萨姆·奥尔特曼：提升工作效率的方法

我认为自己至少比平均水平更有效率一些。人们有时会向我讨教提高效率的技巧，所以我决定把所有这些技巧都写在一处。复利增长常被当作一个金融概念来讨论，但它在职业发展中也同样适用，而且效果神奇。

I think I am at least somewhat more productive than average. And people sometimes ask me for productivity tips. So I decided to just write them all down in one place. Compound growth gets discussed as a financial concept, but it works in careers as well. And it is magic.

即使每天只提高一点点效率，持续五十年也会带来巨大的回报。因此，花时间研究如何优化效率是值得的。如果你每天比别人多完成10%的工作，并且提升1%的品质，这种复利差异会非常惊人。但你做什么事比你做得多快更重要——如果方向错了，再快也没用。选择正确的事情去做，是效率中最关键的要素，却常常被几乎所有人忽略。

A small productivity gain compounded over fifty years is worth a lot. So it it's worth it's worth figuring out how to optimize productivity. If you get 10% more done and 1% better every day compared to someone else, the compounded difference is massive. What you work on, it doesn't matter how fast you move if it's in a worthless direction. Picking the right thing to work on is the most important element of productivity and usually almost ignored.

所以，请多思考这个问题。独立思考很难，但通过练习，你可以变得越来越擅长。我认识的最令人钦佩的人，都对世界有坚定的信念，而这在普通人中非常罕见。如果你发现自己总是同意刚和你交谈过的人的观点，那就不好了。你当然有时会犯错，但要培养坚持自己信念的自信。

So think about it more. Independent thought is hard, but it's it's something you can get better at with practice. The most impressive people I know have strong beliefs about the world, which is rare in the general population. If you find yourself always agreeing with whomever you last spoke with, that's bad. You will, of course, be wrong sometimes, but develop the confidence to stick with your convictions.

这种自信能让你在正确判断了大多数人看不到的重要事情时，敢于勇敢行动。我确保在日程中留出足够的时间，用来思考该做什么。对我而言，最好的方式是读书、与有趣的人交往，以及花时间接触大自然。我逐渐明白，如果做的是我不关心或不喜欢的事情，我就很难高效。因此，我尽量通过委派、回避或其他方式，避免让自己陷入不得不做这些事的境地。

It will let you be courageous when you're right about something important that most people don't see. I make sure to leave enough time in my schedule to think about what to work on. The best ways for me to do this are reading books, hanging out with interesting people, and spending time in nature. I've learned that I can't be very productive working on things I don't care about or don't like. So I just try not to put myself in a position where I have to do them by delegating, avoiding, or something else.

你不喜欢的事情，会严重拖累你的士气和动力。顺便说一句，这里有一个关于委派的重要教训：记住，其他人也和你一样，只有在做自己喜欢的事时才最有效率。想想别人喜欢做什么、擅长做什么，就像你希望别人为你做的事那样去委派。如果你发现自己长期不喜欢当前的工作，那就认真考虑换一份工作。

Stuff that you don't like is a painful drag on morale and momentum. By the way, here is an important lesson about delegation. Remember that everyone else is also most productive when they're doing what they like and do what you'd want other people to do for you. Try to figure out who likes and is good at doing what and delegate that way. If If you find yourself not liking what you're doing for a long period of time, seriously consider a major job change.

短期的倦怠是难免的，但如果休息一段时间后仍无法缓解，也许就该去做一些你更感兴趣的事了。我非常幸运，找到了如此热爱的工作，甚至愿意免费去做，这让我更容易保持高效。重要的是要明白：你可以学会任何你想学的东西，而且进步可以很快。

Short term burnout happens. But if it isn't resolved with some time off, maybe it's time to do something you're more interested in. I've been very fortunate to find work I like so much. I do it for free, which makes it easy to be really productive. It's important to learn that you can learn anything you want and that you can get better quickly.

第一次发现这一点时，你可能会觉得这像不可思议的奇迹。但最终，你会学会信任自己——你确实能做到。做出杰出的工作通常需要一些志同道合的同事。尽量多和聪明、高效、快乐、积极的人在一起，他们不会贬低你的抱负。我喜欢与那些激励我、推动我变得更好的人相处。

This feels like an unlikely miracle the first few times it happens. But, eventually, you learn to trust that you can do it. Doing great work usually requires colleagues of some sort. Try to be around smart, productive, happy, and positive people that don't belittle your ambitions. I love being around people who push me and inspire me to be better.

