specifically why people can't seem

精確的說，為什麼上班時

to get work done at work,

沒辦法完成工作

which is a problem we all kind of have.

這情形大家應該都遇過

But let's, sort of, start at the beginning.

我們從頭開始

So we have companies and non-profits and charities

很多公司、非營利企業、慈善機構

and all these groups

等等公司行號

that have employees

都有員工

or volunteers of some sort.

或是志工之類的

And they expect these people who work for them

主管們會希望員工

to do great work --

好好工作

I would hope, at least.

至少努力工作

At least good work, hopefully, at least it's good work --

這是基本要求，能拿出優秀的成績

hopefully great work.

是最好的

And so what they typically do is they decide

所以他們通常會決定

that all these people need to come together in one place

員工通通要到同一地點

to do that work.

上班工作

So a company, or a charity, or an organization of any kind,

所以公司行號、各大機構

they typically -- unless you're working in Africa,

除非你住非洲，會比較幸運

if you're really lucky to do that --

否則通常都會被要求

most people have to go to an office every day.

每天進辦公室

And so these companies,

所以這些公司

they build offices.

需要辦公室存在

They go out and they buy a building, or they rent a building,

用買的或租下辦公大樓

or they lease some space,

或是租個地方

and they fill the space with stuff.

放滿東西，將就著用

They fill it with tables, or desks,

辦公室放滿桌椅、

chairs, computer equipment,

電腦設備、

software,

軟體、

Internet access,

網路連線

maybe a fridge, maybe a few other things,

或許加個冰箱等等東西

and they expect their employees, or their volunteers,

老闆們希望員工，或志工們

to come to that location every day to do great work.

能每天上班，做出一番成果

It seems like it's perfectly reasonable to ask that.

聽起來是個合理要求

However, if you actually talk to people

但如果你親自訪問這些人

and even question yourself,

甚至問問自己

and you ask yourself,

問自己：

where do you really want to go when you really need to get something done?

你真想把事情做好的時候，會去哪裡？

You'll find out that people don't say

通常你會聽到的回答

what businesses think they would say.

都不是這些公司們所想的

If you ask people the question: where do you really need to go

你如果問：你真想把事情做好的時候，

when you need to get something done?

會去哪裡？

Typically you get three different kinds of answers.

通常有三類答案

One is kind of a place or a location or a room.

第一：地點

Another one is a moving object

第二：移動的物體

and a third is a time.

第三：時間

So here's some examples.

我舉例一下

When I ask people -- and I've been asking people this question for about 10 years --

這問題我已經問十幾年了

I ask them, "Where do you go when you really need to get something done?"

我問：你想把事情做好的時候，會去哪裡？

I'll hear things like, the porch, the deck,

我得到的答案有：門廊、桌前、

the kitchen.

廚房、

I'll hear things like an extra room in the house,

房子裡額外的小房間、

the basement,

地下室、

the coffee shop, the library.

咖啡店、圖書館

And then you'll hear things like the train,

還有像是火車、

a plane, a car -- so, the commute.

飛機上、車裡，關於交通的答案

And then you'll hear people say,

也有人回答

"Well, it doesn't really matter where I am,

「其實跟地點沒關係，」

as long as it's really early in the morning or really late at night or on the weekends."

「只要是在清晨、深夜、週末的時候就可以」

You almost never hear someone say the office.

幾乎沒人講辦公室

But businesses are spending all this money on this place called the office,

但公司花大錢設置辦公室

and they're making people go to it all the time,

還要求大家一定要進辦公室

yet people don't do work in the office.

但員工卻無法在辦公室內完成工作

What is that about?

搞什麼？

Why is that?

為什麼？

Why is that happening?

為什麼會這樣？

And what you find out is that, if you dig a little bit deeper,

如果你深究的話

you find out that people --

會發現

this is what happens --

通常

people go to work,

大家上班時

and they're basically trading in their workday

一個工作天其實

for a series of "work moments."

是分很多片段的

That's what happens at the office.

這就是辦公室的情況

You don't have a workday anymore. You have work moments.

已經不是工作「天」，而是工作「片刻」

It's like the front door of the office is like a Cuisinart,

進辦公室好像走進榨汁機一樣

and you walk in and your day is shredded to bits,

一天就這樣被榨成片段

because you have 15 minutes here and 30 minutes there,

這邊15分鐘，那邊30分鐘的拼湊

and then something else happens and you're pulled off your work,

常常有什麼事，就得分神去處理

and you've got to do something else, then you have 20 minutes, then it's lunch.

跑去做別的事之後，再專心個20分鐘，就中餐時間了

Then you have something else to do.

然後又有別的事要做，

Then you've got 15 minutes, and someone pulls you aside and asks you this question,

再專心15分鐘，然後有人跑來問你的問題

and before you know it, it's 5 p.m.,

等你回神，就五點下班時間了

and you look back on the day,

然後回顧一整天

and you realize that you didn't get anything done.

