夜間工作有訣竅：如何做個高效的夜貓子

Being an early riser has its benefits, but it isn’t for everyone. Some of humanity’s greatest minds (Voltaire for example) were renowned for sleeping in. Depending on personality, environment, and work schedule, beingan early riser may not be practical.
做一名早起者有它的好處，但並不是每個人都適合。一些偉人（比如說伏爾泰）因睡懶覺而聞名。根據性格、環境和工作安排的不同，做一個早起者可能並不現實。

A few months ago I gave early rising a try. I was able to wake up 1-1.5 hours earlier, but I couldn’t adjust to the early bed time. Each night around 10:00, no matter how tired I’d felt that day, my mind became active and I was unable to shut down until after 12:00. After a few weeks, sleep deprivation set in and I went backto my normal sleep pattern.
幾個月前，我嘗試着早起。我能夠比之前早起1-1.5個小時，但是我不能調整早睡的時間。每晚約10:00，不管我那天多累，我的頭腦變得活躍，而且在12:00前無法停止。過了幾周，我開始感到睡眠不足，開始回到正常的睡眠模式。

For those of us who experience a late night surge of mentally activity, waking before 6 a.m. can lead to exhaustion. Sleep schedule depends on many factors and is subject to change, but it’s important to findwhat works for you. Fortunately, those of us who aren’t suited to early rising can be just as productive byutilizing those quiet evening hours.
對於我們這種深夜心理活動激增的人來說，六點之前醒來會導致疲憊。作息規律基於很多因素並很容易改變，但是找到適合自己的很重要。幸運的是，我們這些不適合早起的人可以充分利用深夜的安靜時光來使自己富有成效。

Late rising isn’t automatically beneficial. It has a negative connotation because, if poorly managed, sleeping late leads to perpetual grogginess and wasted days. Here are few strategies I’ve developed for effective late rising.
晚起一般是沒好處的。它有負面作用，因爲如果時間管理不善，晚睡會導致長期渾渾噩噩和浪費光陰。這裏是我爲了高效的晚起列的幾點策略。

1. Don’t Over Sleep
別睡過頭

The biggest temptation with late rising is to over sleep. Too much sleep is a bad thing. Rather than feeling more rested, it makes you lethargic. Having a regular wake up time is just as important for night owls as it is for early risers. If you don’t set a schedule, you’ll have a hard time being productive.
晚起的一個副作用就是導致過度睡眠，睡得太多不是好事。它不會讓你感覺休息充分，只會讓人頭昏腦漲。對夜貓子來說，保持一個有規律的起牀時間就像早起者一樣重要。如果你作息沒有規律，那你就很難保持高效。

2. Don’t Sleep Too Late
不要睡得太晚

Along the same lines, I’ve found that late rising is best in moderation. Sleeping until mid-afternoon can ruinan entire day. It throws off your biological clock, leaving you mentally dull, and makes it harder to get to sleep at a reasonable hour the following night. For me, the ideal wake up time is between 8:00 and 10:00a.m. This gives me a chance to get the 6-8 hours of sleep that I need without oversleeping or losing toomuch of the day.
同樣的，我發現晚起最好要有節制。一覺睡到中午會廢掉一整天的時間。這會毀掉你的生物鐘，導致你反應遲鈍，並且會使你在第二天晚上不能正常入睡。對我來說，最好的起牀時間是早上8點到10點之間。這可以讓我得到6-8小時的充足睡眠，並且除了不讓我睡眠過多外，還不會讓我損失很多白天的時間。3. Set a Cut Off Time
設置一個截止時間

The challenge with being productive at night is that it’s hard to wind down. This can lead to late nights that throw off your schedule. The way to manage this is setting a cut off time. I set my cut off time for an hourbefore bed time, usually around 11:00-11:30.
要在夜間保持高效的另一項挑戰是你很難平靜下來，這可能會導致作息不規律的午夜時間。處理這種情況的方法是設置截止時間。我的截止時間在就寢時間之前一小時，一般在11點到11點半之間。

After the cut off time I stop working and wind down. I switch to mentally relaxing activities like minor household chores and light reading. I’d also recommend avoiding television and the computer completely. The brightness of the screen can trick your brain into thinking it’s day. Although there will always be those nights when I ride a rush of creativity until 3:00 or 4:00 a.m., it’s better to make that the exception.
在截止時間過後，我停止工作放鬆一下。我會切換到一些放鬆大腦的活動，比如做家務或者讀點閒書。我還要勸大家，不要看電視或者玩電腦。熒幕的亮光會讓你的大腦認爲現在還是白天。不過現在總是有一些晚上，我的創造力井噴到凌晨三四點才停止，最好把這種情況作爲例外處理。

4. Schedule around Your Energy Cycle
調節精力循環

To maximize productivity it’s important to leverage the natural peaks of your energy cycle. Late rising works best for people who peak in the evening. If this is the case, you should create a schedule that lets you work at night. I’ve found mid-mornings to be productive, so I’ve built my schedule around a morning and evening shift.
爲了使效率最大化，調節自身的精力循環高峯期很重要。晚起適用於精力高峯在晚上的人。如果出現這種情況，你可以設置作息表，讓你在夜裏工作。我發現每天上午工作很有效率，因此我建立了作息規律，使我可以在晚上和上午都能工作。

After getting up around 8:00 or 9:00, I eat breakfast and work for 3-4 hours. By early afternoon my energy fades and I switch from creative work to less demanding tasks like responding to email, reading feeds, and running errands. Around 8:00 p.m. I have another energy peak and work the night shift until my cut off time at 11:00.
在8:00或9:00起牀後，我吃點早餐，工作三到四小時。但在下午早些時候，我的精力較差，我就把工作從創造型的轉換成要求較低的工作，比如回覆郵件，閱讀摘要，並且做些瑣碎的事。在晚上8點左右，我有了自己的另一個精力高峯，並在11:00的截止時間前加夜班。

Although it can be tough to schedule around a 9-5 job, you can probably figure out a way to take advantage of your evening energy peak by working from home or on side projects.
儘管對於朝九晚五的工作來說這樣的作息很艱苦，但你可以通過在家工作或做輔助項目的方法來利用你的夜間精力高峯。

5. Take Advantage of Distraction Free Evenings
利用無干擾的夜

Early risers rave about the productivity of the wee morning hours before the rest of us wake up. Late risers have a similar advantage on the other end. By working in the evening we can avoid the distractions of meetings, email, and other demands. For me, the evening is when I’m able to break free from the outside world and immerse myself in mentally challenging work. Some people can’t concentrate at night, but I’vefound it’s the easiest time get into creative work flow without interruption.
在我們起牀前，早起的人會達到他們的效率高峯。晚起者也在其他方面有所優勢。晚上工作能使我們不受會議、郵件和其他事情的干擾。對我來說，夜晚能使我從喧囂的外部世界擺脫出來，是我完全沉浸在有挑戰性的腦力工作中。有些人在夜裏無法集中精力，但是我發現這是進入連續創造性工作流程的最簡單的時間。

It’s all about finding what works best for you. As a night person in his early 20′s with roommates who tend to keep late hours, I found early rising problematic. As I get older and my living situation evolves, it’s entirely possible I’ll join the 5 a.m. club. Until then I’ll continue to take pride in being a highly productive night owl.
最重要的是找到最適合你的。作爲一個20多歲多歲的小年輕，室友也多是夜貓子型，我覺得早起有困難。隨着年齡的增長和生活狀態的改變，我有很大可能會加入早晨5:00俱樂部。不過在那之前，我仍然爲成爲一個高效的夜貓子而自豪。