你越能避开那些相反类型的人，就越能避免他们占用你的精神资源，这种代价是可怕的。你必须同时选对问题并付出努力，几乎没有捷径可走。如果你要做一件真正重要的事，你极有可能既要聪明地工作，也要拼命地工作。最大的回报总是竞争最激烈的。

To the degree you're able to avoid the opposite kind of people, the cost of letting them take up your mental cycles is horrific. You have to both pick the right problem and do the work. There aren't many shortcuts. If you're gonna do something really important, you're very likely gonna work both smart and hard. The biggest prizes are heavily competed for.

这在每个领域都不一定成立。有些伟大的数学家每周根本花不了多少时间工作。但在大多数优先级排序中，情况确实如此。我的体系有三个关键支柱：确保把重要的事做完。

This isn't true in every field. There are great mathematicians who never spend that many hours a week working. But it is in most prioritization. My system has three key pillars. Make sure to get the important shit done.

别把时间浪费在愚蠢的事情上，多列清单。我强烈推荐使用清单。我会列出每年、每月、每天想完成的事情。清单非常有助于集中注意力，还能帮助我同时处理多项任务，因为我无需把所有事情都记在脑子里。如果我对某项任务提不起劲，我总能找到其他让我兴奋的事来做。

Don't waste time on stupid shit, and make a lot of lists. I highly recommend using lists. I make lists of what I want to accomplish each year, each month, and each day. Lists are very focusing, and they help me with multitasking because I don't have to keep as much in my head. If I'm not in the mood for some particular task, I can always find something else I'm excited to do.

我更喜欢把清单写在纸上。这样添加或删除任务都很方便，开会时拿出来看也不会显得不礼貌。我会经常重新抄写清单，这迫使我去思考清单上的每一件事，并有机会增删条目。我从不费心去分类、估算任务量或做类似的事情。

I prefer lists written down on paper. It's easy to add and remove tasks. I can access them during meetings without feeling rude. I retranscribe lists frequently, which forces me to think about everything on the list and gives me an opportunity to add and remove items. I don't bother with categorization or trying to size tasks or anything like that.

我最多就是在特别重要的事项旁画个星号。我努力以能产生动力的方式安排优先级：完成得越多，感觉越好，就越能完成更多。我喜欢每天开始和结束时，都做些能真正取得进展的事。我对完成最重要的项目有着毫不松懈的执着。

The most I do is put a star next to really important items. I try to prioritize in a way that generates momentum. The more I get done, the better I feel, and then the more I get done. I like to start and end each day with something I can really make progress on. I am relentless about getting my most important projects done.

我发现，如果我真想让某件事发生，并且足够努力地推动，它通常就会实现。我会毫不留情地拒绝无关紧要的事，并以最快的方式处理非关键事务。我可能在这方面走得太远了，比如，我几乎可以肯定，我回邮件时言辞简短到近乎无礼。我通常尽量避免参加会议和研讨会，因为我觉得时间成本太高了。

I've found that if I really want something to happen and I push hard enough, it usually happens. I try to be ruthless about saying no to stuff and doing non critical things in the quickest way possible. I probably take this too far, for example. I am almost sure I am terse to the point of rudeness when replying to emails. I generally try to avoid meetings and conferences as I find the time cost to be huge.

我在办公室里的时间最有价值。但关键是要在日程中留出足够空间，以便偶遇新的人和新想法。拥有开放的社交网络很有价值，尽管我参加的随机会议中，90%可能都是浪费时间，但剩下的10%真的物超所值。我发现大多数会议最好安排十五到二十分钟，或者两小时。

I get the most value out of time in my office. However, it is critical that you keep enough space in your schedule to allow for chance encounters and exposure to new people and ideas. Having an open network is valuable, though probably 90% of the random meetings I take are a waste of time. The other 10 really make up for it. I find most meetings are best scheduled for fifteen to twenty minutes or two hours.

一小时的默认时间通常不对，会导致大量时间浪费。我一天中会为不同类型的工作安排不同的时间段。早晨的前几个小时绝对是我的最高效率时段，所以我从不让人在这段时间安排任何事情。我尽量把会议安排在下午。

The default of one hour is usually wrong and leads to a lot of wasted time. I have different times of day I try to use for different kinds of work. The first few hours of the morning are definitely my most productive time of the day. So I don't let anyone schedule anything then. I try to do meetings in the afternoon.

每当我感到注意力开始下降时，我就会休息或切换任务。我认为大多数人并没有充分重视自己的时间。我很惊讶，我认识的那些每小时赚100美元的人，却愿意花几个小时做他们不想做的事，只为省下20美元。另外，别陷入生产力的陷阱——为追求生产力而追求生产力是没有帮助的。

I take a break or switch tasks whenever I feel my attention starting to fade. I don't think most people value their time enough. I am surprised by the number of people I know who make $100 an hour and yet will spend a couple of hours doing something they don't wanna do to save $20. Also, don't fall into the trap of productivity. Porn chasing productivity for its own sake isn't helpful.

