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Stay Afloat in the Sea of Information 信息狂潮下的求生指南

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Our brains and our work lives are often out of sync, according to authors Douglas Merrill and James Martin  作者道格拉斯．梅瑞尔与詹姆斯．马汀认为，人们的大脑与工作常常不同步

Our nine-to-five workdays and our cubicle-based workstations are no longer helping us get done what we need to do. It’s no wonder that we have trouble organizing ourselves to win the game when the entire playing field is poorly designed! Thankfully we have some new tools to help us manage our time better and do our best work. In Getting Organized in the Google Era, the authors compile hundreds of useful tips for getting more from our time at work and home.

朝九晚五的工作日和隔间式的工作空间，对于完成我们该做的任务已不再是助力。如果整个人生赛场设计就是这么糟，难怪我们无法好好整理筹划以求胜出！还好我们有新工具，协助我们更有效安排时间、让我们在工作上有最好的表现。在《谷歌时代整理术》（暂译）一书中，作者整合了几百条好用的小秘诀，让我们可以善用工作时间与在家时间。

Merrill knows this territory well. Before he was the chief operating officer of new music at EMI, he was the chief information officer at Google. Before that, he worked as a senior vice president at Charles Schwab and an information scientist at RAND. With a Ph.D. in cognitive science from Princeton University, he understands the human brain and the ways new tools can help to keep it sane amid today’s technological tumult.

梅瑞尔非常了解这个领域。在他担任EMI唱片公司新音乐部营运长之前，他是谷歌的信息长；在担任谷歌信息长之前，他是嘉信理财集团资深副总裁、兰德智库公司信息科学家。梅瑞尔拥有普林斯顿大学认知科学博士学位，他了解人脑，也知道如何利用新工具协助人们保持清醒，不要迷失在现代科技的混乱之中。

As a person with dyslexia, a learning disorder that causes the brain to reverse numbers and letters, Merrill has great empathy for people who are struggling with getting things organized. While researching the subject of brain cognition, he learned that the ways our brains are hardwired often work against what we are trying to accomplish. This makes getting organized an often difficult undertaking. Through his research and his work, he learned a vast array of techniques for getting past limitations and focusing on the right information. Now, Merrill and Martin have arranged these work tactics into a book that helps others get their own work and personal lives in order.

梅瑞尔本人有读写障碍，这是一种大脑会将数字与字母颠倒的学习障碍，因此他对于不会整理、缺乏章法的人特别有同理心。梅瑞尔在研究大脑认知时，知道头脑的结构方式通常不利于我们想完成的事情，这使得保持井井有条变成一件困难的工作。梅瑞尔从研究及工作之中，学到许多技巧，能够超越限制，聚焦于正确的信息上。梅瑞尔和马汀如今将这些工作妙招写成一本书，帮助其他人在工作上及个人生活中均能井然有序。

单词发音

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afloat [əˋflot] adj. 飘浮着的 free or out of difficulty, especially financial difficulty

cubicle [ˋkjubɪk!] n. 小隔间

compile [kəmˋpaɪl] v. 收集（资料等; 汇编

sane [sen] adj. 神志正常的，头脑清楚的

tumult [ˋtjumʌlt] n. 骚动；混乱

dyslexia [dɪsˋlɛksɪə] n. 识字困难；诵读困难

reverse [rɪˋvɝs] v. 颠倒，翻转

cognition [kɑgˋnɪʃən] n. 认知; 【正式】理解﹐领悟

undertaking [͵ʌndɚˋtekɪŋ] n. 工作

array [əˋre] n. 大量[S][（+of）] a large group, number, or quantity of people or things

get past  越过 to move around or ahead of someone or something that is in the way

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Moving Past the Nine-to-Five Workday  超越朝九晚五的工作日

In Getting Organized in the Google Era, the authors break down the difficulties of getting organized in today’s information-saturated world into three parts. The first focuses on the individual and the hurdles we each must overcome to get to the goals we’ve set for ourselves. Some of the options discussed by the authors offer an alternative to traditional management philosophy. While not for every workplace, some of the ideas about scheduling and time management could be a good fit for selected workplaces.

