Use Your Time Wisely明智地利用时间

“What are you doing？”my fifth-grade teacherinquired1 as I hunched2 over the side of my desk.

“你在干什么？”当我弓着腰坐在课桌边上时，我五年级的老师问道。

“I’m packing my backpack. The bell rings in a few minutes.”

“我正在收拾背包。几分钟后铃声就要响了。”

“Unpack your assignments3. You still have five minutes. We work until theclock runs out. The more you do here in class with me， the less you have to do athome，”she countered with a small smile as she walked back to her desk. She was avery kind and sweet woman， but I knew she meant business， too.“

打开你的作业。你还有五分钟时间。我们会一直工作到时间结束。在这里，你和我一起在课堂上做的事情越多，你在家里要做的事情就越少。”她笑着回到办公桌前反驳道。她是一个非常和蔼可亲的女人，但我知道她也是认真的。

I pulled my math assignment back out and completed one problem at a time asthe minutes on the clock ticked away. The bell finally rang， and I stuffed4 myhomework in my backpack as fast as possible and headed to my next class.

当时间一分一秒地流逝时，我把我的数学作业重新拿出来，一道题一道题地完成。铃声终于响了，我以最快的速度把作业塞进背包，然后去了下一节课。

I cannot remember how many times per day she would reiterate5， “Use yourtime wisely.”It worked. It became second nature for me to work until the bell rang.

我不记得她每天会重申多少次“明智地利用你的时间”。这句话很管用。做作业到下课铃响成了我习以为常的事情。

In middle school， I continued the practice she instilled6 in me. I worked onmy assignments until the bell rang. And she was right. The more I did in class， themore time off I had at home. The more time I had at home， the more time I hadfor hobbies.

在中学时，我继续她灌输给我的做法。我在铃声响起前一直做作业。她是对的。我在课堂上做得越多，在家休息的时间就越多。我在家的时间越多，就有越多的时间留给自己的爱好。

I continued the practice until my senior year in high school， having an entireyear’s worth of college classes completed before I even threw my mortarboard7into the air. I used my time wisely.

我一直继续这一做法，直到高中的最后一年，在我把我的学位帽抛向空中之前，我已经完成了整整一年的大学课程。我明智地利用了我的时间。

I instilled that mindset in nearly every aspect of my adult life： my education，my career8， and my family.

我把这种心态灌输到了我成年生活的几乎方方面面：我的教育、我的事业和我的家庭。

At age ten， I didn’t understand. I do now. Learning how to use your timewisely also means learning what’s important to you. It’s not just a lesson in usingthe time you have， but in enjoying those moments， treasuring the time spent withloved ones， and living life.

十岁的时候，我不明白。我现在明白了。学会如何明智地利用时间也意味着学会什么对你来说是重要的。这不仅仅是关于利用现有时间的一堂课，也是关于享受这些时刻、珍惜与亲人共度的时光和学会生活的一堂课。

（英语原文选自：chickensoup.com）