Harvard Psychologists Reveal the Real Reason We're All So Distracted
哈佛心理学家揭秘我们都爱走神的真正原因
By Jill P. Weber︱June 21, 2019
翻译：Sally︱校对：Ray
Research reveals that "mind wandering" is often the hidden source of distraction. Here are 3 ways to shift back to being fully present and engaged.
研究表明，“走神”往往是注意力分散的隐形来源。这里有三种方法可以让你完全回到当下投入的状态。
When it comes to how to be more focused and less distracted, we've got things inside out. 当涉及到如何更集中注意力和更少分心时，我们已经把这件事搞明白了。
We tend to think that we are distracted because of the devices in our pocket, Instagram, Facebook, text messages, phone calls, and the thousands of other notifications beckoning for our attention. 我们会认为分心是因为口袋里的各种电子设备、Instagram、Facebook、短信、电话以及成千上万的其他通知在召唤着我们的注意力。
But according to the research of two Harvard psychologists, the real problem isn't our chaotic environment, its our minds. 但是根据两位哈佛心理学家的研究，真正的问题不是我们混乱的环境，而是我们的头脑。
Psychologists Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert found that the human mind is actually wired for this state of continuous distraction. In a study conducted with 2,250 adults, they concluded that we spend around 47 percent of every waking hour "mind wandering." Also called "stimulus-independent thought," mind wandering is an experience that so ordinary, so natural to us, we don't even notice it. 心理学家马修·基林斯沃斯和丹尼尔·吉尔伯特发现，人类的大脑实际上是处在这种持续的分心状态的。在一项对2250名成年人进行的研究中，他们得出的结论是，我们在醒着的每一个小时中，大约有47%的时间是“心灵漫游”。这也被称为“刺激独立思考”，心灵漫游是一种非常普通、非常自然状态，我们几乎感觉不到它。
It's waiting at the gate for your plane and fantasizing about that dream position or company you hope you'll have in a few years. It's sitting in an Uber thinking about the five emails you forgot to write earlier that morning. It's waiting for a conference call to begin and spacing out to a mental image of you sitting on a beach in Bali with a cocktail. We all know this state, and it turns out to be the default mode of operation of the brain. 它跟你一起在登机口等飞机，幻想着你几年内，你所希望拥有的理想职位或进入的那家公司。它跟你一起坐在网约车上，想着你那天早上忘记写的五封电子邮件。它跟你一起等待一个电话会议的开始，忽而跟你一起幻想着坐在巴厘岛海滩上喝鸡尾酒的画面。我们都知道这种状态，可这才是大脑默认的运作模式。
This is a big insight with two big implications. For one thing, it shows that distraction is primarily a mind game. If we really want to get focused, if we really want to more skillfully manage the distractions of digital life, the path has to include developing a new habit of more effectively managing our most precious resource: our attention. 这一深刻的见地有着两个重大的含义。首先，它表明分心主要是一种心理游戏。如果我们真的想集中精力，如果我们真的想更巧妙地排除数字生活的干扰，那么我们必须要培养一种更有效地管理我们最宝贵资源的新习惯：我们的注意力。
There's one other big takeaway. We should focus less on what we're doing and more on how we are being. This study also found that mind wandering has more to do with unhappiness than the activities we engage in. This isn't the way we normally think. We generally think that doing pleasant things makes us happy. But these researchers found that activities account for 4.6 percent of our happiness. Being fully here, instead of time travelling through the mind, accounts for around 10.8 percent.
另外还有一个大收获，我们应该少关注我们在做什么，多关注我们现在的状态。这项研究还发现，与我们从事的活动相比，心灵漫游与不快乐有更多的关系。我们通常不是这样看问题的，我们通常认为做愉快的事会使我们快乐。但这些研究人员发现，我们所做的事情只占我们幸福感的4.6%。全身心地关注当下，而不是花时间让思绪游走，约占10.8%。
So how can you shift from mind wandering to focus? Enter Notice-Shift-Rewire -- a tool that you can use to radically change your mental state, anytime, anywhere. 那么，如何才能从思绪游走转向专注当下呢？输入notice-shift-rewire — 一个你可以在任何时间、任何地点用它彻底改变你的精神状态的工具。
Notice when your mind starts to wander. 当你的思绪开始游荡的时候，察觉它。
It's hard because mind wandering is like a dream. When you are rehearsing an argument you think you're about to have with a coworker, you're not really aware of what's happening. You miss that, in this moment, you are totally lost in thought, oblivious to whatever is happening around you. 这很难，因为走神就像做梦一样。当你在脑海里脑补你可能将要和同事发生的争论时，你根本意识不到。在这一刻，你错过了，你完全迷失在思绪中，忘记了你周围发生的一切。
oblivious：不知道，未察觉
So everything starts with your ability to notice when you get caught in this state. And that's often very difficult to do. In fact, it's so hard that it can be helpful to set up cues in your life to help you remember to notice: each time you stop at a stop sign, each time you walk into work, or each time you pull out your phone. 所以，一切都是从能否察觉到你被困在这种状态的能力开始的。这通常很难做到，你可以尝试在生活中设置一些小提示来提醒你：每次你在停车标志的地方停车、每次你走进工作地点、或者每次你掏出手机的时候。
cues：暗示、提示
Shift your attention and focus on the now. 把你的注意力转移到当下。
Once you notice, the next step is to shift your attention to something that's happening right now. It could be engaging fully in the email you're typing, listening fully to the person you're talking with, or really tasting that last bite of food you just put in your mouth. In more idle moments, it might be paying attention to sights, sensations in your body, or the sound of birds, the wind, or blaring car horns. 一旦你察觉到了，下一步就是把你的注意力转移到正在发生的事情上。它可以让你完全投入在电子邮件的打字中，完全投入在听正在与你交谈的人的说话当中，或者完全投入地品尝你刚放进嘴里的最后一口食物。在空闲的时候，它可能会关注你身体中的景象、感觉，或者鸟的声音、风或汽车喇叭的鸣叫。
idle：闲散的
Rewire, refocus, and savor the moment. 重新搭线，重新聚焦，全心享受这一时刻。
The final step is to strengthen this new habit of mind. To do this, all you have to do is take 15 to 30 seconds to stay in the state and really savor the experience of being here now. 最后一步是加强这种新的思维习惯。要做到这一点，你所要做的就是花15到30秒的时间让自己沉浸在这样的状态里，好好享受此时此地所经历的一切。
Of course, dropping this habit of mind wandering completely isn't just difficult, it's impossible. Even the greatest mindfulness masters of our time report getting lost in this mind-wandering state. So if you find yourself forgetting and getting swept away and thoughts, know that you're not doing anything wrong. You're just human. 当然，完全摒弃这种让思绪游走的习惯不仅困难，而且是不可能的。即使是我们这个时代最伟大的正念大师，也会有这种注意力不在线的状态。所以，如果你发现自己不记得要做什么了、思绪被带走了，你就知道，那并不是你做错了什么，你也是个正常人。
But as you make this shift, you might start to notice that it's as if your beginning to see your life in HD. Everything gets more vivid and interesting. You feel less stressed out by wandering thoughts, more connected to the life that's happening right now. 但当你做出这种转变时，你可能会开始注意到，好像你开始看到你的高清生活。一切都变得更加生动有趣。你不会因为四处游荡的想法而感到压力太大，也可以更多地与当下正在发生的生活联系在一起。
翻译：Sally ︱校对：Ray
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