如何做到专注? | 六位各界精英分享独门诀窍,迅速上手

How To Focus

如何做到专注


壹心理翻译社 ◎ 荣誉出品
原作 | Will Coldwell
翻译 | 雪孩子
校编 | 张真Derek

 

Even the smartest people sometimes struggle to stay in the zone. What tricks do they use to get back on track?

哪怕是最睿智的人,有时也要很努力才能保持专注,那么他们用的什么诀窍呢?



1. Mary Beard

Professor of classics at the University of Cambridge

英国剑桥大学古典学教授

▲ Prof Dame Mary Beard. Photograph: David Hartley/Rex

Most of the essentials of my job come down to concentration and focus. It is not a matter of memory, but of how best to use and deploy what one has remembered.

我把我工作的本质归结为 “专注” 二字专注力不关乎什么记忆力,而是关于如何最有效利用记忆。

That is true if, for example, you are marking a student’s essay.

如果你正在给学生批改论文就能体会到此言虚。

It is not a question of seeing what they get wrong or right (my subject isn’t really about that, others may be). It is about seeing what the student was trying to argue, and how they could make it better and more convincing.

你会发现论文观点对错并不重要(我教的古典学不涉及观点的对错,其他科目也许会),关键于学生陈述的内容,以及他们如何让观点更强更具说服力。

That sounds simple, but it requires a hell of a lot of thought. The same is true of lecturing, or writing the chapter of a book. It is all about how you can use what you know to make the most powerful case, to engage people’s interest, or to show why what you want to say is important.

这听起来简单,然而需要耗费大量思考。做讲座,或写一章书亦是如此全在于如何调动大脑中的记忆,从而做出有力证明,吸引受众兴趣,或展现陈述内容的重要性。

When it comes to techniques that help me focus, the flip answer is “one glass of wine but not two”. It’s flip, but there is a point there. Sometimes concentration is helped by loosening up a bit (though not too much). Sometimes it is helped by taking a break.

当被问到保持专注的诀窍是什么,我会不正经地回答:“喝上一杯酒,但不是两杯。” 这随口一说,自有几分道理。有时候做到专注需要借助一些放松(但也不是过度放松),是有时候是借助休息。

I am not advocating laziness. But it takes a very long time to learn that simply ploughing on, hour after hour, isn’t the most productive thing to do (as I always tell my students, more marks are lost in exams by being tired than by not knowing enough). And you have to keep your intellectual interest up. You won’t remember ideas effectively if you are not actually interested in them.

我并不是在提倡偷懒,只是人们往往需要经历多了才领悟到一寸一尺的执着坚持不是最有成效的做事方式。(我总是告诉我的学生,考试失分更多是因为疲劳学习而不是掌握不全。)你必须对知识保持兴趣。如果你没有产生真正的兴趣,你无法有效记忆。

The most important lesson I have learned when it comes to writing or conveying difficult ideas is this: if you sit all morning and find yourself having repeated attempts to crystallise something and it never works, and you just hit the delete button again and again, the problem is probably a bigger one.

在写作和表达思想的过程中,我领悟到最重要的一点是:如果你工作了一上午,发现自己反复试图去表达透彻一样东西,却怎么也讲不清楚只能手指头不停地按退格键一遍遍重写那么这背后其实可能隐藏着一个更大的问题

It’s not that you can’t crystallise it on paper, it’s that you haven’t really worked out what you want to say. Why it never works is because you haven’t yet mastered the question. So it’s time to go back to the drawing board.

这个大问题就是:并非无法在纸上表达透彻,而是你还没真正理解你想表达的东西。不起效果的原因在于你还没有掌握问题本质所以这时候该重头再来。



2. Paul

Guardian crossword setter

卫报字谜游戏编译员


▲ Photograph: Lulie Tanett


I find that just before giving any talk at an event I declare to myself how it’s going to go. Much like when we go to a party and we decide beforehand that it’s going to be rubbish – and it is.


我发现自己在做演讲之前,总会暗想即将发生的情况。这特别像人们参加派对之前就断定这场派对会很糟糕一样 —— 结果事实就是,派对真的很糟糕。


We can also decide it’s going to be great. That’s the power 
of words. We get to say how our life goes.


