Focus and concentration can be difficult to master. Sure, most people want to learn how to improve focus and boost concentration. But actually doing it? We live in a noisy world and constant distractions can make focus difficult.
专注力和注意力很难掌握。当然，大多数人都想学习如何提高专注力和集中力。但真正做到了吗？我们生活在一个嘈杂的世界，持续不断的干扰会让人难以集中注意力。
Luckily, this page contains the best ideas and top research on how to get and stay focused. We will break down the science behind sharpening your mind and paying attention to what matters. Whether you’re looking to focus on your goals in life or business, this page should cover everything you need to know.
幸运的是，本页包含了关于如何获得并保持注意力集中的最佳想法和顶尖研究。我们将为你解析磨练意志、关注重要事物背后的科学原理。无论你是想专注于生活还是事业目标，本页都会涵盖你需要了解的一切。
You can click the links below to jump to a particular section or simply scroll down to read everything. At the end of this page, you’ll find a complete list of all the articles I have written on focus.
您可以点击下面的链接跳转到特定部分，或者直接向下滚动阅读所有内容。在本页末尾，您将看到我所写的所有关于聚焦的文章的完整列表。
Focus: What It Is and How it Works
聚焦：它是什么，如何发挥作用
How to Focus and Increase Your Attention Span
如何集中精力，提高注意力
- Warren Buffett’s “2 List” Strategy for Focused Attention
巴菲特的 "两张清单 "聚焦战略 - Measure Your Results 衡量成果
- Focus on the Process, Not the Event
关注过程，而非事件
Mind-Hacks for Getting Focused
集中注意力的心灵窍门
Focus: What It Is and How it Works
聚焦：它是什么，如何发挥作用
First things first. What is focus, really? Experts define focus as the act of concentrating your interest or activity on something. That’s a somewhat boring definition, but there is an important insight hiding inside that definition.
先说第一件事。什么是专注？专家将 "专注 "定义为将你的兴趣或活动集中在某件事情上。这个定义有点无聊，但其中隐藏着一个重要的见解。
What is Focus? 什么是 "聚焦"？
In order to concentrate on one thing you must, by default, ignore many other things.
为了集中精力做一件事，你必须忽略许多其他事情。
Here’s a better way to put it:
这里有一个更好的说法：
Focus can only occur when we have said yes to one option and no to all other options. In other words, elimination is a prerequisite for focus. As Tim Ferriss says, “What you don’t do determines what you can do.”
只有当我们对一个选项说 "是"，对所有其他选项说 "不 "时，才能做到专注。换句话说，排除是专注的前提。正如蒂姆-费里斯所说，"你不做的事决定了你能做什么"。
Of course, focus doesn’t require a permanent no, but it does require a present no. You always have the option to do something else later, but in the present moment focus requires that you only do one thing. Focus is the key to productivity because saying no to every other option unlocks your ability to accomplish the one thing that is left.
当然，专注并不需要永久的"不"，但需要当下的"不"。你总是可以选择稍后再做其他事情，但在当下，专注要求你只做一件事。专注是工作效率的关键，因为对其他选择说 "不"，就能释放你的能力，完成剩下的一件事。
Now for the important question: What can we do to focus on the things that matter and ignore the things that don’t?
现在，重要的问题来了：我们怎样才能专注于重要的事情，而忽略那些不重要的事情？
Why Can’t I Focus? 为什么我无法集中注意力？
Most people don’t have trouble with focusing. They have trouble with deciding.
大多数人在集中注意力方面没有问题。他们的问题是决定。
What I mean is that most healthy humans have a brain that is capable of focusing if we get the distractions out of the way. Have you ever had a task that you absolutely had to get done? What happened? You got it done because the deadline made the decision for you. Maybe you procrastinated beforehand, but once things became urgent and you were forced to make a decision, you took action.
我的意思是，如果我们排除干扰，大多数健康人的大脑都能够集中注意力。你有过必须完成的任务吗？结果呢？你完成了，因为最后期限替你做了决定。也许在此之前你一直在拖延，但一旦事情变得紧迫，你不得不做出决定时，你就采取了行动。
Instead of doing the difficult work of choosing one thing to focus on, we often convince ourselves that multitasking is a better option. This is ineffective.
