As you read this, there will probably be a cup of tea going cold on Veronica Pullen’s kitchen counter. Every time she wants a cup, Pullen makes two, one milkier than the other. She drinks the milkier one (she likes her tea lukewarm) immediately. She lets the other one sit for 40 minutes before drinking it once it has reached optimum temperature. It is an efficiency – albeit a tiny one – that she has been perfecting for two years. A copywriter and online trainer, Pullen, who is 54 and lives on the Isle of Wight with her husband and their chihuahua, says it takes her five minutes to boil a kettle, so she saves five minutes with every other cup. Over 24 hours, that adds up to 20 minutes saved. Across two years? She has clawed back slightly more than 10 full days.
当您阅读这篇文章时，Veronica Pullen的厨房柜台可能会有一杯茶。每当她想要一杯时，Pullen都会制作两个，一个比另一个奶得多。她立即喝了奶的奶酪（她喜欢茶冷淡）。她让另一个静置40分钟，然后才能达到最佳温度。她已经完善了两年是一种效率 - 尽管很小。一位撰稿人和在线培训师Pullen，现年54岁，与丈夫和他们的奇瓦瓦州一起住在怀特岛，说她需要五分钟的时间煮熟水壶，因此她与其他杯子一起节省了五分钟。在24小时内，加起来可节省20分钟。跨两年？她的爪子略超过10天。
Pullen is just one of many people incorporating microefficiencies into their daily lives. There are people who brush their teeth in the shower; lay out their clothes the night before to save time in the morning; boil hot water for the day first thing and keep it to hand in a flask. But are these small, savvy streamlinings that shave minutes (sometimes, just seconds) off a task merely fun life hacks? Are they a symptom of a snowed-under society? Or are they indicative of an obsession with productivity?
Pullen只是将微效率纳入日常生活的众多人之一。有些人在淋浴时刷牙。前一天晚上布置衣服，以节省早晨的时间；第一件事将热水煮沸，然后将其交给烧瓶。但是，这些精明，精明的流媒体是否会刮掉几分钟（有时只是几秒钟），这仅仅是一件有趣的生活骇客？它们是社会下积雪的症状吗？还是它们表明对生产力的痴迷？
Take Pullen. As well as her conveyor belt of tea, she also saves time by cutting out decision-making when it comes to food. Every day, she has a hard-boiled egg for breakfast and a two-egg omelette for lunch. Then, for dinner, she eats whatever is on her weekly menu – on Wednesdays, for example, it’s Thai chicken curry, and on Saturdays, sirloin steak. As well as this, she has a “pool” of the same clothes, again removing the need to make a decision; and intentionally wears her trainers loose so she can slip them on and off rather than spending time tying and untying her laces. And she doesn’t make her bed: nobody is going to see it, she says.
带着普伦。除了她的茶传送带外，她还通过在食物方面削减决策来节省时间。每天，她都有一个煮熟的鸡蛋吃早餐，午餐时有一个两蛋煎蛋。然后，晚餐时，她每周菜单上都吃任何东西 - 例如，在星期三，是泰国鸡肉咖喱，在星期六，牛lo牛排。除此之外，她还有一个相同衣服的“游泳池”，再次消除了做出决定的需要。并有意穿着她的教练松动，以便她可以打开和下滑，而不是花时间绑扎和取消鞋带。她说，她不会让她的床床：没有人会看到它。
View image in fullscreen Save time and energy by leaving your bed unmade. Illustration: Mark Long/The Guardian
在全屏中查看图像，节省时间和精力，使您的床不合适。插图：马克·朗/监护人
If Pullen can streamline something, she will. “Having more simplicity with these habits in my day-to-day life gives me more capacity and energy to do the things I want to do,” she says. “I prefer not having to keep making micro choices.” Curiously, Pullen’s husband doesn’t follow her efficiencies, especially when it comes to food: often he cooks something different for himself. The only time Pullen relinquishes her microefficiencies is on holiday.