当然我们也能断定派对会很棒。这就是语言的力量。我们能用语言的表达方式,决定生活的走向。感觉下前后的变化?


I was giving a TedxTalk at the Royal Albert Hall in front of 4,500 people, just me on stage with a memorised eight-minute piece to say on how wordplay can bring people together.


有一次我即将要在 4500 名观众面前做一场英国皇家阿尔伯特音乐厅的 TEDx 演讲, 就我一个人,讲稿八分钟,话题是文字游戏如何把人们聚拢在一起。


Twenty minutes before I was due to go on, I got lost in the corridors behind the stage while trying to find the loos and I just about found my way back to the green room.


就在上台前 20 分钟,我为了找厕所在舞台后的几条走廊里迷路了,好不容易才找到回后台休息室的路。


Then there was a problem with my microphone getting clipped on my back-stage pass, which I was trying to bite through with my teeth to release. With moments to go, my wife looked at me as if to say:


接着我的麦又出问题了,它夹在我的后台通行证上,没办法我只好用牙齿咬开。不一会儿就要上台,此时妻子望着我的眼神好像在说:


“You look scared.”


“你看上去很害怕。”


She was right. As soon as I realised what my face looked like, that was an opportunity to stop being so significant! As soon as we realise something doesn’t really matter in the great scheme of things, we can relax. I said to myself: “This is going to be fun,” and stepped on to the stage.


她是对的。我一意识到自己害怕的表情,就提醒自己别把事情看得那么重。而我们只要一意识到在整个大格局中某件事其实没那么重要,就能放松下来。我对自己说:“这次演讲将会非常有趣。” 然后登上舞台。


Regarding elements of my work and concentration, I find playing short-term games works. F
or example, if I have 30 clues to write in a puzzle, I might plan to do six every hour. I can even set an alarm to give me a five-minute warning.

谈及我工作和专注力的要素,我发现玩 “短字谜游戏” 的方法很凑效。譬如,如果我有 30 条线索要写进纵横字谜里,我可能计划每个小时只写 6 个。我甚至还能设一个提醒闹铃,每次结束时间还剩 5 分钟的时候就闹响。


Am I winning? Am I losing? If I lose, I could always win the next game … It’s fun.


我会赢吗?我会输吗?如果我输了,我总是能在下一次任务中胜利…… 很有趣哦。


I sometimes run marathons too. My second London Marathon was the worst experience. I was thinking of the finish from mile one. And it seemed a long, long way! Playing 26 games to the mileposts was much more fun on the next marathons.


有时候我也会跑跑马拉松。我参加的第二次伦敦马拉松是人生中最糟糕的经历了,才跑了一英里我就在想着怎么跑过终点线,于是整个跑程就显得特别特别艰辛。后来几次跑马,我把跑全程 26 英里当做玩 26  “短字谜游戏,过程就有趣多了。



3. Liv Boeree

Poker champion and science communicator

扑克冠军、科普达人


▲ Liv Boeree. Photograph: Roger Askew/Rex/Shutterstock


The major test for playing good poker is to be as rational as possible. So emotions are generally the worst thing for a poker player.


扑克对玩家一个最大的考验是需要尽可能保持理性,所以打牌中变得情绪化,是玩家最忌讳的


Whether it’s fear, excitement or anger, they all cloud your judgment because they make you motivated to come to a decision, rather than realise the truth of the situation.


这些情绪无论是恐惧、激动还是愤怒,都会模糊你的判断,因为它们驱动着你做决策,而不是帮你认清真相。


You’re trying to be a judge, evaluating all these bits of evidence, but if you let your emotions get in the way, you’ll start to look for things that might not be there; for example, thinking another player might be bluffing, rather than pinpointing the objective truth.


假如你正尝试通过每一处估算来下判断出牌,此时一旦让情绪插手,你就会开始无中生有;比如,怀疑其他选手诈牌,而不是去找到真正的客观事实。


Emotions can be helpful in inspiring us to want to be better, but for in-game decision-making you want to find a way to master them and keep a cool a head.


情绪的确能帮助激发我们想要变更好的愿望,但就赛场决策而言,你想要的应该是找到掌控情绪的方式,以及如何保持冷静的头脑。


Imagine being in a big tournament. You start off with a 1,000 chips, you lose a big hand and you’re down to 500. Another player jumps up from 250 chips to 500.


