重大決定難做出？清理雜念第一步！

There is a way to make big decisions, but you have to prepare for them first. Here's how.
做一些重大的決定時，方法總是有的。但我們要做的，是一場周密的規劃。

Before you make any big decision in business, there's one really important step to make. It will ease the burden of the decision, prepare you for the right mental frame of mind, and lead to a much better result in the end. Without this step, you won't make the best decision.
在商務職場中，在你想要作出重大決定前必須做好這一步。它可以爲你減輕下決定的負擔，營造良好的心境，最終獲得更好的結果。如果缺少了這一步，你將不能做出最好的決定。

Before I get into the solution, let me describe the problem and how I realized the importance of making this one step. I'm in the process of making a major move across my state. It's interesting to compare moving now to when I was much younger. In college, I remember moving out of my dorm room. I carried a few pieces of furniture out to the curb and marked them with a "free" sign. I packed my clothes into one duffel bag. Done.
在告訴你怎麼做之前，請讓我解釋一下我是如何發現這一步的重要性的。最近我正在進行一次跨洲的搬家。把如今的決定與我更年輕時期的時期對照起來其實是一件很有趣的事情。在大學的時候，我還記得我搬出宿舍的那一天，我把幾件傢俱搬到路邊，在上面寫上“免費”的字樣。然後就把我的衣服打包裝進揹包裏，搞定。

After college, I had collected a few trinkets here and there, maybe a couch and a bed, but moving was still fairly easy. Now, a move involves countless hours of sorting and decluttering. It's incredibly stressful because there are so many moving targets (not to mention moving boxes). Dozens of people will need to know about my address change. In the midst of this pandemonium, I had to make an important decision.
畢業後，我從各處收集了一些廉價的小物品，一張躺椅或一張牀，但是搬動起來相當方便。而現在，一次搬家需要花費漫長的挑選和整理時間。這真的是讓人壓力山大了，這麼多的搬家雜物（還沒說搬運箱子了）。一堆人要知道我的搬家地址，就在這一片烏煙瘴氣中，我必須做出重要的決定。

Then it hit me: I needed to reduce the chaos.
忽然，我就想到了：我得想辦法減少這堆亂糟糟的東西

This is the one step that's so important. You have to be ruthless about it. If you have a major decision to make, it's important to do whatever you can to resolve any other problems, reduce your stress, get back into a regular routine, and find some peace. If you don't, the stress will overwhelm you. (It's the same reason I try to manage stress and not my time.)
這就是關鍵的一步。你必須無情地踏出這一步。如果你要做出一個重要的決定，那麼對於你來說，竭盡所能解決其他的問題，減輕壓力，恢復正常軌道，獲得平靜就是最重要的。如果你無法踏出這一步，壓力便會把你撲倒。（這也是筆者努力管理壓力而不是管理時間的原因。）

So, what does that really look like? How do you do minimize chaos?
那麼，如何減少這堆亂糟糟的東西？最後看起來又是怎樣的？

For me, I had to resolve some of the minor issues related to my move before making the bigger business decision. A project was taking too much time so I had to bow out of it. A colleague had a problem with me, so I had to make amends. It's almost like I had to reduce the clutter in my mind before I could make the best decision. And, I had to grab a bunch of boxes and move them out to the garage. I had to level-set. I had to chill out.
對於筆者來說，我需要解決的就是，某些在我做出更大的商務決定前與之相關的枝節問題。一個項目所需的時間太多了，我必須全力迎合它。如果有一位同事對我有意見，我就要想辦法修復關係。這就像是我必須減少心裏的疙瘩，以便我做出最好的決定。再者，我還要把一大堆盒子搬出倉庫。我必須利用水平集方法，我必須冷靜下來。

When I felt things were in order with my move and my job, I had to get back to my regular routine. This took some drastic steps. On a hunch, I pulled some items out of boxes and set up my office the way it was before. I even placed a few desk ornaments back onto a bookshelf. I listened to some of my favorite bands. As a more extreme measure, I called a few favorite business contacts just to feel a sense of normalcy. I also spent a few days going through my seven-minute morning routine, I made sure my inbox was clean, and I resolved a few work issues that were lingering. I told friends and family-I'm just getting back to my work routine. In essence, I was asking them to help me reduce my stress load and my chaos.
當筆者能感覺到搬家與工作的事情井然有序的時候，我就必須迴歸我的日程。然後採取一些極端的手段。根據直覺，我把一些物品從箱子裏拿出來並把辦公室佈置跟從前一樣。我甚至還把一些書桌裝飾品放回書架上，聽了一些最愛的樂隊的歌曲。更有甚者，與幾位商務聯繫人通通電話，僅僅爲了感覺正常。我還用了幾天時間翻看了我的“早晨七分鐘”例行程序，處理乾淨收件箱的郵件，還有幾件尚未解決的工作小事。我告訴家人朋友們——我正在迴歸正常的工作狀態上。事實上，我正在尋求他們的幫忙，減輕我的壓力和我混亂感。

I also looked out a bit on my schedule. Nope, I won't be able to do that business trip. Sorry, those meetings are not important enough. I managed my decision by managing stress.
我還查看了我的行程表。不，我不會參與這種冗長的“商務旅行”。不好意思，那些會議還沒有那麼重要。爲了做出正確的決定，我得控制我的壓力。

It worked. When it came time to make the big decision, I felt clear-minded. The stress and chaos seemed more manageable. The solution was actually really obvious.
真的有效。每當需要做出重大決定的時候，我都感覺到頭腦清晰。壓力和混亂感似乎都越來越在掌控之中了。效果也是很明顯的。

If you have a big decision coming up, don't try to make it in the midst of chaos. Do what you can to reduce the clutter around you, both figuratively and literally. Then decide.
如果你需要做出重大的決定，千萬不要再混亂之中草率決定。儘可能減少身邊的混亂，無論是形式上還是實際上。然後再下決定。

As always, let me know if you put this solution into practice and if it works. Just remember to be ruthless about reducing chaos and getting back to a normal routine first.
一如既往地，讓筆者知道你是否把這個方法實際應用起來了並且奏效了。請記住首先要冷漠無情地減少混亂的事情並回歸正常軌道上。