如果Pullen可以简化某些内容，她会的。她说：“在我的日常生活中，这些习惯更加简单，使我有更多的能力和精力来做自己想做的事情。”“我宁愿不必继续做出微观选择。”奇怪的是，普伦的丈夫没有遵循她的效率，尤其是在食物方面：他常常为自己做些不同的东西。Pullen唯一放弃她的微观效能的时间是假期。
The allure of microefficiencies is unsurprising. After all, so much of our self-worth is tied to output and achievement – at work and at home. You only have to glance at social media to see this writ large. #LifeHack has 11m posts on TikTok and 2.5m on Instagram, while Reddit’s Productivity thread is a steady stream of people talking about how to boost, fine-tune and maximise. Elsewhere, productivity influencers such as Ali Abdaal (1 million followers on Instagram), Casey Major-Bunce (730,000 followers) and James Clear (1.6 million followers) implore us – one life hack and Ted talk at a time – to self-optimise, whether that is by getting up half an hour early to work out or by inflating a paddling pool “within seconds” using a hairdryer. In particular, Clear’s approach, in his bestselling book Atomic Habits, focuses on incorporating incremental changes that add up to a larger transformation, feeding into the idea that even tiny things have a big impact. Is it any wonder that people have become determined not to waste a second on any given task?
微效能的魅力并不令人惊讶。毕竟，我们的自我价值与输出和成就相关 - 在工作和家里。您只需要瞥见社交媒体即可看到这个书面范围。#LifeHack在Tiktok上有1100万帖子，在Instagram上有250万个帖子，而Reddit的生产力线程是一个稳定的人，人们谈论如何提高，微调和最大化。Elsewhere, productivity influencers such as Ali Abdaal (1 million followers on Instagram), Casey Major-Bunce (730,000 followers) and James Clear (1.6 million followers) implore us – one life hack and Ted talk at a time – to self-optimise, whether that is by getting up half an hour early to work out or by inflating a paddling pool “within seconds” using a hairdryer.尤其是，Clear的方法在他最畅销的书籍原子习惯中着重于结合增量变化，加成更大的转变，从而融入了即使很小的事情也会产生重大影响的想法。难道人们已经下定决心不浪费任何给定任务吗？
Jennifer Babey, 36, from Hampshire has gone one step further than Pullen’s loose trainers: six years ago she replaced her regular shoelaces with elastic ones. “It’s been a gamechanger,” she says. Babey, a business owner, estimates that she saves herself a minute each time she puts on her shoes. “It helps me to make a swift exit out of the house.”
来自汉普郡的36岁的詹妮弗·巴比（Jennifer Babey）比普伦（Pullen）的宽松教练迈出了一步：六年前，她用弹性的鞋带代替了普通的鞋带。她说：“这是一个gamechanger。”企业主Babey估计，每次穿鞋时，她都会节省一分钟。“这有助于我快速退出房屋。”
As well as shunning shoelaces, Babey also streamlines breakfast by laying out her cutlery and crockery so it is ready when she gets home from the gym. “Bowl, spoon, knife and chopping board if I plan for fruit, and cereal all on the table,” she says. “Then, when I get home, I can just get the refrigerated stuff out and get on with eating.” While she concedes this doesn’t necessarily save a huge amount of time, it does free up “brain power” she may need to use on other jobs once home. “Present Jenny is always grateful for the little efforts of past Jenny.”
除了回避鞋带外，Babey还通过铺设餐具和陶器来简化早餐，因此从健身房回家时就可以准备好了。她说：“如果我打算吃水果，碗，勺子，刀和切碎的板，然后全部在桌子上。”“然后，当我回到家时，我可以把冷藏的东西拿出来，继续吃饭。”尽管她承认这不一定会节省大量时间，但它确实可以释放“大脑力量”，一旦回家，她可能需要在其他工作中使用。“现在的珍妮总是感谢过去的珍妮的小努力。”
Because efficiency, of course, isn’t just about doing things as quickly as possible but, rather, deploying resources – time, brain power – in the most effective way. Birmingham-based Jude Smith*, 45, who owns 11 spare pairs of glasses, stashes them in places such as her bedside table, her car glove box, her handbag, her church, a friend’s house and even her sister’s house in Germany, so she never has to think about where her specs are. “It is very efficient for mental energy,” says Smith, who works in data protection and lives alone.
