懒癌福音：我的桌子乱得很科学

09 懒癌福音：我的桌子乱得很科学

下次再有人对你摆满文件的桌面指指点点时，你可以理直气壮地说：“这是我的自动文件整理系统！”

We are tidy-minded people at heart.

我们都是内心追求整洁的人。

Some of us have minimalist desks straight out of a gaudy magazine.Most of us find that the business of actually doing some work tends to mess up our desks a bit.

有些人的桌子堪称极简主义，和那些漂亮杂志里展示的一模一样。我们大多数人会发现，当你真正工作的时候，总是难免把桌子搞得比较乱。

Still, everyone seems to feel proud of a tidy desk and guilty about a messy one.

不过，每个人还是会偏爱整洁的桌面，因为把桌子弄乱而略有愧疚。

I think that's a mistake.

这种想法是错误的。

What we don't realize is that desks have a tendency to organize themselves based on the way we use them.

我们没注意到的是，桌面会随着主人的使用和工作而进行“自我整理”。

Computer scientists have known this for decades.A critical problem in computer science is what data should you keep in your computer's fastest memory cache.

计算机科学家几十年前就发现了这一点。计算机科学里面有个重要问题是，你电脑里最快的缓存空间到底应该存放哪些数据。

That is a bit like asking, what documents you should keep on top of the pile right in front of you.

这个问题有点像：面对一堆文件的时候，你应该把哪些放到最上面。

And this is a tricky problem.You never really know what data or what document you need to access next.But computer scientists have found a good guess.Just keep hold of what you've used recently.You probably need it again.

这是一个狡猾的问题。其实你永远也不知道哪些数据或者文件是你下一步会需要的。不过计算机科学家找到了一个不错的“猜想”方案：只存储你最近使用过的文件就对了。你很可能会再用到它们。

Hang on a moment.Isn't that basically what this pile of papers is doing anyway? I thumb through, pull out a couple of documents.I work on them, then put them back on top of the pile of paper.

稍等一下，这叠文件不就是照这个方法处理的吗？我翻了一遍，抽出其中几份文件，然后使用它们，之后会把它们放到最上面。

The stuff I'm not using sinks to the bottom.That's the orange documents.The stuff I need all the time keeps re-appearing on the top.First I was working a lot on the green documents, and now I'm working on the yellow ones, in the end of course, you need to have a clear-out.And that's no problem.

我用不到的东西就会沉到底部，这里就是那些橘色的文件。我需要的东西就会持续在最上层出现。我先是使用了绿色的文件，然后使用了黄色的，最后呢，你当然需要清理一遍。但是一点也不费劲。

I'm pretty sure, the bottom third of this pile can go straight in the bin after a leaf through.

我很确定，最底下的这三分之一，可以粗略地翻一下，然后直接丢进垃圾桶。

I haven't wasted my time trying to file stuff that on reflection belong to recycling.I haven't spent hours trudging to and from the filing cabinet.Instead, just by using the documents, I've allowed them to organize themselves.

我没浪费时间思考哪些是该扔的，再把所有东西都分类；我也没有忙活几个小时，在档案柜之间往返穿梭。相反，我的做法是，直接在使用这些文件的过程中让他们“自我整理”。

So, next time you feel bad about your clutter desk, give yourself a break.You've got a highly efficient self-organizing rapid access filing system.So what if it looks so messy?

所以，当下一次你看到自己的桌面乱七八糟，而感到心烦意乱的话，你就可以省省心了。因为你有一个高效自理、且存取快速的文件整理系统。看着乱一点，又有什么关系呢？

词汇总结

gaudy ['gɔːdɪ]

adj.华而不实的；俗丽的

Some of us have minimalist desks straight out of a gaudy magazine.

有些人的桌子堪称极简主义，和那些漂亮杂志里展示的一模一样。

memory cache

存储器的超高速缓存

A critical problem in computer science is what data should you keep in your computer's fastest memory cache.

计算机科学里面有个重要问题是，你电脑里最快的缓存空间到底应该存放哪些数据。

thumb through

匆匆地翻阅(书等)；浏览

I thumb through, pull out a couple of documents.I work on them, then put them back on top of the pile of paper.

我翻了一遍，抽出其中几份文件，然后使用它们，之后会把它们放到最上面。

leaf through

翻(书的)页；匆匆翻阅(书刊等)；浏览

I'm pretty sure, the bottom third of this pile can go straight in the bin after a leaf through.

我很确定，最底下的这三分之一，可以粗略地翻一下，然后直接丢进垃圾桶。

trudge [trʌdʒ]

v.艰难跋涉；步履艰难地走，吃力地走

I haven't spent hours trudging to and from the filing cabinet.

我没浪费时间思考哪些是该扔的，再把所有东西都分类。