上班不過坐著動動手指，為什么還是這么累？

This is the greatest mystery of our adult life: How can we spend all day typing at a computer and go home feeling exhausted? How could merely activating the small muscles of our fingers leave us craving the couch at the end of the day?

成年人的生活里最大的謎團之一：明明我們只是在電腦上打一天字，回家后怎么就“累成狗”?不過是對著屏幕動動手指，怎么能這么累，累到只想癱在沙發(fā)上?

This question actually lies very close to one of the more hotly contested issues in psychology: What causes mental fatigue? Why is desk work so depleting?

這個問題實際上非常接近心理學(xué)中一個比較有爭議的問題：什么導(dǎo)致心理疲勞?辦公室工作何以讓人如此疲勞?

"It is kind of a mystery, to be honest," said Michael Inzlicht, a University of Toronto psychologist who studies self-control, motivation, and fatigue.

“說實話，這個問題差不多還是個謎團，”多倫多大學(xué)主要研究自我控制、動機和疲勞的心理學(xué)家Michael Inzlicht稱。

But scientists do have some clues. There is a hypothesis for why we get so tired from work when we're not physically active. Let's dive in.

但科學(xué)家確實找到了一些線索。為什么在沒有進(jìn)行任何體力勞動時，我們還會因為工作而感到疲倦?以下是關(guān)于這個問題的一種假設(shè)，讓我們來看看吧。

 

 

Hypothesis: we get so tired because our motivation runs out

假設(shè)：我們感到疲倦是因為動力不足

As we work on a task, we struggle to focus on it or eventually lose interest in it. We become less motivated to do the task. We become drawn to the things we want to do (scrolling social media or reading music blogs, for instance), rather than the things we have to do. And this tension possibly causes fatigue.

當(dāng)我們完成任務(wù)時，我們很難專注于任務(wù)本身，最終徹底失去興趣。我們沒有足夠的動力去完成這項任務(wù)。我們很容易被我們想做的事情所吸引(例如：刷社交媒體或閱讀音樂博客)，而不是專注于我們必須做的事情。而這種矛盾可能會導(dǎo)致疲勞。

In August, researchers in the UK published new evidence that finds some indirect evidence for the motivational model.

去年8月，英國的研究人員發(fā)表了新的結(jié)論，他們找到了動機模型的間接證據(jù)。

This study tracked 100 nurses in the UK over two 12-hour shifts. Throughout the shifts, the nurses reported how fatigued they felt at regular intervals. They also wore devices that monitored and tracked the amount of physical activity they were engaged in. When the researchers investigated what could possibly explain the fatigue, they found some interesting patterns.

這項研究跟蹤了英國的100名護(hù)士的兩次12小時輪班。在整個輪班期間，護(hù)士們需要定時報告他們的疲勞程度。并且，他們的體力活動量可以通過設(shè)備被監(jiān)控跟蹤到。當(dāng)研究人員在研究什么可能解釋疲勞時，他們有一些有趣的發(fā)現(xiàn)。

Here's the topline result: There was no correlation between the amount of physical work the nurses did and their feelings of fatigue.

結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)：護(hù)士做的體力勞動量與疲勞感之間沒有相關(guān)性。

Instead, they found this small correlation: The nurses who were least likely to feel fatigued from their work also felt the most in control of their work, and the most rewarded for it. These feelings may have boosted their motivation, which may have boosted their perception of having energy.

相反，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)了另一組之間具有小的相關(guān)性：疲憊感最低的護(hù)士對工作的控制感最強，獲得的回報感也最強。這些感受可能增加了他們的工作動力，從而可能提高了他們對自身能量的感知。

Inzlicht has also found evidence for the motivational model in his work. A few years ago, he and Carleton University psychologist Marina Milyavskaya monitored 159 students at McGill University in Canada for a week.

Inzlicht也從他的工作中發(fā)現(xiàn)了符合動機模型的證據(jù)。幾年前，他和加拿大卡爾頓大學(xué)心理學(xué)家Marina Milyavskaya一起進(jìn)行了研究。他們監(jiān)測了加拿大麥吉爾大學(xué)的159名學(xué)生，為期一周。

Throughout the week, the participants were peppered with text message questions about what temptations, desires, and effortful self-control they were engaging in at the moment, and whether they felt drained.

整個星期，參與者都在不停地通過短信回答各種問題，包括他們此刻面臨的誘惑是什么、渴望什么和在努力地自我控制什么，以及他們是否覺得自己筋疲力盡。

"What was surprising to us was the biggest predictor [of fatigue] was not whether they had exerted self-control," Inzlicht said. Instead, the predictor was the number of temptations they felt.

“令我們驚訝的是，最大預(yù)測因素不是是否進(jìn)行了自我控制，”Inzlicht說。相反，預(yù)測因素是他們感受到的誘惑數(shù)量。

"If you're typing at work, and if you're anything like me, you got a few browsers open. These lead us down these rabbit holes that lead to temptations," he said. Temptations make us less motivated to do our work, which, in turn, may make us tired.

"如果你正在打字工作，像我一樣你打開了幾個瀏覽器。我們被各種誘惑包圍著，"他說。各種誘惑使我們沒有足夠的動力完成工作，反過來，這可能會讓我們感到疲倦。

And there may be an evolutionary reason for why our brains would do this.

我們的大腦為什么會這樣做可能是因為進(jìn)化方面的原因。

"As an organism, we need to meet multiple goals to survive," Inzlicht explains. We're not solely focused on finding food or pursuing our passions in life. We need to do all these things to be a healthy, thriving species.

“作為一個有機生物，我們需要達(dá)到多個目標(biāo)才能生存，”Inzlicht解釋道。我們不僅僅需要尋找食物或者追求生活中的激情。我們需要做很多事情才能健康、繁榮。

"Because these multiple goals compete with one another [for our time], we need a mechanism in place that signals, 'Hey, stop doing that thing and do something else.'" That mechanism, he suggests, could be fatigue.

“因為多個目標(biāo)相互競爭占用我們的時間，而我們需要一個機制來發(fā)出信號，'嘿，停止做那件事，去干點別的。'”他認(rèn)為，這種機制可能會讓我們感到疲憊。

In this light, boosting our motivation to stay on a task could lead us to feel less fatigued. One study found that just paying people some money when they're depleted can keep them on task. A similar thing is found in studies on physical endurance: People can be easily pushed to work beyond what they think is their physical limit.

從這個角度來看，提高我們繼續(xù)完成任務(wù)的動力可能會使我們覺得不那么疲憊。研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，在人們很累的時候，只要向他們支付一些錢，他們就可以完成任務(wù)。在關(guān)于身體耐力的研究中也發(fā)現(xiàn)了類似的結(jié)果：人們其實很容易被激勵去完成超出他們認(rèn)為的身體極限的工作。