在《谷歌时代整理术》一书中，作者将今日信息爆炸时代要维持条理分明的困难分成三部分。第一部分着重在个人方面、以及我们为了完成自设目标的所必须克服的障碍，作者谈到的有些做法，是传统管理哲学之外的另一选择。有些关于排程及时间管理的想法，虽然并非所有工作场所都适用，但是对某些工作场所来说，可能很适合。

The larger point that the authors make is that we, too, often try to get our work done within outdated systems. Questioning these systems and discovering new ways to revise the work structures in our lives to better fit our current circumstances can be great ways to start getting our lives organized.

作者提出更重要的一点是，我们也常常是在落伍的系统中想办法完成工作。质疑这些系统，找出修正生活中工作架构的新方式，让我们能更能配合目前环境，会是开始让生活井井有条的绝佳方法。

After evaluating the personal side of the organization equation and concluding that clearer goals can help anyone break through personal constraints, Merrill and Martin move into the organizational side of the problem. This is where they point out the beauty of search and venture into the possibilities of the paperless office. First, they explain the benefits of digital files and show how eliminating paper from your work reduces clutter, creates a cleaner environment and makes information easier to share and access. Then, they list the important reasons why we should all make the awkward transition to better digital tools to improve how we manage our calendars, e-mail, documents and lives.

作者梅瑞尔和马汀在评估过个人方面的整理术之后，归纳出结论：更明确的目标能够帮助我们突破个人限制。然后两人开始探讨该如何从组织内维持条理分明，他们指出了搜寻的美妙并探索无纸办公室的可能性。首先，他们解释数字档案的好处，告诉我们如果除去了工作产生的纸张，就可以减少杂乱，营造出较为干净的环境，让信息更容易分享与取得。接下来他们列出重要理由，解释为何我们应该忍耐一下过渡时期的不便、改用更精良的数字工具，来改善我们管理行事历、电子邮件、文件及生活方式。

Staying Focus  保持专注

The third part of Getting Organized in the Google Era addresses smarter ways to stay focused during our daily battles with more and faster information. A chapter on balancing work and life offers this important thought: It cannot be done, since they are so deeply intertwined. A better way to think about the issue, Merrill and Martin write, is to integrate work with life instead. Adjust your habits to fit “what your workday actually looks like, rather than trying to organize your life around the way you think it should be.”

《谷歌时代整理术》一书的第三部分，提供了更聪明的方法，教我们如何在信息快速充斥的日常轰炸之下，保持专注。作者在讨论工作与生活之间平衡的章节中，提出一个重要观点：工作与生活之间不可能保持平衡，因为两者已密不可分。梅瑞尔和马汀写道，这个问题要这么想比较好：把工作和生活整合在一起，调整自己的习惯，以适应「工作日的真实状况，而不是想办法依照你所认为的方式去安排生活。」

－review by Anna Welch

单词发音

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saturate [ˋsætʃə͵ret] v. 使充满

constraint [kənˋstrent] n. 约束；限制

venture [ˋvɛntʃɚ] v. 大胆提出（或说出）；敢于[+to-v][+that]

clutter [ˋklʌtɚ] n. 凌乱，杂乱

awkward [ˋɔkwɚd] adj. 使用不便的；难操纵的

address [əˋdrɛs] v.（向……）提出

integrate [ˋɪntə͵gret] v. 使成一体，使结合

单词发音

Vocabulary Focus

out of sync 不同步 uncoordinated; unsynchronized

empathy [ˋɛmpəθɪ] n. 共鸣; 同理心 the ability to share someone else’s feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in their situation

hardwire [ˈhɑrdwaɪr] v. 使变成习惯性; 以实体线路连结 to make something in a way that certain reactions happen naturally or automatically; to determine or put into effect by physiological or neurological mechanisms

tactic [ˋtæktɪk] n. 手法; 策略 a method used to achieve a goal

hurdle [ˋhɝd!] n. 障碍，困难 a problem that you have to deal with before you can make progress

outdated [͵aʊtˋdetɪd] adj. 过时的 old-fashioned and therefore not as good or as fashionable as something modern

intertwine [͵ɪntɚˋtwaɪn] v. 缠结，缠绕 to be connected so as to be difficult to separate; to twist together

Audio Book Review: Getting Organized in the Google Era: How to..