我们常常说服自己，多任务处理是更好的选择，而不是去做选择一件事情来专注的艰巨工作。这是无效的。
The Myth of Multitasking 多任务处理的神话
Technically, we are capable of doing two things at the same time. It is possible, for example, to watch TV while cooking dinner or to answer an email while talking on the phone.
从技术上讲，我们能够同时做两件事。例如，我们可以一边做饭一边看电视，或者一边打电话一边回复电子邮件。
What is impossible, however, is concentrating on two tasks at once. You’re either listening to the TV and the overflowing pot of pasta is background noise, or you’re tending to the pot of pasta and the TV is background noise. During any single instant, you are concentrating on one or the other.
然而，不可能的是同时专注于两项任务。你要么在听电视，而溢出来的一锅意大利面就是背景噪声；要么你在处理一锅意大利面，而电视就是背景噪声。在任何一个瞬间，你都在专注于其中的一项或另一项。
Multitasking forces your brain to switch your focus back and forth very quickly from one task to another. This wouldn’t be a big deal if the human brain could transition seamlessly from one job to the next, but it can’t.
多任务处理迫使你的大脑将注意力从一项任务快速切换到另一项任务。如果人脑能从一项工作无缝过渡到下一项工作，这就不是什么大问题，但它做不到。
Have you ever been in the middle of writing an email when someone interrupts you? When the conversation is over and you get back to the message, it takes you a few minutes to get your bearings, remember what you were writing, and get back on track. Something similar happens when you multitask. Multitasking forces you to pay a mental price each time you interrupt one task and jump to another. In psychology terms, this mental price is called the switching cost.
你有没有在写电子邮件写到一半时被人打断的经历？当谈话结束，你回到邮件中时，你需要几分钟的时间来调整自己的状态，回忆你正在写的内容，然后回到正轨。多任务处理时也会发生类似的情况。每当你中断一项任务，转而处理另一项任务时，多任务处理都会迫使你付出心理代价。用心理学术语来说，这种心理代价叫做切换成本。
Switching cost is the disruption in performance that we experience when we switch our focus from one area to another. One study, published in the International Journal of Information Management in 2003, found that the typical person checks email once every five minutes and that, on average, it takes 64 seconds to resume the previous task after checking your email.
切换成本是指当我们将注意力从一个领域切换到另一个领域时，所经历的性能中断。2003 年发表在《国际信息管理杂志》上的一项研究发现，一般人每五分钟查看一次电子邮件，而在查看电子邮件后恢复上一项任务平均需要 64 秒。
In other words, because of email alone, we typically waste one out of every six minutes.
换句话说，仅仅因为电子邮件，我们通常每 6 分钟就会浪费 1 分钟。
多任务处理的神话在于它能让你更有效率。实际上，非凡的专注力才是与众不同之处。(图片灵感来自Jessica Hagy）。
How to Focus and Increase Your Attention Span
如何集中精力，提高注意力
Let’s talk about how to overcome our tendency to multitask and focus on one thing at a time. Of the many options in front of you, how do you know what to focus on? How do you know where to direct your energy and attention? How do you determine the one thing that you should commit to doing?
让我们来谈谈如何克服一心多用的倾向，一次只专注于一件事。在你面前的众多选择中，你如何知道该专注于什么？如何知道该把精力和注意力放在哪里？如何确定你应该致力于做的一件事？
Warren Buffett’s “2 List” Strategy for Focused Attention
巴菲特的 "两张清单 "聚焦战略
One of my favorite methods for focusing your attention on what matters and eliminating what doesn’t comes from the famous investor Warren Buffett.
我最喜欢的方法之一，就是把注意力集中在重要的事情上，把不重要的事情排除在外，这个方法来自著名投资家沃伦-巴菲特。
Buffett uses a simple 3-step productivity strategy to help his employees determine their priorities and actions. You may find this method useful for making decisions and getting yourself to commit to doing one thing right away. Here’s how it works…
巴菲特使用一个简单的三步生产力战略，帮助他的员工确定他们的优先事项和行动。你可能会发现，这种方法对于做出决定和让自己承诺立即做一件事非常有用。下面是它的工作原理...
One day, Buffett asked his personal pilot to go through the 3-step exercise.