發現你根本什麼也沒做

I mean, we've all been through this.

我們應該都遇過這種情況

We probably went through it yesterday,

也許昨天就是這樣

or the day before, or the day before that.

前天也是、大前天也是

You look back on your day, and you're like, I got nothing done today.

每天回顧，恍然發現什麼事也沒做

I was at work.

我進了辦公室

I sat at my desk. I used my expensive computer.

我坐在電腦前，打著昂貴電腦

I used the software they told me to use.

用著他們裝的軟體

I went to these meetings I was asked to go to.

開上頭要我參加的會議

I did these conference calls. I did all this stuff.

打打電話之類的事

But I didn't actually do anything.

但其實什麼都沒做

I just did tasks.

我做「瑣事」而已

I didn't actually get meaningful work done.

其實正經事都沒做

And what you find is that, especially with creative people --

尤其你會發現，有創意的人--

designers, programmers,

設計師、程式設計師、

writers, engineers,

作家、工程師、

thinkers --

工作必須思考的人

that people really need

都需要

long stretches of uninterrupted time to get something done.

連續、不被打擾的時間才能將事情做好

You cannot ask somebody to be creative in 15 minutes

你不能要求一個人，用15分鐘時間想創意

and really think about a problem.

或想出辦法解決問題

You might have a quick idea,

可能會有很快的一個想法

but to be in deep thought about a problem and really consider a problem carefully,

但真想要徹底想出解決方案

you need long stretches of uninterrupted time.

就一定需要長時間、不被打擾的時間

And even though the workday is typically eight hours,

正常一個工作天是八小時

how many people here have ever had eight hours to themselves at the office?

你們有多少人在辦公室，八小時都是自己的時間？

How about seven hours?

七小時？

Six? Five? Four?

六？五？四？

When's the last time you had three hours to yourself at the office?

你什麼時候真的在辦公室獨處過完整3小時？

Two hours? One, maybe?

兩小時？或許一小時？

Very, very few people actually have

很少人在辦公室真的有

long stretches of uninterrupted time at an office.

長時間、不被打擾的時間

And this is why people choose to do work at home,

這就是為什麼大家選擇在家工作

or they might go to the office,

他們也許可能會進辦公室

but they might go to the office really early in the day,

但都是在很早的時候

or late at night when no one's around,

或是很晚，大家都離開時

or they stick around after everyone's left, or they go in on the weekends,

等到沒人，或是周末進辦公室

or they get work done on the plane,

又或是在飛機上把工作做完

or they get work done in the car or in the train

或是在車上、火車上

because there are no distractions.

因為這樣才不會被打擾

Now, there are different kinds of distractions,

干擾有很多種

but there aren't the really bad kinds of distractions

但有些並非不好

that I'll talk about in just a minute.

我們等會兒再談

And this sort of whole phenomenon

這種短暫工作時刻的

of having short bursts of time to get things done

整個現象

reminds me of another thing

讓我想到另一件事

that doesn't work when you're interrupted,

當你做這件事的時候也不能被打擾

and that is sleep.

就是睡覺

I think that sleep and work are very closely related,

睡覺跟工作習習相關

and it's not just that you can work while you're sleeping

不是因為睡覺時無法工作

and you can sleep while you're working.

工作時不能睡覺

That's not really what I mean.

我不是要講這個

I'm talking specifically about the fact

我要講的是

that sleep and work

睡覺和工作

are phased-based,

都是階段性的

or stage-based, events.

或稱做時期性的

So sleep is about sleep phases, or stages --

所以睡覺也是很多階段、時期 --

some people call them different things.

說法有很多種

There's five of them,

總共有五個階段

and in order to get to the really deep ones, the really meaningful ones,

為了進到最深沉的階段

you have to go through the early ones.

就必須從最初那一階開始

And if you're interrupted while you're going through the early ones --

如果你第一階段就被打擾

if someone bumps you in bed,

可能有人翻身碰到你

or if there's a sound, or whatever happens --

或許是有什麼聲音之類的

you don't just pick up where you left off.

你沒辦法回到原本階段繼續睡

If you're interrupted and woken up,

如果被打擾後醒來

you have to start again.

就必須重頭開始

So you have to go back a few phases and start again.

就得回到前幾個階段重來

And what ends up happening -- sometimes you might have days like this

很常發生的情況是 -- 有時候你會發現

where you wake up at eight in the morning, or seven in the morning,

當你八點起床，或七點起床

or whenever you get up,

隨便幾點

and you're like, man, I didn't really sleep very well.

起床後就想，天哪，我沒睡好

I did the sleep thing -- I went to bed, I laid down --

我有睡阿 -- 我爬上床、躺下

but I didn't really sleep.

但沒有真的睡著

People say you go to sleep,

我們說去睡覺

but you really don't go to sleep, you go towards sleep.

其實不是一倒下就睡著，而是進入夢鄉

It just takes a while. You've got to go through these phases and stuff,

是需要時間的，一階一階慢慢來

and if you're interrupted, you don't sleep well.