许多人花太多时间思考如何完美优化自己的系统，却很少问自己是否在解决正确的问题。无论你使用什么系统，哪怕你榨干了每一秒，如果你在做错误的事，那也毫无意义。真正该追求的目标是全年的时间分配最优，而不是每天。生理因素方面，对我最优的方式很可能对你并不适用。你必须通过实验找出最适合你身体的方法。

Many people spend too much time thinking about how to perfectly optimize their system and not nearly enough asking if they're working on the right problems. It doesn't matter what system you use or if you squeeze out every second if you're working on the wrong thing. The right goal is to allocate your year optimally, not your day. Physical factors, very likely what is optimal for me won't be optimal for you. You'll have to experiment to find out what works best for your body.

这绝对值得去做。它能改善生活的方方面面，让你整体感觉更好、更快乐。我花了几年时间，每周投入一点时间，才找到最适合我的方法。但我的感觉是，如果我能很好地做到下面所有事项，我的效率至少能提高1.5倍。对我而言，睡眠似乎是影响生产力最重要的生理因素。

It's definitely worth doing. It helps in all aspects of life, and, you'll feel a lot better and happier overall. It probably took a little bit of my time every week for a few years to arrive at what works best for me. But my sense is, if I do a good job at All The Below, I'm at least 1.5 x more productive than if not. Sleep seems to be the most important physical factor in productivity for me.

使用某种睡眠追踪器来找出最佳睡眠方式很有帮助。我发现，只有那些“设置好就不管”的东西我才能坚持，我特别喜欢mFit QS Plus主动款。我喜欢寒冷、黑暗、安静的房间和一张舒适的床垫。我曾多年抗拒花大钱买一张好床垫，这太蠢了——它对我的睡眠质量影响巨大。

Some sort of sleep tracker to figure out how to sleep best is helpful. I've found the only thing I'm consistent with are in the set it and forget it category, and I really like the mFit QS plus active. I like a cold, dark, quiet room and a great mattress. I resisted spending a bunch of money on a great mattress for years, which was stupid. It makes a huge difference to my sleep quality.

我特别喜欢这一点：睡前几小时少吃东西很有帮助。不喝酒也能大大改善睡眠，虽然我并不总能做到完全不喝。如果房间不够冷，我会用Chili Pad降温，这效果很好，但有点吵。所以我把制冷单元放在房间外面。

I love this one. Not eating a lot in the few hours before sleep helps. Not Not drinking alcohol helps a lot, though I'm not willing to do that all the time. I use a chili pad to be cold while I sleep if I can't get the room cold enough, which is great, but loud. I set it up to have the cooler unit outside my room.

旅行时，我会使用眼罩和耳塞。这可能有些争议，但每当我睡不着时，我都会服用低剂量的安眠药，比如正常剂量的三分之一，或极低剂量的大麻。我本身睡眠就不好，旅行时尤其糟糕。这或许有代价，但睡眠质量差的代价更大。如果你本身就能睡得很好，我不会推荐这样做。

When traveling, I use an eye mask and earplugs. This is likely to be controversial, but I take a low dose of sleeping pills, like a third of a normal dose or a very low dose of cannabis whenever I can't sleep. I am a bad sleeper in general and a particularly bad sleeper when I travel. It likely has trade offs, but, so does not sleeping well. If you can already sleep well, I wouldn't recommend this.

每天早上，我会用全光谱LED灯照射大约十到十五分钟，同时处理邮件。如果你只尝试一件事，我建议你试试这个。这对我来说收益巨大，我很喜欢这款灯，而且方便携带。

I use a full spectrum LED light most mornings for about ten to fifteen minutes while I catch up on email. It's great if you try nothing else in here. This is the thing I'd try. It's a ridiculous gain for me. I like this one, and it's easy to travel with.

锻炼可能是第二重要的生理因素。我尝试过几种不同的锻炼计划，每种都持续了几个月，其中效果最好的是每周三次、每次一小时的重力训练，以及偶尔进行高强度间歇训练。除了提升效率，这套锻炼方案也让我整体感觉最好。第三方面是营养。我几乎从不吃早餐，因此每天大约有十五小时的禁食期，仅在醒来时喝一杯浓缩咖啡。

Exercise is probably the second most important physical factor. I tried a number of different exercise programs for a few months each, and the one that seemed best was lifting heavy weights three x a week for an hour and high intensity interval training occasionally. In addition to productivity gains, this is also the exercise program that makes me feel the best overall. The third area is nutrition. I very rarely eat breakfast, so I get about fifteen hours of fasting most days, except an espresso when I wake up.