有一天，巴菲特要求他的私人飞行员进行三步练习。
STEP 1: Buffett started by asking the pilot, named Mike Flint, to write down his top 25 career goals. So, Flint took some time and wrote them down. (Note: You could also complete this exercise with goals for a shorter timeline. For example, write down the top 25 things you want to accomplish this week.)
第 1 步：巴菲特首先要求这位名叫迈克-弗林特的飞行员写下他的 25 个职业目标。于是，弗林特花了一些时间写了下来。(注：您也可以用更短时间的目标来完成这项练习。例如，写下本周最想完成的 25 件事）。
STEP 2: Then, Buffett asked Flint to review his list and circle his top 5 goals. Again, Flint took some time, made his way through the list, and eventually decided on his 5 most important goals.
第 2 步：然后，巴菲特让弗林特回顾他的清单，并圈出他的 5 大目标。弗林特再次花了一些时间，在清单上做了一番整理，最终确定了自己最重要的 5 个目标。
STEP 3: At this point, Flint had two lists. The 5 items he had circled were List A, and the 20 items he had not circled were List B.
第 3 步：此时，弗林特有两份清单。他圈起来的 5 个项目是清单 A，他没有圈起来的 20 个项目是清单 B。
Flint confirmed that he would start working on his top 5 goals right away. And that’s when Buffett asked him about the second list, “And what about the ones you didn’t circle?”
弗林特确认，他将立即着手实现他的五大目标。这时，巴菲特问他关于第二份清单的问题："那你没有圈出来的那些呢？"
Flint replied, “Well, the top 5 are my primary focus, but the other 20 come in a close second. They are still important so I’ll work on those intermittently as I see fit. They are not as urgent, but I still plan to give them a dedicated effort.”
弗林特回答说："嗯，前 5 名是我的主要关注点，但其他 20 名紧随其后。它们仍然很重要，所以我会在我认为合适的时候断断续续地处理这些问题。虽然它们没有那么紧迫，但我仍计划为它们付出专注的努力"。
To which Buffett replied, “No. You’ve got it wrong, Mike. Everything you didn’t circle just became your Avoid-At-All-Cost list. No matter what, these things get no attention from you until you’ve succeeded with your top 5.”
巴菲特回答说："不，你搞错了，迈克。所有你没有圈起来的东西都成了你的 "不惜一切代价避免 "清单。无论如何，在你成功完成前 5 项任务之前，这些事情都不会引起你的注意。"
I love Buffett’s method because it forces you to make hard decisions and eliminate things that might be good uses of time, but aren’t great uses of time. So often the tasks that derail our focus are ones that we can easily rationalize spending time on.
我喜欢巴菲特的方法，因为它迫使你做出艰难的决定，剔除那些可能很好地利用了时间，但却没有很好地利用时间的事情。通常，让我们的注意力偏离正轨的任务，都是我们很容易合理化花费时间的任务。
This is just one way to narrow your focus and eliminate distractions. I’ve covered many other methods before like The Ivy Lee Method and The Eisenhower Box. That said, no matter what method you use and no matter how committed you are, at some point your concentration and focus begin to fade. How can you increase your attention span and remain focused?
这只是缩小你的注意力和消除干扰的一种方法。我曾经介绍过许多其他方法，如常春藤李法和艾森豪威尔盒。尽管如此，无论您使用哪种方法，无论您多么专注，您的注意力和专注力都会在某些时候开始减退。如何提高注意力并保持专注？
There are two simple steps you can take.
您可以采取两个简单的步骤。
Measure Your Results 衡量成果
The first thing you can do is to measure your progress.
首先要做的就是衡量自己的进步。
Focus often fades because of lack of feedback. Your brain has a natural desire to know whether or not you are making progress toward your goals, and it is impossible to know that without getting feedback. From a practical standpoint, this means that we need to measure our results.
专注力往往会因为缺乏反馈而减退。你的大脑天生渴望知道自己是否在朝着目标前进，而如果得不到反馈，就不可能知道这一点。从实际角度来看，这意味着我们需要衡量我们的成果。
We all have areas of life that we say are important to us, but that we aren’t measuring. That’s a shame because measurement maintains focus and concentration. The things we measure are the things we improve. It is only through numbers and clear tracking that we have any idea if we are getting better or worse.
