种方法的最著名追随者之一是 Demis Hassabis：他在晚上 11 点到凌晨 4 点之间进行“第二天”的工作）。

No matter what you do, avoid the kill zone - the heat of the day, when everyone’s about, the tweets are flying, and the news keeps on happening.
无论你做什么，都要避开高危时段——一天中最热的时候，大家都活跃，推文满天飞，新闻不断发生。

It’s the reason I sincerely doubt that anything great in the history of humanity has been built in the post-lunch afternoon.
我真心怀疑，在人类历史上，任何伟大的成就都是在午饭后下午建造的。

Because even the best of us can’t escape it forever.
即便是最优秀的我们，也无法永远逃避。

Every day when you wake up, there’s a clock ticking. You have no idea when it will run out.
每天当你醒来，都有一个时钟在滴答作响。你不知道它何时会停止。

The only question is: how much can you do before it does?
唯一的问题就是：在它发生之前，你能做多少？

aled@ashore.io

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Once a week I write about lessons in building from unexpected places. You can see the rest of what I write, and sign up to my email - Crossover Creativity - here.
每周我会写一些关于从意想不到的地方学到的建筑课程。你可以在这里查看我写的其他内容，并订阅我的电子邮件——跨界创造力。