想象自己正身处一场扑克大赛。你的起始筹码是 1000,输了一手之后只剩 500。而另一位选手的筹码从 250 翻到了 500。


You’ll both be in a very different mindset even though you both have the same number of chips. So you need to find a way to mentally detach yourself from things that have happened historically that might make you emotionally upset.


即便筹码数是一样的,你们俩心态却截然不同。所以此时你需要找到方法,不让自己的心黏在那些导致情绪低落的消极事件上。


I was really tested in this way on the major final table at the European poker tour. I had the commanding chip lead, lost a hand badly and mentally just went to pieces.


在欧洲扑克锦标赛总决赛的牌桌上,我已经受过这样的考验了。开始占据领先地位,然后输掉一笔很大的筹码,于是我心理彻底崩溃。


I remember having this very angry dialogue in my head – it felt like a weird injustice. I had to recognise that I was in this emotional state – which is often the hardest part – but as soon as I realised, I could address it.


我记得脑海中冒出愤怒的声音 —— 这像是莫名的不公正。我必须觉察到我正在这个情绪状态中这是最难处理的部分)但只要我产生觉察,就能处理好。


I told myself: “This is really important, and not the time to focus on past errors.”


我告诉我自己:“这对我来说很重要,现在不是把注意力放在过去失误的时候。”


I took a moment to breathe and did a little gratitude thing, telling myself how lucky I am right now to be in this situation. Then I did a big picture gratitude thing – telling myself I should to be grateful I was born in the 1980s rather than the 1600s when everyone was dying of anything – that kind of thing.


我深呼吸了片刻,并做了小小的感恩练习,告诉自己此刻的处境有多么幸运。接着我把这份感恩之情放大 —— 告诉自己应该庆幸出生在 80 年代而不是连生命都得不到保障的 16 世纪 —— 类似这样的感恩练习。


I found it a really good way to get some instant perspective. Anything like that will just get you out of that emotional state and back to your objective. And … I ended up winning.


我发现这真是一个迅速切换视角的好方。类似的行为会把你抽离出消极的情绪状态,并专注回自己的目标。结果最后…… 我赢了。


It’s a very low cost thing to try, even if it doesn’t work out you might have a moment when you feel better about the situation.


这做起来成本非常低,即使暂时没有效果,你也可以当自己状态稍好的时候去尝试一番。


In general, if I know that I have something important coming up, the most powerful thing I can do is a bit of meditation. Even a walk in the park where you stand barefoot – I find it makes you feel really present, just standing like a weirdo in the park for 10 minutes, focusing on your breath.


总而言之,如果我知道有重要事情即将发生,我能为此做的最强大的事是片刻的冥想。甚
至光脚漫步在公园也可以 —— 我发现像个异类般地在公园里站上 10 分钟,聚焦在自己的一呼一吸上就能让你投入到当下的状态中。


That really sets you up well for the day, whether it’s playing poker, or anything else.


无论是打扑克还是其它事情,这种方法真得让你一整天都保持念在心安的状态。

4. Suzanne Bertish

RSC actor playing Agamemnon in Troilus and Cressida

英国皇家莎士比亚话剧团演员

莎士比亚《特罗洛斯与克莉西达》“阿伽门农” 的扮演者

▲ Photograph: Walter McBride/Getty Images

Learning lines is a bore, period. For me, on stage, physicality helps. So the lines are in my body as well.

记台词是一件枯燥无味的事。对我来说,在舞台上,肢体能起到帮助作用,所以台词也存在于我的身体里。

When learning for a play, I tell myself I have to know these lines by such and such time. Or that I’ll get to page 20 by the end of the week, page 40 by the second week…

每当看剧本的时候,我就告诉自己必须在某某时间点之前把这些台词背下来。或者告诉自己这周之前我要背到第 20 页,下周之前我要背到第 40 ……

I give myself a framework and a goal. I remember, years ago, someone telling me to put the script under my pillow. That may be a myth, but I do think learning last thing at night and first thing in the morning works.

我会给自己设定框架和目标。我记得多年之前有人告诉我要把剧本放在枕头底下才能记得住台词那可能瞎编的,但我确实认为利用晚上临睡前和早上起床后这两段时间记忆台词是有效的。

I’d say my concentration is good but my memory less good. I take a supplement called gingko biloba and I take lecithin. I think those supplements help too.