我们都有一些生活领域，我们说它们对我们很重要，但我们却没有去衡量。这很可惜，因为衡量能让我们保持专注和集中。我们衡量的事情就是我们要改进的事情。只有通过数字和清晰的跟踪，我们才能知道自己是变好了还是变差了。
- When I measured how many pushups I did, I got stronger.
当我测量我做了多少个俯卧撑时，我变得更强壮了。 - When I tracked my reading habit of 20 pages per day, I read more books.
当我跟踪我每天阅读 20 页的习惯时，我读了更多的书。 - When I recorded my values, I began living with more integrity.
当我记录我的价值观时，我开始更加正直地生活。
The tasks I measured were the ones I remained focused on.
我所衡量的任务就是我一直专注的任务。
Unfortunately, we often avoid measuring because we are fearful of what the numbers will tell us about ourselves. The trick is to realize that measuring is not a judgment about who you are, it’s just feedback on where you are.
不幸的是，我们经常回避衡量，因为我们害怕数字会告诉我们自己什么。诀窍在于认识到，衡量并不是对你是谁的判断，它只是对你在哪里的反馈。
Measure to discover, to find out, to understand. Measure to get to know yourself better. Measure to see if you’re actually spending time on the things that are important to you. Measure because it will help you focus on the things that matter and ignore the things that don’t.
测量是为了发现、了解和理解。测量是为了更好地了解自己。衡量你是否真的把时间花在了对你重要的事情上。测量是因为它能帮助你专注于重要的事情，而忽略那些不重要的事情。
Focus on the Process, Not the Event
关注过程，而非事件
The second thing you can do to maintain long-term focus is to concentrate on processes, not events. All too often, we see success as an event that can be achieved and completed.
保持长期专注的第二件事是专注于过程，而不是事件。我们常常把成功视为可以实现和完成的事件。
Here are some common examples:
下面是一些常见的例子：
- Many people see health as an event: “If I just lose 20 pounds, then I’ll be in shape.”
许多人把健康看作是一件大事："If I just lose 20 pounds, then I'll be in shape.""如果我减掉 20 磅，我就会有好身材。 - Many people see entrepreneurship as an event: “If we could get our business featured in the New York Times, then we’d be set.”
许多人把创业视为一件大事："If we could get our business featured in the New York Times, then we'd be set.""如果我们的企业能登上《纽约时报》，那我们就成功了。 - Many people see art as an event: “If I could just get my work featured in a bigger gallery, then I’d have the credibility I need.”
许多人把艺术看成是一场盛会："If I could just get my work featured in a bigger gallery, then I'd have the credibility I need""如果我能让我的作品在更大的画廊展出，那我就拥有了我需要的信誉。
Those are just a few of the many ways that we categorize success as a single event. But if you look at the people who stay focused on their goals, you start to realize that it’s not the events or the results that make them different. It’s the commitment to the process. They fall in love with the daily practice, not the individual event.
这些只是我们把成功归类为单一事件的众多方式中的几种。但是，如果你看看那些专注于自己目标的人，你就会开始意识到，让他们与众不同的并不是事件或结果。而是对过程的承诺。他们爱上的是每天的练习，而不是个别事件。
What’s funny, of course, is that this focus on the process is what will allow you to enjoy the results anyway.
当然，有趣的是，正是这种对过程的关注，让你无论如何都能享受到成果。
- If you want to be a great writer, then having a best-selling book is wonderful. But the only way to reach that result is to fall in love with the process of writing.
如果你想成为一名伟大的作家，那么拥有一本畅销书就再好不过了。但达到这一结果的唯一途径就是爱上写作的过程。 - If you want the world to know about your business, then it would be great to be featured in Forbes magazine. But the only way to reach that result is to fall in love with the process of marketing.
如果您想让全世界都知道您的企业，那么登上福布斯杂志是再好不过的了。但是，达到这一结果的唯一途径就是爱上营销过程。 - If you want to be in the best shape of your life, then losing 20 pounds might be necessary. But the only way to reach that result is to fall in love with the process of eating healthy and exercising consistently.
如果你想拥有一生中最好的身材，那么减掉 20 磅可能是必要的。但达到这一效果的唯一方法就是爱上健康饮食和坚持锻炼的过程。 - If you want to become significantly better at anything, you have to fall in love with the process of doing it. You have to fall in love with building the identity of someone who does the work, rather than merely dreaming about the results that you want.