当然，因为效率不仅仅是尽快做事，而是以最有效的方式部署资源 - 时间，大脑力量。现年45岁的伯明翰的裘德·史密斯（Jude Smith）*拥有11副备用眼镜，将它们藏在她的床头柜，她的汽车手套箱，手提包，教堂，朋友的房子，甚至在德国的姐姐家中，因此她从来没有想过规格在哪里。史密斯说：“这对于精神能量来说非常有效。”
Sarah Ingram, a 44-year-old freelance writer from Gloucestershire, keeps a notebook next to her during the work day and writes in it the names of anyone who WhatsApps her so she can reply to them in one go in the evening. Ingram says this method means it takes her five minutes to do what, with the endless distractions that come with picking up a phone, could consume up to 30 minutes of her day.
莎拉·英格拉姆（Sarah Ingram）是格洛斯特郡（Gloucestershire）的现年44岁的自由职业者作家，在工作日将笔记本保留在她旁边，并在其中写下了任何人的名字，以便她可以在晚上一口气回答。英格拉姆说，这种方法意味着她要花五分钟的时间来做，因为拿起手机带来了无尽的干扰，可以消耗长达30分钟的一天。
View image in fullscreen Adjust your lights without leaving the comfort of your sofa. Illustration: Mark Long/The Guardian
在全屏中查看图像，调整灯光，而不会留下沙发舒适。插图：马克·朗/监护人
Teacher Caroline Fisher*, 59, from Merseyside has fashioned a special tool from a bamboo pole and masking tape to enable her – to the chagrin of her grandchildren – to switch her living room light on and off from her sofa. This saves her, she says, “three to four minutes walking around the sofa every day”. London-based Polly Arrowsmith, 57, who works in marketing and lives with her dog, cuts down on the time she spends getting ready by mostly wearing dresses, claiming this saves a few minutes every day. “It makes dressing easy,” she says, because she can just slip them over her head.
来自默西塞德郡（Merseyside）的59岁的Caroline Fisher*老师从竹杆和掩盖胶带中塑造了一种特殊的工具，使她（使她的孙子的恼火）从沙发上开出来。她说，这拯救了她：“每天三到四分钟在沙发上漫步”。现年57岁的伦敦Polly Arrowsmith从事营销和与狗一起生活的工作，削减了她在大多数穿衣服做准备的时间，声称每天节省了几分钟。她说：“这使调味料变得容易。”因为她可以将它们滑过头顶。
Not all microefficiencies are welcome, though. Lydia Berman, 47, who lives in Hertfordshire, tells me about the time her dad – efficiency aficionado Geoffrey Shalet, 81, who also Velcros his phone charger to his bedside for quick and easy access – fitted talking bathroom scales as a present for her mum. “He installed them in the bathroom under the lino, so that every time she walked into the bathroom, the scales would say her weight,” says Berman. “He thought it would be practical and time-saving. She thought it was near divorce.” In the end, the scales were removed from the lino and Berman’s mum didn’t speak to her dad for a week.