我会说我的专注力不错但记忆力逊色些。我在服用一种叫银杏叶的保健品,还有卵磷脂。我认为这些补充剂也是有帮助的。

It’s important to make the distinction between learning for the long term, for a play, and cramming for the short term like actors do for film and television. There’s a subtle difference, but for a play you really have to get it in you. And it’s not improvisational; you have to say what’s on the page. You have to be accurate.

长时间通背戏剧台词不同于短时间突击背诵影视剧台词,做这样的区分还是很重要的。虽然两者差别其实较为细微,但若是对待戏剧,你必须把台词理解透彻,而且戏剧不是即兴表演,你必须一板一眼照着台词说,你必须准确严谨。

With live theatre, there’s always the possibility that you’re going to go blank. And it’s really, really frightening. Once I was performing in the Cherry Orchard at the National Theatre and I had a speech. I knew it, I’d done it a million times, but I said the first two lines and just went blank.

在剧院现场,演员总是有可能断片。这真得真得很吓人。有次我正在国家剧院演出话剧《樱桃园》,正轮到我的戏份。我是知道台词的,那段台词我已经说过无数遍了,可是我才说了前两句,突然间大脑就一片空白。

I didn’t have a clue what I was going to say. There was this long, long pause, it was horrific, I wanted to die in that moment, you’re so exposed. Eventually I said, in character:

当时我完全不知道自己要说什么,失语了好久好久,那情形非常可怕。那个瞬间我如此孤立无援,简直想去死。最终我还是开口了,我咕哝着:

“What do I say? What do I say?” and it came back to me.


“我说什么呢?我说什么呢?” 突然间就想起了台词。

In those few minutes the whole speech was just flashing through my brain. I did get back on track, but it was horrible. I don’t know why it happened.

在那几分钟,整段台词就闪现在我脑海中了。最后我继续顺利完成表演,但真的太可怕了,我不知道那一切为什么会发生。

Memory can be just so mysterious. My godfather had a photographic memory and total recall. I remember my mother saying it was the freakiest thing, the first time he visited London – he’d just looked at a few maps and knew his way round better than she did, and she lived there.

记忆是如此之神奇。我的教父能做到过目不忘,记忆力超强我记得母亲曾说教父的第一次伦敦之游最为奇妙了他才看了几张地图就比我母亲还认路,要知道我的母亲可是伦敦人。

But I do believe the part of your mind that works for memory is like a muscle and the more you work it, the better it becomes.

但我相信,大脑中用于记忆工作的部分就像肌肉一样你操作得越多,它的功能就越能发挥出色



5. Lucie Green

Space scientist and broadcaster

太空科学家、太空天气预报员


▲ Photograph: Penguin Random House

My job is quite varied as an academic. I could be writing a computer program, reading long, detailed mathematical research papers or conducting my own research.

作为一个学术研究者我的工作内容是多样的。我电脑程序,也阅读内容复杂的长篇数学论文,还进行自己的研究工作。

One of my most complex challenges was working on a European Space Agency mission to plan a satellite that could make more accurate forecasts for space weather.

我在欧洲航天局工作时,遇到了人生中最艰巨的挑战之一当时我们的任务是要造一颗能精确预报太空天气的卫星。

It required having to think of lots of new things at the same time without immediately knowing what the path is to work out the answers to the questions we were facing.

这需要为此产生很多新想法,与此同时,我们无从知晓哪个才是问题解决的最终方案。

I’m quite keen on physical space to give me mental space. That’s reflected in the place I work. I work at the UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory. It’s in a Victorian mansion in the Surrey hills, so we’ve got an awful lot of countryside around us and the property sits in grounds with many acres.

我非常热衷于利用物理空间赋予自己心理空间而我工作的地方印证了这一点。伦敦大学马拉德空间科学实验室工作实验室位于萨利山上一幢维多利亚式建筑风格的大楼四周尽是村庄,而我们的大楼就矗立在这片广袤的郊野之上。

I have a view of the South Downs. I like the feeling of open physical space and not feeling constrained, which helps me focus. At home, I work in the biggest room with the most light, so I don’t feel boxed in.

