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美剧《欲望都市 2》(Sex and the City 2)里面的Miranda在参加朋友婚礼、聚餐的时候都在通过手机发电邮,跟老板沟通工作上的事情。这样的场景估计很多人都经历过吧。明明是美好的周末或假期,却要不断处理跟工作有关的事务,绝对就是工作日被无限延长的表现,也是公私不分的状况,这种情况叫作拖拉工作日(workweek creep)。公私不分或拖拉工作日有两种意思:其一,表示随时随地通过智能手机和电脑与别人联系导致工作和私人生活的界限完全被打乱;其二,表示工作的时候通过电邮和网聊与别人联络,导致上班时间不停被打断,无法有整块的时间专心思考,结果只能晚上或周末在家加班赶工作。这种情况在网络盛行的今天非常普遍,我们来看看Samantha有什么好的解决办法。
Workweek Creep
Jimmy: I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to feel the workweek creep.
Samantha: What’s that? A new dance we can do around the office to stretch out, to break up all those lengthy periods of sitting, cooped up in our little cubicle cages all day long? You know, I heard somewhere that sitting is the new smoking!
Jimmy: No, the workweek creep is not a dance, like the Monster Mash or the Macarena; it’s a new term that refers to being interrupted by constant messages and emails while at work, making it practically impossible to get any actual work done.
Samantha: Oh, I hate that. And have you noticed that the longer your social network friend list gets, the more distractions seem to pop up, stopping whatever progress you might have been making on a given assignment?
Jimmy: Yeah, that’s not a 1)coincidence. And then everyone, including the sender, the recipient and all those in close proximity, ends up getting less work done as a result.
Samantha: I was wondering why my projects were always a step behind, and why I always find myself working 2)feverishly after work, in what should be the comfort of my own home.
Jimmy: That reminds me, there is another form of the workweek creep, in which bosses and colleagues send you one email after another, even on weekends and National Holidays.
Samantha: ①I think that has to be one of my biggest pet peeves. ②It drives me nuts when anyone with power tries to wield his or her weapons of authority during off-work hours. I mean, is there no such thing as leisure time any more?
Jimmy: I know. It’s getting to the point where the line between our work lives and personal lives is getting more and more 3)blurred, thanks in part to this electronic revolution.
Samantha: I don’t blame digital communication. I blame us, the users, for allowing it to go on like this. If we wanted to put a stop to it, we could always just mute our devices or ignore those emails. But do we? No. Why not? I’ll tell you why not: because we, as a society, have become addicted to the 4)almighty“status update”. We don’t wanna know what happened anymore. Now, we only wanna know what’s happening, at this very moment, and how people feel about the most recent events. Everything else is 5)moot at this point. If it happened a few minutes ago, eh, that’s old news…
Jimmy: ③That’s a pretty grim view, but I think you hit the nail right on the head. So are you gonna start the revolution by ignoring our boss’s latest assignment?
Samantha: Nah! I’ll just shut off my phone so I can focus on the task at hand.
Jimmy: Baby steps! I like it.
吉米:我不知道你怎样,但我开始有工作日延长的感觉。
萨曼莎:那是什么?一种新式舞蹈吗?这样我们就可以把那些漫长的时间分段,在办公室周围伸展一下腿脚,不用困在小隔间里坐着工作一整天。你知道,我在某处听说久坐相当于一种新的吸烟形式!
吉米:不,工作日蔓延(拖拉工作日)不是一种像怪物舞蹈或马卡丽娜的舞蹈;它是一个新词,是指工作期间不断被信息或邮件打扰,使得任何实际工作都无法完成。
萨曼莎:哦,我讨厌那样。你有没注意到你社交网上的朋友越多,似乎分心的事物就出现得越频繁,而且中断你本应该有所进展的任务?
吉米:没错,那绝不是巧合的事。结果就是每个人,包括发送者、接收者和所有那些附近的人能完成的工作就更少了。
萨曼莎:我一直纳闷为什么我的项目总是慢一步,为什么我总是下班后匆忙工作,原本我可以待在自己舒舒服服的家里。
吉米:那提醒了我,还有另一种形式的拖拉工作日,就是老板和同事们接二连三地给你发邮件,就算在周末和国家法定节假日也一样。
萨曼莎:我想那得是我感到最烦的事之一了。当有权力的人试图在工作时间之外向我使用他们手中职权的时候,我就会像疯了一样。我的意思是,不再有休闲时间这种东西了吗?