我知道这与大多数建议相悖，我怀疑这对大多数人来说并非最优，但对我确实非常有效。吃大量糖分是我感觉最差的原因，也是我最努力避免的。我还会尽量避免那些引发消化不适或加剧炎症的食物，比如非常辛辣的食物。我对甜食的自制力很差，因此我主要只是尽量不让垃圾食品出现在家里。

I know this is contrary to most advice and I suspect it's not optimal for most people, but it definitely works well for me. Eating lots of sugar is the thing that makes me feel the worst and that I try hardest to avoid. I also try to avoid foods that aggravate my digestion or spike up inflammation. For example, very spicy foods. I don't have much willpower when it comes to sweet things, so I mostly just try to keep junk food out of the house.

我一醒来就喝一大杯浓缩咖啡，午饭后再喝一杯。我估计每天总共摄入约两百毫克咖啡因。我尝试过其他几种组合，但这个方案的效果远超其他。除此之外，我会严格避免其他兴奋剂，但如果极度疲惫且必须完成某项任务时，我也会多喝点咖啡。

I have one big shot of espresso immediately when I wake up and one after lunch. I assume this is about two hundred milligrams total of caffeine per day. I tried a few other configurations. This was the one that worked by far the best. I otherwise aggressively avoid stimulants, but I will have more coffee if I'm super tired and really need to get something done.

我从孩提时代起就是素食者，现在补充甲基B12、Omega-3、铁和维生素D3。这个补充清单是我通过一年左右每季度的血液检测逐步确定的，此后一直对我有效。我大约每一年半重新检测一次。许多医生愿意为你提供全面的血液检测服务，像Wellness FX这样的平台也可以提供帮助。

I'm vegetarian and have been since I was a kid, and I supplement methyl b twelve, omega three, iron, and vitamin d three. I got to this list with a year or so of quarterly blood tests. It's worked for me ever since. I retest maybe every year and a half or so. There are many doctors who will happily work with you on a super comprehensive blood test and services like Wellness FX.

我还特意大量饮用蛋白粉，虽然我非常讨厌它，但若非素食，我根本不会这么做。其他方面。这是我喜欢的工作环境：自然光线、安静、能确保在不需要被打扰时获得长时间的专注，同时舒适放松。我的办公室里有一张漂亮的桌子，上面放着两台4K显示器，但我几乎所有的时光都是在沙发上，用笔记本电脑度过的。

I also go out of my way to drink a lot of protein shakes, which I hate and I wouldn't do if I weren't vegetarian. Other stuff. Here's what I like in a workspace. Natural light, quiet, knowing that I won't be interrupted if I don't want to be long blocks of time and being comfortable and relaxed. I've got a beautiful desk with a couple of four k monitors on it in my office, but I spend almost all my time on my couch with my laptop.

我为那些频繁需要处理的烦琐事务编写了定制软件，这非常棒。我还努力练习快速打字，并掌握能提升工作效率的快捷键。和大多数人一样，我有时会经历一两周毫无动力的状态。我怀疑这可能与营养有关，这很糟糕，而且总是在最不方便的时候发生。

I wrote custom software for the annoying things I have to do frequently, which is great. I also made an effort to learn to type really fast and the keyboard shortcuts that help with my workflow. Like most people, I sometimes go through periods of a week or two where I just have no motivation to do anything. I suspect it may have something to do with nutrition. This sucks and always seems to happen at inconvenient times.

除了等待雾散去，并相信最终它总会散去之外，我还不知道该如何应对这件事。我通常会尽量避开那些让我心情变糟的人和情境，这是一条很好的建议，无论你是否关心效率。总的来说，我认为稍微多承担一点任务是好的。我发现，只要我接下了任务，通常都能完成。如果任务稍微多了一点，反而会让我更高效，这是一种训练自己避免分心的方式。

I have not figured out what to do about it besides wait for the fog to lift and to trust that eventually it always does. And I generally try to avoid people and situations that put me in bad moods, which is good advice, whether you care about productivity or not. In general, I think it's good to over commit a little bit. I find that I generally get done what I take on. And if I have a little bit too much to do, it makes me more efficient everything, which is a way to train to avoid distractions.

这是一个很好的习惯，但过度承诺会带来灾难。不要为了追求效率而忽视家人和朋友，这种交换非常愚蠢，而且很可能导致整体效率下降，因为你将变得不快乐。

A great habit to build. However, over committing a lot is disastrous. Don't neglect your family and friends for the sake of productivity. That's a very stupid trade off. And very likely a net productivity loss, because you'll be less happy.

也不要忽视做你喜欢的事情，或者那些能让你头脑清醒的活动。最后，我再重复一次：方向错误的效率毫无价值。多想想该专注于什么。

Don't neglect doing things you love or that clear your head either. Finally, to repeat one more time, productivity in the wrong direction isn't worth anything at all. Think more about what to work on.