不过，并非所有微观效率都受到欢迎。现年47岁的莉迪亚·贝尔曼（Lydia Berman）居住在赫特福德郡（Hertfordshire），告诉我父亲的时间 - 效率狂热爱好者杰弗里·沙莱特（Geoffrey Shalet），现年81岁，他也将手机充电器贴到他的床边，以便快速轻松地进入 - 适合她的妈妈的浴室秤。伯曼说：“他将它们安装在Lino下的浴室里，这样每次她走进浴室时，秤都会说她的体重。”“他认为这将是实用和节省时间的。她认为这是离婚的。”最后，从Lino中删除了鳞片，伯曼的妈妈一周没有和她的父亲说话。
View image in fullscreen ‘Having more simplicity in my day-to-day life gives me more capacity’ … Veronica Pullen with a time-optimised cup of tea. Photograph: Amanda Hutchinson AKP Branding Stories
在全屏中查看图像“在我的日常生活中拥有更简单的能力，可以使我更有能力”……维罗妮卡·普伦（Veronica Pullen）和一杯时间优化的茶。照片：Amanda Hutchinson AKP品牌故事
Of course, while all microefficiencies, on the surface, serve the same purpose – to save snippets of time and mental energy – there are many other reasons why they might be incorporated into people’s lives. Pullen, for example, has rheumatoid arthritis and says her hacks help her to conserve physical energy. “I cut out what I term unnecessary effort,” she says. “Routines are soothing.” And, although Shalet – who is retired and now lives alone after his wife died in 2020 – has used microefficiencies all his life, they have recently become even more helpful after a diagnosis of dementia. They have been so helpful, in fact, that the occupational therapist who came to assess his needs left with a collection of his efficiencies to share with other patients, such as writing down the expiry dates of every item in the fridge (including leftovers) on sticky notes, which go on a clipboard in the kitchen. Fisher admits to being “bloody lazy” while Arrowsmith simply likes to spend time doing what she enjoys: visiting her local comedy club.
当然，虽然表面上所有的微观效果都具有相同的目的 - 节省时间和精神的片段 - 还有许多其他原因使它们可能被纳入人们的生活中。例如，普伦患有类风湿关节炎，并说她的骇客帮助她节省了身体能量。她说：“我削减了我所做的不必要的努力。”“例程令人舒缓。”而且，尽管Shalet（已退休，现在是他的妻子在2020年去世后独自生活的），他一生都使用了微观效能，但在诊断出痴呆症后，他们最近变得更加有帮助。实际上，它们是如此有帮助，以至于评估自己的需求的职业治疗师与其他患者分享的效率集合，例如写下冰箱中每个物品的到期日期（包括剩下的纸条），这些日期在厨房的剪贴板上都贴在剪贴板上。费舍尔承认自己是“血腥的懒惰”，而箭匠只是喜欢花时间做她喜欢的事情：参观当地的喜剧俱乐部。
One can’t help but wonder, though, whether our love of efficiency speaks to how much store we set by productivity. Consultant counselling psychologist Dr Ritika Suk Birah, who has delivered keynote speeches on burnout, high-functioning anxiety and our cultural obsession with output, thinks our fascination with microefficiencies suggests we have internalised an idea that every moment must be maximised. “On the surface, it can look like ambition, but it’s often a sign of burnout creeping in,” she says. “These behaviours are less about choice and more about survival. It can be driven by the belief that slowing down is unsafe or unproductive.”
不过，人们不禁要问，我们对效率的热爱是否表明了我们以生产力设定的商店。顾问咨询心理学家Ritika Suk Birah博士对倦怠，高功能焦虑和对产出的文化痴迷进行了主题演讲，他认为我们对微观效能的着迷表明我们已经将每时每刻都必须最大化。她说：“从表面上看，它看起来像是野心，但这通常是倦怠蔓延的迹象。”“这些行为与选择无关，而更多地与生存有关。它可以由这样的信念驱动，即放慢速度是不安全或无生产性的。”
View image in fullscreen Free up brainpower by keeping a log of all your WhatsApp messages each day. Illustration: Mark Long/The Guardian
每天保留所有WhatsApp消息的日志，在全屏中查看图像。插图：马克·朗/监护人
Susie Masterson, a Manchester-based psychotherapist who used to work in the technology sector (including for Google, where productivity was a “persistent theme”), is seeing the impact efficiency obsessions can have on her clients. “I’ve seen the pursuit of microefficiencies trigger OCD tendencies in clients as well as anxiety and depression. Feelings of not being good enough are common.” Microefficiencies, she adds, don’t help us feel less lonely or disconnected, and being productive is not the same as feeling fulfilled.