吉米:我懂。重点就是我们的工作和个人生活的界限越来越模糊,部分要归功于这场电子革命。
萨曼莎:我不埋怨数字通信。我责备我们用户自己允许这样的情况持续下去。如果我们想要喊停,我们总是可以把设备调成静音或忽视那些邮件。但是我们做了吗?没有。为什么没有?我告诉你为什么没有:因为我们的社会已经变得痴迷于万能的“状态更新”中。我们不再想知道发生了什么。现在,我们只想知道此刻正在发生的事情,人们对最近发生的这些事是怎么看的。此时此刻,其他任何事情都是毫无意义的。如果事情是在几分钟前发生的,呃,那就是旧闻了……
吉米:那是相当令人沮丧的观点,但我认为你说得完全正确。那么你打算开始这场革命,不理睬我们老板的最新任务吗?
萨曼莎:不会!我只会关掉手机,这样我就能专注于手头的任务。
吉米:慢慢来吧!我喜欢这样。
Smart Sentences
① I think that has to be one of my biggest pet peeves.
我想那得是我感到最烦的事之一了。
pet peeve: sth. that really annoys sb.(很烦人的事)。例如:
My sister has countless pet peeves, the biggest of which is people smoking in restaurants.
我姐有无数痛恨的事,最招她恨的就是有人在餐馆里抽烟。
② It drives me nuts when anyone with power tries to wield his or her weapons of authority during off-work hours.
当有权力的人试图在工作时间之外向我使用他们手中的职权的时候,我就会像疯了一样。
drive sb. nuts: make sb. go crazy(让某人发疯)。例如:
Mother’s nagging about the leaking faucet drove my father nuts.老妈不停地唠叨水龙头漏水的事,老爸都快疯了。
③ That’s a pretty grim view, but I think you hit the nail right on the head.
那是相当令人沮丧的观点,但我认为你说得完全正确。
hit the nail on the head: be exactly right about sth. (在某件事情上完全正确)。例如:
Doug hit the nail on the head when he said Jack was a hypocrite with elegant speech but little action.
道格说杰克是一个说得漂亮,但做得少的伪君子,说得太对了。
Workweek Creep
Jimmy: I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to feel the workweek creep.
Samantha: What’s that? A new dance we can do around the office to stretch out, to break up all those lengthy periods of sitting, cooped up in our little cubicle cages all day long? You know, I heard somewhere that sitting is the new smoking!
Jimmy: No, the workweek creep is not a dance, like the Monster Mash or the Macarena; it’s a new term that refers to being interrupted by constant messages and emails while at work, making it practically impossible to get any actual work done.
Samantha: Oh, I hate that. And have you noticed that the longer your social network friend list gets, the more distractions seem to pop up, stopping whatever progress you might have been making on a given assignment?
Jimmy: Yeah, that’s not a 1)coincidence. And then everyone, including the sender, the recipient and all those in close proximity, ends up getting less work done as a result.
Samantha: I was wondering why my projects were always a step behind, and why I always find myself working 2)feverishly after work, in what should be the comfort of my own home.
Jimmy: That reminds me, there is another form of the workweek creep, in which bosses and colleagues send you one email after another, even on weekends and National Holidays.
Samantha: ①I think that has to be one of my biggest pet peeves. ②It drives me nuts when anyone with power tries to wield his or her weapons of authority during off-work hours. I mean, is there no such thing as leisure time any more?
Jimmy: I know. It’s getting to the point where the line between our work lives and personal lives is getting more and more 3)blurred, thanks in part to this electronic revolution.