如果你想在任何事情上取得显著进步，你就必须爱上做事的过程。你必须爱上建立自己的工作身份，而不仅仅是梦想你想要的结果。
Focusing on outcomes and goals is our natural tendency, but focusing on processes leads to more results over the long-run.
注重结果和目标是我们的自然倾向，但从长远来看，注重过程会带来更多成果。
Concentration and Focus Mind-Hacks
集中力和专注力的心灵窍门
Even after you’ve learned to love the process and know how to stay focused on your goals, the day-to-day implementation of those goals can still be messy. Let’s talk about some additional ways to improve concentration and make sure you’re giving each task your focused attention.
即使你已经学会了热爱这个过程，并知道如何保持对目标的专注，但这些目标的日常实施仍然可能是一团糟。让我们来谈谈提高注意力的其他方法，确保你对每项任务都全神贯注。
How to Improve Concentration
如何提高注意力
Here are few additional ways to improve your focus and get started on what matters.
以下是一些提高专注力和开始做重要事情的额外方法。
Choose an anchor task. One of the major improvements I’ve made recently is to assign one (and only one) priority to each work day. Although I plan to complete other tasks during the day, my priority task is the one non-negotiable thing that must get done. I call this my “anchor task” because it is the mainstay that holds the rest of my day in place. The power of choosing one priority is that it naturally guides your behavior by forcing you to organize your life around that responsibility.
选择一项锚定任务。我最近做出的一项重大改进就是为每个工作日指定一项（也只能指定一项）优先任务。虽然我计划在一天中完成其他任务，但我的优先任务是一件必须完成的事情。我称它为 "锚任务"，因为它是支撑我一天其他工作的中流砥柱。选择一项优先任务的力量在于，它能自然而然地引导你的行为，迫使你围绕这项责任安排自己的生活。
Manage your energy, not your time. If a task requires your full attention, then schedule it for a time of day when you have the energy needed to focus. For example, I have noticed that my creative energy is highest in the morning. That’s when I’m fresh. That’s when I do my best writing. That’s when I make the best strategic decisions about my business. So, what do I do? I schedule creative tasks for the morning. All other business tasks are taken care of in the afternoon. This includes doing interviews, responding to emails, phone calls and Skype chats, data analysis and number crunching. Nearly every productivity strategy obsesses over managing your time better, but time is useless if you don’t have the energy you need to complete the task you are working on.
管理你的精力，而不是你的时间。如果某项任务需要你全神贯注，那么就把它安排在一天中你有精力集中的时候。例如，我注意到我的创造力在早上是最旺盛的。那是我精力充沛的时候。这是我写作最好的时候。也是我做出最佳业务战略决策的时候。那么，我是怎么做的呢？我把创意任务安排在早上。所有其他业务任务都在下午处理。这包括采访、回复电子邮件、电话和 Skype 聊天、数据分析和数字计算。几乎所有的工作效率策略都在强调如何更好地管理时间，但如果你没有精力去完成正在进行的任务，时间就是无用的。
Never check email before noon. Focus is about eliminating distractions. Email can be one of the biggest distractions of all. If I don’t check email at the beginning of the day, then I am able to spend the morning pursuing my own agenda rather than reacting to everybody else’s agenda. That’s a huge win because I’m not wasting mental energy thinking about all the messages in my inbox. I realize that waiting until the afternoon isn’t feasible for many people, but I’d like to offer a challenge. Can you wait until 10AM? What about 9AM? 8:30AM? The exact cutoff time doesn’t matter. The point is to carve out time during your morning when you can focus on what is most important to you without letting the rest of the world dictate your mental state.
切勿在中午之前查看电子邮件。专注就是要排除干扰。电子邮件可能是最大的分心因素之一。如果我在一天开始时不查看电子邮件，那么我就能在上午的时间里完成自己的日程，而不是对其他人的日程做出反应。这是一个巨大的胜利，因为我不用浪费脑力去思考收件箱里的所有邮件。我知道对很多人来说，等到下午是不可行的，但我想提出一个挑战。你能等到上午 10 点吗？上午 9 点呢？上午 8:30？确切的截止时间并不重要。问题的关键是，在你的早晨，你可以专注于对你来说最重要的事情，而不会让世界上的其他事情左右你的精神状态。
Leave your phone in another room. I usually don’t see my phone for the first few hours of the day. It is much easier to do focused work when you don’t have any text messages, phone calls, or alerts interrupting your focus.
