一周過得成功與否，不能只看工作效率--掌握「富蘭克林五小時原則」

文/Kevin Wang

閱讀暖身

許多人在周一到周五的工作日中，會盡可能提高自己的工作產能，完成的工作越多，這一周就過得越成功。這樣的檢視標準下，自我能力的提升就容易被忽略，而這卻是讓產能倍增的關鍵。美國商業雜誌<>介紹「富蘭克林五小時原則」，從周一到周五每天保留一小時給自己、如何利用這一小時、長期下來又將創造什麼樣的不同。

進入本文前，請先想想如何表達以下單字：

(A) 學徒
(B) 刻意的
(C) 長期而言

Benjamin Franklin was once America's most respected statesman, its most famous inventor, a prolific author, and a successful entrepreneur. He left school at ten to be an (A) apprentice. How did he pull off such tremendous achievements? Underlying the answer to this question is a success strategy for life.
富蘭克林曾是美國德高望重的政治家、家喻戶曉的發明家，同時也是成功的作家與企業家。十歲起就離開學校擔任學徒的他，是怎麼創造這些成就的？答案源自一個成功的終身策略。

Throughout Franklin's adult life, he consistently invested roughly an hour a day in (B) deliberate learning. This is called “Franklin's five-hour rule:” one hour a day on every weekday. His learning time consisted of getting up early to read and write, setting personal growth goals and tracking the results, turning ideas into experiments, having reflection questions, meeting with "like-minded aspiring artisans and tradesmen who hoped to improve themselves."
富蘭克林長大成人後，每天刻意花一小時學習。此舉稱為「富蘭克林5小時原則」：每個工作天花一小時學習。這段期間中他會：晨起讀寫、訂定個人成長目標並追蹤成果、將想法付諸實驗、每日反省，與同樣有抱負、希望提升自我的工匠和商人聚會。

Whenever Franklin took time out of his busy day to follow his five-hour rule, he seemingly accomplished less on that day. However,(C) in the long run, it was arguably the best investment of his time he could have made. His five-hour rule reflects the very simple idea that the most successful people are the ones who (1) put a premium on deliberate and constant learning.
富蘭克林在忙碌中撥空遵守5小時原則，乍看每天完成較少工作。長期來看，這卻成為最好的時間投資。5小時原則反映一個簡單觀念：特意、持續學習的人們，是最成功的。

Bill Gates reads 50 books per year. Mark Zuckerberg peruses at least one book every two weeks. Elon Musk grew up poring over two books a day. Oprah Winfrey credits books with much of her success: "Books were my pass to personal freedom."
比爾．蓋茲每年讀50本書。祖克柏每兩周至少消化一本書。伊隆．馬斯克年輕時每天也讀兩本以上的書。歐普拉認為讀書是她自己成功的原因：「書本是我取得個人自由的通行證」。 

According to <>, the core concept of the five-hour rule is to create an “empty space” which allows us to:

1. Think carefully about what to learn besides what to accomplish.
2. Keep improving instead of doing things automatically.
3. Assimilate more on lessons learned.
4. Set aside time for reading, taking classes, having conversation, etc.
5. Solve small problems before they turn into big problems.
6. Test your ideas, and it may create potential payoffs.

根據Inc.雜誌，五小時原則的核心概念是創造一個淨空空間，讓我們能夠：

1. 不只思考要達成的目標，也思考學習目標。
2. 不只無意識地執行工作，而能持續進步。
3. 更進一步消化學到的內容。
4. 空出時間來閱讀、上課、與人交談等等。
5. 在小問題變成大問題前解決它。
6. 測試自己的想法，這可能創造巨大回報。

口語詞彙:

Put/Place a premium on something 很重視某事
Premium意指「保險費」，如果人們為一樣東西買保險，便意味該件物品極受重視。
Busy customers put a premium on finding everything they need in one supermarket.
忙碌的顧客很重視在一家超市內便能買到所有需要的商品。 

參考資料：Inc.com