Intheinformationage,whenalmosteveryoneineveryofficeisaknowledgeworker,we'repaidtoprocessinformation.Andsincethere'saninfiniteamountofinformation,there'saninfiniteamountofwork.Foreveryone.Soyourbossisprobablygivingyouenoughworkeveryweektofillthreeweeks--ifyouletit.Ifyouworkacertainway,itcouldalsofillonlythreedays.Mypointisthatpeoplewhofeeloverworkedinsomerespectschoosetobeoverworked.Herearefivechoicestomakeinstead:1.Forceyourbosstoprioritize.要老板优先化Becauseprocessinginformationisnotanobjectivetask,youcandoagoodjoborabadjoboranykindofjobinbetween.Whichistosaythatyoudon'thavetodoagreatjobwitheverything.Youcan't,right?Becauseyourbossisgivingyoutoomuchwork.Soyouhavesomechoices.First,youcantrytoforceyourbosstoprioritize.Saytohimorher,"Ifyouwantmetodoprojectzperfectly,thenyouneedtogetprojectsw,x,andyoffmyplate."Maybeyourbosswillthinkprojectzissoimportantthatheorshewillclearyourplate.Butmostlikely,yourbosswillsay,"Forgetit.Youneedtodoeverything."Thisisanopeninvitationtostartexperimentingwithcuttingcorners.2.Ifyourbosswon'tprioritize,doityourself.如果老板不肯优先化，你自己来优先化Pleasedon'ttellmeyoudon'tbelieveincuttingcorners.It'sthelayman'stermforprioritizing,andyouprobablyperfecteditasawayoflifeincollege.Infact,cuttingcornersiswhatcollegeteachesbest.Overthecourseofasemester,youwereassignedsixteen400-pagebookstoread,plusyouhadtowritepapersaboutthem.Youalsohadtoshowupforclassestofindoutwhatwasgoingtobeonthetests.Ofcourse,therewasnowayyoucouldreadall6,400pagesyouwereassigned--thatwouldbeimpossibleintheallottedtime.Soyoufiguredoutwhatyoucouldskip.Youdeterminedthatthebestwaytogetoutofthereadingwastogotothelectures,becauseprofessorslectureaboutwhatintereststhem,andtheirtestsreflecttheirinterests.Nowbacktoyourworkplace,whereyouhavetoomuchworktodo.Here'showthelosershandleit:Theycomplainaboutbeingoverworked.Theykeepacceptingmorework,andtryingtodoitperfectly,andcomplain.Andtheirbosseskeepdumpingitonthemandsayingthere'snothingtheycandoabouttheworkload.Meanwhile,neitherofthemisprioritizing,neitherofthemistakingresponsibilityforthesituation,andeachisblamingtheother.Ifyoubossinsistsongivingyoumoreworkthanyoucando,youshouldstartcuttingcorners.Doeverythingveryquickly,andignoretheideathatitneedstobedoneperfectly--itcan'tallbedoneperfectly.Yourbossrefusestoprioritizeforyou,soyou'llhavetodoeverythingasbestasyoucan.3.Getcomfortablewithignoringsometasks.心里踏实地去忽视某些任务Forsomeofyou,evendoingthingslessthanperfectlywilltaketoomuchtime.Inthiscase,you'llhavetoblowsomestuffoff.Soexperimentandseewhichthingscanfallthroughcrackswithoutanyonenoticing.Youalreadydothis.Someoneatworksendsyouanemaildemandingaresponse.Butbeforeyouhavetimetoreply,anotherrecipientdoesso,soyoujustdeletetheoriginalmessage.Trythisapproachwithworkyou'renotacentralforceonandseewhathappens.4.Stopcomplainingbeforeitruinsyourlife.在过度的工作破坏你的生活之前，停止抱怨Icanalreadyimaginethecommentsflyingaboutthiscolumn.Someofyouwillsaythatyou'dbefiredforfollowingtheaboveadvice.Butwhat'syourchoice?You'vealreadytoldyourbossyouhavemoreworkthanyoucangetdoneinaday,andheorshedidn'tscaleback.Doyouwanttocontinuetojustcomplainaboutiteveryday?Probablynot,becausecomplainingistoxic.Besides,doyoureallywanttowork15hourdaystogetextraworkdoneforacompanythatdoesn'trespectitsemployees'time?Whyshouldyougiveupyourpersonallifebecauseyourbosscan't...