把手机放在另一个房间里。我通常在一天的前几个小时不看手机。如果没有任何短信、电话或提示打扰你，你就更容易集中精力工作。
Work in full screen mode. Whenever I use an application on my computer, I use full screen mode. If I’m reading an article on the web, my browser takes up the whole screen. If I’m writing in Evernote, I’m working in full screen mode. If I’m editing a picture in Photoshop, it is the only thing I can see. I have set up my desktop so that the menu bar disappears automatically. When I am working, I can’t see the time, the icons of other applications, or any other distractions on the screen. It’s funny how big of a difference this makes for my focus and concentration. If you can see an icon on your screen, then you will be reminded to click on it occasionally. However, if you remove the visual cue, then the urge to be distracted subsides in a few minutes.
在全屏模式下工作。每当我使用电脑上的应用程序时，我都会使用全屏模式。如果我在网上阅读文章，浏览器会占据整个屏幕。如果我在 Evernote 中写作，我就会在全屏模式下工作。如果我在 Photoshop 中编辑图片，我只能看到它。我对桌面进行了设置，菜单栏会自动消失。当我工作时，我看不到时间、其他应用程序的图标或屏幕上的任何其他干扰。有趣的是，这对我的注意力和专注力有很大的影响。如果你能看到屏幕上的图标，那么你就会被提醒偶尔点击一下。但是，如果你移除视觉线索，那么分心的冲动就会在几分钟内消退。
Remove all tasks that could distract from early morning focus. I love doing the most important thing first each day because the urgencies of the day have not crept in yet. I have gone a little far in this regard in that I have even pushed my first meal off until about noon each day. I have been intermittent fasting for three years now (here are some lessons learned), which means that I typically eat most of my meals between 12PM and 8PM. The result is that I get some additional time in the morning to do focused work rather than cook breakfast.
删除所有可能分散清晨注意力的任务。我喜欢每天先做最重要的事情，因为一天的紧迫感还没有悄然袭来。在这方面，我走得有点远，我甚至把每天的第一餐推迟到中午左右。我已经间歇性断食三年了（这里有一些经验教训），这意味着我通常在中午 12 点到晚上 8 点之间进食。这样做的结果是，我在早上有更多的时间专注于工作，而不是做早餐。
Regardless of what strategy you use, just remember that anytime you find the world distracting you, all you need to do is commit to one thing. In the beginning, you don’t even have to succeed. You just need to get started.
无论你使用哪种策略，只要记住，无论何时你发现世界让你分心，你需要做的就是致力于一件事。一开始，你甚至不必成功。你只需要开始。
Where to Go From Here
何去何从
I hope you found this short guide on focus useful. If you’re looking for more ideas on how to improve your focus and concentration, feel free to browse the full list of articles below.
希望这篇关于专注力的简短指南对你有所帮助。如果您想了解更多关于如何提高注意力和专注力的想法，请随时浏览下面的完整文章列表。
All Focus Articles 所有焦点文章
This is a complete list of articles I have written on focus. Enjoy!
这是我写过的关于聚焦的文章的完整列表。请欣赏！
- The Ultimate Productivity Hack is Saying No
说 "不 "是提高生产力的终极秘诀 - How Experts Figure What to Focus On
专家如何确定重点 - Zanshin: Learning the Art of Attention and Focus From a Legendary Samurai Archer
斩心：向传奇武士弓箭手学习注意力和专注力的艺术 - Warren Buffett’s “2 List” Strategy: How to Maximize Your Focus and Master Your Priorities
沃伦-巴菲特的 "两份清单 "战略：如何最大限度地集中精力和掌握优先事项 - How to Get Your Brain to Focus on What Matters
如何让大脑专注于重要的事情 - How to Stay Focused When You Get Bored Working Toward Your Goals
如何在为实现目标而感到无聊时保持专注 - How to Focus and Concentrate Better
如何更好地集中注意力
