待办清单的原理
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为什么你的大脑喜欢有序的任务
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研究表明，当人们将需要做的事宜用纸笔写下时，他们的表现会更好。是什么让待办清单成为一种有效的生产力工具？
几乎每个人都在努力完成任务。但是我们中的一些人在完成任务之前会有些挣扎：只需搞清楚我们需要做什么。理论上来说，待办清单是你需要的答案。这是一个历史悠久的系统，它的美在于它的简单化：制定出需要完成的任务，按照顺序写下，执行，然后一个一个地勾划掉。
心理学家兼作家戴维·科恩（David Cohen）博士相信他的挣扎在待办清单的方法下有所帮助，当然必须是用纸笔的方法进行，最好每天都这样。 但未全部解决。“我的家人认为我有些忙乱，”他说，“但是如果没有我的清单，我会更乱 – 它们保持了我多年的有序生活。”
科恩把我们对待办清单的热爱归结为三个原因：它们减轻了对生活混乱的焦虑;它们给了我们一个结构，一个我们可以坚持的计划;而且它们证明了我们当天，一周或一个月所取得的成就。
一个系统是需要的 –不会因为手上潦草的笔记而消失
在那些不那么受折磨的日子里，我们的记忆力可能已经完成了工作。俄罗斯心理学家布鲁玛·蔡加尼克（Bluma Zeigarnik）也许是第一个注意到大脑对紧迫任务的痴迷。所谓的“Zeigarnik效应”，意思是比起已经完成的事，我们对要做的事记得更牢。这起源于对服务员的观察，他们只会在上餐之前记住谁点的单。上餐之后，他们的记忆力抹去谁吃了牛排和谁喝了汤的部分。事情一旦结束，大脑便准备放手。
最近，Wake Forest 大学的Baumeister和 Masicampo 教授进行的一项研究表明，尽管还未完成的任务会使我们分心，但只要制定一个计划来完成它们就可以使我们摆脱这种焦虑。他们观察到，通常情况下，如果一个人不能完成在任务之前有助完成任务的热身活动，那么他/她的表现则会不佳。但是，当参与者被允许制定和记录完成热身活动的具体计划时，下一个任务的表现就会大大提高。正如贝克曼（Bechman）所说：“简单地写下任务会使你更有效。”
但有些人抵制这种结构。他们认为这会阻碍他们的创造力，或者阻止他们在工作日中变得灵活。对于生产力专家大卫·艾伦（David Allen）而言，他的书“搞定：无压生产力的艺术”使他成为这个领域的灵魂人物- 这些自由奔放的形式显然是错误的。他相信任何一个完整的行程表如果没有结构，则会很难处理
。
一个系统是需要的
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不会因为手上潦草的笔记而消失。
“写我的小说”是一个相当艰巨的任务，“列出小说的第一章纲要”则容易更多
艾伦说， 仅仅在便签纸上涂抹 “银行” 或 “妈妈” 是不够的，你需要更多的细节。 这是一封电子邮件， 一次访问或一个电话吗？ 还是为了什么其它目的？如果你的待办清单不明确，那么你的任务可能不会被完成 - 而且它们当然不会被优先考虑。
然而， 细节并不是唯一重要的因素：如果想要创建一个当天可执行的行程表，你还需要现实的计算所需时间。 这还包括着， 如果你知道你是易受周围影响的，那么可能会将其转移到社交媒体或其他干扰事件中。
人们陷入的一个陷阱就是一贯地避免处理更大，更重要的项目。克服这个问题的最好方法就是把它们分解成更小，更容易实现的小任务。“写我的小说”是一个相当不祥的任务，“写我的小说”是一个相当艰巨的任务，“列出小说的第一章纲要”则容易更多。
科恩完成他清单上的一切吗？ “ 上帝啊， 当然不！ 我六年前发现了一本旧日记， 里面还有一些我还没有做的事情。”另一方面，他写了35本书 - 从身体语言到西格蒙德·弗洛伊德的可卡因使用 - 所以他的待办清单正在产生非常可观的结果。
English Version
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The psychology of the to-do list
– why your brain loves ordered tasks
Studies have shown that people perform
better when they have written down what they need to do. What makes the to-do
list such an effective productivity tool?
Almost everyone struggles with getting
stuff done. But some of us struggle with the stage before that: just figuring
out what it is we need to do. The to-do list is, in theory, the answer. It’s a
time-honoured system that’s beautiful in its simplicity: work out what needs to
be done and in what order, write down the tasks, do them, and then, one-by-one,
cross them out.
Psychologist and author Dr David Cohen
believes his struggle to stay organised is helped, but not entirely solved, by
his to-do lists, which must be on paper – preferably in a diary – and need to
be constantly monitored. “My family think I’m chaotic,” he says, “but I would
be much more so without my lists – they’ve kept me in line for years.”
Cohen puts our love of to-do lists down to
three reasons: they dampen anxiety about the chaos of life; they give us a
structure, a plan that we can stick to; and they are proof of what we have
achieved that day, week or month.
A system is needed – and scribbled notes on
hands won’t cut it.
In less harried days, our memories might
have done the work. Russian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik was
perhaps the first to note the brain’s obsession with pressing tasks. The
so-called “Zeigarnik effect” – that we remember things we need to do better
than things we’ve done – stemmed from observing that waiters could only recall
diners’ orders before they had been served. After the dishes had been
delivered, their memories simply erased who’d had the steak and who’d had the
soup. The deed was done and the brain was ready to let go.
More recently, a study by
professors Baumeister and Masicampo from Wake Forest University showed
that, while tasks we haven’t done distract us, just making a plan to get them
done can free us from this anxiety. The pair observed that people underperform
on a task when they are unable to finish a warm-up activity that would usually
precede it. However, when participants were allowed to make and note down
concrete plans to finish the warm-up activity, performance on the next task
substantially improved. As Bechman notes: “Simply writing the tasks down will
make you more effective.”
Some people resist this kind of structure,
however. They think it will stymie their creativity or prevent them from being
flexible with their working day. For productivity expert David Allen – whose
book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity has made him a
cult figure in the field –these free-spirited types are plain wrong. He
believes anyone with a full schedule and no structure will struggle to cope. A
system is needed – and scribbled notes on hands won’t cut it.
“Write my novel” is a pretty foreboding
task; “outline first chapter of my novel” is far friendlier
It’s not enough to scrawl “bank” or “Mum”
on a Post-it note, says Allen – you need more detail. Is it an email, a visit
or a phone call, and for what purpose? If your to-do list isn’t clear and to
the point, your tasks probably won’t get done – and they certainly won’t be
prioritised.