如果被干擾，當然就睡不好

So how do we expect -- does anyone here expect someone to sleep well

整夜一直被打擾

if they're interrupted all night?

能睡的好嗎？

I don't think anyone would say yes.

應該不行吧

Why do we expect people to work well

在辦公室裡不斷被打擾

if they're being interrupted all day at the office?

是要怎麼把工作做好啊？

How can we possibly expect people to do their job

在辦公室裡一直被打擾

if they're going to the office to be interrupted?

要員工怎麼把事情做好？

That doesn't really seem like it makes a lot of sense to me.

對我來說，一點也不合理

So what are these interruptions that happen at the office

那這些干擾只發生在辦公室

that don't happen at other places?

其他地方不會發生嗎？

Because in other places, you can have interruptions,

其他地方也是會有干擾

like, you can have the TV,

或許會跑去看電視

or you could go for a walk,

或是散個步

or there's a fridge downstairs,

到樓下冰箱拿個飲料

or you've got your own couch, or whatever you want to do.

躺一下沙發等等

And if you talk to certain managers,

如果你和一些主管談過

they'll tell you that they don't want their employees to work at home

他們會說，他們不喜歡員工在家工作的原因

because of these distractions.

是因為容易受干擾

They'll also say --

他們也說

sometimes they'll also say,

偶爾會這樣說

"Well, if I can't see the person, how do I know they're working?"

"如果我看不到人影，怎麼知道他在工作?"

which is ridiculous, of course, but that's one of the excuses that managers give.

這理由很荒繆，但他們都用這藉口

And I'm one of these managers.

我也是經理

I understand. I know how this goes.

所以我懂

We all have to improve on this sort of thing.

但我們要改善這情形

But oftentimes they'll cite distractions.

可是他們常會舉例

"I can't let someone work at home.

"我不能讓員工在家工作"

They'll watch TV. They'll do this other thing."

"因為他們會看電視、做別的事"

It turns out that those aren't the things that are really distracting.

但其實這些讓你分心的事，並不是真的干擾

Because those are voluntary distractions.

因為這些干擾是自願性的

You decide when you want to be distracted by the TV.

你自己決定什麼時候看電視

You decide when you want to turn something on.

開什麼、關什麼、用什麼

You decide when you want to go downstairs or go for a walk.

決定什麼時候下樓、散步

At the office, most of the interruptions and distractions

而辦公室裡的大多數干擾

that really cause people not to get work done

讓人們無法好好工作的

are involuntary.

都是非自願的

So let's go through a couple of those.

我來解釋一下

Now, managers and bosses

所以，上司、老闆們

will often have you think that the real distractions at work

常會告訴你，工作時真正會讓你分心的是

are things like Facebook and Twitter

Facebook和Twitter

and YouTube and other websites,

還有Youtube等其他網站

and in fact, they'll go so far

他們甚至會完全禁止

as to actually ban these sites at work.

上班瀏覽這些網站

Some of you may work at places where you can't get to these certain sites.

你們有些人的公司可能會擋某些網站

I mean, is this China? What the hell is going on here?

這是中國嗎? 搞什麼?

You can't go to a website at work,

上班時候不能逛某些網站

and that's the problem, that's why people aren't getting work done,

因為逛了之後員工會不想工作？

because they're going to Facebook and they're going to Twitter?

是因為他們玩Facebook或Twitter?

That's kind of ridiculous. It's a total decoy.

大瞎了吧，根本是胡扯

And today's Facebook and Twitter and YouTube,

今日的Facebook、Twitter、YouTube

these things are just modern-day smoke breaks.

等於是以前的抽菸時間而已

No one cared about letting people take a smoke break for 15 minutes

十年前，上班時間溜出去15分鐘抽個菸

10 years ago,

根本沒人管

so why does everyone care about someone going to Facebook here and there,

現在為什麼偶爾上個Facebook、Twitter、YouTube

or Twitter here and there, or YouTube here and there?

就意見一大堆？

Those aren't the real problems in the office.

這些根本不是真正的問題

The real problems are what I like to call

真正的問題我稱做是

the M&Ms,

M&M's

the Managers and the Meetings.

經理(managers)和會議(meetings)

Those are the real problems in the modern office today.

這才是現今辦公室裡最大的問題

And this is why things don't get done at work --

員工沒辦法順利完成工作

it's because of the M&Ms.

就是因為M&M's

Now what's interesting is,

有趣的事來了

if you listen to all the places that people talk about doing work --

很多人說他們工作的地方--

like at home, or in a car, or on a plane,

在家、車上、飛機上、

or late at night, or early in the morning --

深夜、清晨

you don't find managers and meetings.

通常都沒有經理和會議

You find a lot of other distractions, but you don't find managers and meetings.

也許有很多其他干擾，但沒有經理和會議

So these are the things that you don't find elsewhere,

這兩樣其他地方沒有

but you do find at the office.