总部位于曼彻斯特的心理治疗师苏西·马斯特森（Susie Masterson）曾经在技术领域工作（包括Google，生产力是“持续的主题”），正在看到效率的痴迷对她的客户产生了影响。“我已经看到对微观效能的追求触发了客户的强迫症以及焦虑和抑郁。不够好的感觉很普遍。”她补充说，微观效率没有帮助我们感到不那么孤独或脱节，而且富有成效的人与满足感并不相同。
Babey agrees. “The world is full of so much to be engaged with – podcasts, TV, social media, hobbies – that I think some people are feeling overwhelmed by everything they feel they should be doing,” she says. “I certainly feel I always need to be doing something and being productive.” Smith, too, thinks our busy lives are to blame, saying: “I don’t know whether society really prizes efficiency or if it’s just become a necessity to help people cope with overfull lives.”
巴比同意。她说：“这个世界充满了很多与播客，电视，社交媒体，爱好的联系 - 我认为有些人对自己认为应该做的一切感到不知所措。”“我当然觉得我总是需要做某事并提高效率。”史密斯也认为我们忙碌的生活应该受到指责，他说：“我不知道社会是否真正奖励效率，还是只是有必要帮助人们应对充满活力的生活。”
It’s true, our lives are full. According to a report by Lloyds TSB Bank, the average adult in the UK feels they have just 23 hours of “genuinely free” time a week (out of a possible 112 waking hours) – and 86% of those surveyed said they wanted more. With so little time, it’s hardly surprising people have resorted to elasticated laces. What, then, can be done?
的确，我们的生活充满了。根据Lloyds TSB银行的一份报告，英国的平均成年人认为他们每周只有23个小时的“真正的免费”时间（在可能的112个醒来的时间中），而接受调查的人中有86％表示他们想要更多。随着时间的流逝，人们诉诸于弹性鞋带并不令人惊讶。那么，可以做什么？
According to Gabrielle Treanor, author of The 1% Wellness Experiment: Micro-gains to Change Your Life in 10 Minutes a Day, it’s good to ask yourself why you are employing these microefficiencies. She confesses that when she worked in children’s magazine publishing, she swapped from heels to flats at work so she could get across the office faster. “Is it so you can squeeze more time out of your day to get more done, be more productive? Or is it so you can have more time for fun, for relaxing, connecting with loved ones, taking care of your wellbeing?”
1％健康实验的作者加布里埃尔·特雷诺（Gabrielle Treanor）说，每天10分钟内改变生活的微观增长，很高兴问自己为什么要使用这些微观效能。她承认，当她在儿童杂志出版社工作时，她从高跟鞋换成了工作，以便更快地穿过办公室。“是这样，您可以浪费更多的时间来完成更多工作，更有生产力？
Interestingly, the efficiency hackers I spoke to all had one thing in common, and it wasn’t burnout. Every one, without exception, was delighted with the microefficiencies they had developed. And although I suspect these efficiencies are symptomatic of a society that values success and being busy over, say, love or happiness or stability, there is also something undeniably charming about inventive people tinkering creatively, quietly, with the way they do things. Something to think about, perhaps, while that second cup of tea is cooling.
有趣的是，我与我交谈的效率黑客有一个共同点，这并不是倦怠。每个人无一例外地对他们开发的微观效能感到高兴。尽管我怀疑这些效率是一个重视成功并忙于忙碌的社会的征兆，例如爱，幸福或稳定，但对于创造性的人，他们静静地，静静地修补了他们的工作方式，也有一些令人迷惑的魅力。也许要考虑的时候，第二杯茶正在冷却。
* These names have been changed
*这些名称已更改