因而我能欣赏到英国南部丘陵的地貌风光。我喜欢这种开阔的物理空间带来的感觉,让人觉得不受限制,从而帮助我专注。在家里,我会待在光线充足且又宽敞的房间里工作,这样不会感觉被困住。

I tend to listen to baroque music when I work. I like ordered, very definite beats in the music I listen to. That can create a soundscape that stops me getting distracted by other noises.

工作时我倾向于听巴洛克音乐。我喜欢音乐中规整的律动鲜明的节奏,这样制造出来的声场能阻止其他噪音对我意识产生干扰。

I’m not motivated by having a particular composer or piece of music, I want it to be a barrier that surrounds me and stops the distractions of the outside world coming in. There’s something useful about having unfamiliar music so it doesn’t draw too much of your attention.

我并没有被某个作曲家或某段音乐调动情绪,我只是想让音乐成为一道壁垒,去阻挡从外界而来的分心物。听不熟悉的音乐也有帮助,这样不会分散你太多的注意力。



6. Robert Lordan

London cabbie and author

伦敦出租车司机、作家


What really tests me on a daily basis are the anomalies which the public throw at you. Many passengers get areas and road names confused.

每天都有许多乘客经常搞不清自己要去的地方,所以每天真正考验我的,是他们出口各种奇奇怪怪的地名

They may use colloquial names or aren’t even entirely sure of their destination, having only a vague description to go on. In such cases a lot of focus is required in order to ensure your fare ends up at the correct place.

他们会使用地名的口头名或是对要去的地方完全不确定,只能提供一个模糊的描述。在这些情况下,就需要司机具备强大的专注力,确保在正确的下车点结算车费。

But learning the Knowledge tested my ability to focus more than anything. You’re assessed in a series of one-on-one verbal exams; I had to endure 27 of them. Now and then an examiner will prod your temperament and so, while answering questions, they’ll try and throw you.

但备考 Knowledge(“伦敦知识考试”,传说中世界上难度最高的伦敦出租车司机考试)比任何事都要考验我的专注力。我被一连串的逐级面试轰炸,而我得忍受 27 个这样的面试。开始过程中,考官会时不时刺激你的情绪,当你回答问题的时候,他们还会试图让你犯晕。

In my own experience this involved, among other things, having a book hurled across the room while I was speaking. They play quite a few other psychological tricks, too. When you finally become a cabbie, you quickly realise that the Knowledge examiners were in fact providing a simulation of sorts, preparing you for a career which is often spent thinking under pressure.

除此之外,我还经历过在回答问题时,考官突然间把一本书远远扔过来,他们还会和考生玩心理战。当最后终于成为一名出租车司机,你能很快意识到 Knowledge 考官实际上给到你的是一套模拟训练,为你从事这份需要经常在高压下思考的工作打好基础。

There are quite a few techniques trainee cabbies use. For me, the most practical trick was to employ acronyms and mnemonics – the most famous example being Little Apples Grow Quickly Please that helps recall the order of theatres on Shaftesbury Avenue (Lyric, Apollo, Gielgud, Queen’s, Palace).

这里有一些技巧,见习出租车司机可以使用。对我来说,最实用的技巧是使用首字母记忆法和快速记忆法 —— 最为人所知的例子是 Little Apples Grow Quickly Please,它能帮助人们想起沙夫茨伯里大街上几个剧院LyricApolloGielgudQueen’s,Palace的顺序 。

Very useful when you are struggling to pinpoint a place on a gloomy autumn evening. I’ve found the skills from the Knowledge have really helped when travelling abroad.

在昏暗的秋夜难以找到具体位置时,这方法就很实用。我发现 Knowledge 考试中学到的技巧在我出国旅行时真还起到作用。

As well as providing me with the tools to latch on to local maps and landmarks, the memory techniques I’ve acquired also provide a real boost when learning key phrases in a different language.

我不仅能利用这些记忆方法锁定地图位置和地标还能在学外语的时候快速掌握关键短语。



英文原作How to focus – tips from a Cambridge don, London cabbie and others (The Guardian)
译者简介:雪孩子,壹心理翻译社 | 译员。心理学爱好者。愿与你一起思考与践行。
© 本译文由壹心理翻译社译员与壹心理联合原创首发,供交流学习之用,文中内容不代表壹心理或译者立场。未经允许,不得转载。

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