Samantha: I don’t blame digital communication. I blame us, the users, for allowing it to go on like this. If we wanted to put a stop to it, we could always just mute our devices or ignore those emails. But do we? No. Why not? I’ll tell you why not: because we, as a society, have become addicted to the 4)almighty“status update”. We don’t wanna know what happened anymore. Now, we only wanna know what’s happening, at this very moment, and how people feel about the most recent events. Everything else is 5)moot at this point. If it happened a few minutes ago, eh, that’s old news…
Jimmy: ③That’s a pretty grim view, but I think you hit the nail right on the head. So are you gonna start the revolution by ignoring our boss’s latest assignment?
Samantha: Nah! I’ll just shut off my phone so I can focus on the task at hand.
Jimmy: Baby steps! I like it.
吉米:我不知道你怎样,但我开始有工作日延长的感觉。
萨曼莎:那是什么?一种新式舞蹈吗?这样我们就可以把那些漫长的时间分段,在办公室周围伸展一下腿脚,不用困在小隔间里坐着工作一整天。你知道,我在某处听说久坐相当于一种新的吸烟形式!
吉米:不,工作日蔓延(拖拉工作日)不是一种像怪物舞蹈或马卡丽娜的舞蹈;它是一个新词,是指工作期间不断被信息或邮件打扰,使得任何实际工作都无法完成。
萨曼莎:哦,我讨厌那样。你有没注意到你社交网上的朋友越多,似乎分心的事物就出现得越频繁,而且中断你本应该有所进展的任务?
吉米:没错,那绝不是巧合的事。结果就是每个人,包括发送者、接收者和所有那些附近的人能完成的工作就更少了。
萨曼莎:我一直纳闷为什么我的项目总是慢一步,为什么我总是下班后匆忙工作,原本我可以待在自己舒舒服服的家里。
吉米:那提醒了我,还有另一种形式的拖拉工作日,就是老板和同事们接二连三地给你发邮件,就算在周末和国家法定节假日也一样。
萨曼莎:我想那得是我感到最烦的事之一了。当有权力的人试图在工作时间之外向我使用他们手中职权的时候,我就会像疯了一样。我的意思是,不再有休闲时间这种东西了吗?
吉米:我懂。重点就是我们的工作和个人生活的界限越来越模糊,部分要归功于这场电子革命。
萨曼莎:我不埋怨数字通信。我责备我们用户自己允许这样的情况持续下去。如果我们想要喊停,我们总是可以把设备调成静音或忽视那些邮件。但是我们做了吗?没有。为什么没有?我告诉你为什么没有:因为我们的社会已经变得痴迷于万能的“状态更新”中。我们不再想知道发生了什么。现在,我们只想知道此刻正在发生的事情,人们对最近发生的这些事是怎么看的。此时此刻,其他任何事情都是毫无意义的。如果事情是在几分钟前发生的,呃,那就是旧闻了……
吉米:那是相当令人沮丧的观点,但我认为你说得完全正确。那么你打算开始这场革命,不理睬我们老板的最新任务吗?
萨曼莎:不会!我只会关掉手机,这样我就能专注于手头的任务。
吉米:慢慢来吧!我喜欢这样。
Smart Sentences
① I think that has to be one of my biggest pet peeves.
我想那得是我感到最烦的事之一了。
pet peeve: sth. that really annoys sb.(很烦人的事)。例如:
My sister has countless pet peeves, the biggest of which is people smoking in restaurants.
我姐有无数痛恨的事,最招她恨的就是有人在餐馆里抽烟。
② It drives me nuts when anyone with power tries to wield his or her weapons of authority during off-work hours.
当有权力的人试图在工作时间之外向我使用他们手中的职权的时候,我就会像疯了一样。
drive sb. nuts: make sb. go crazy(让某人发疯)。例如:
Mother’s nagging about the leaking faucet drove my father nuts.老妈不停地唠叨水龙头漏水的事,老爸都快疯了。
③ That’s a pretty grim view, but I think you hit the nail right on the head.
那是相当令人沮丧的观点,但我认为你说得完全正确。
hit the nail on the head: be exactly right about sth. (在某件事情上完全正确)。例如:
Doug hit the nail on the head when he said Jack was a hypocrite with elegant speech but little action.
道格说杰克是一个说得漂亮,但做得少的伪君子,说得太对了。