Two years ago Shirley Michels of St. Louis found herself getting up earlier and earlier, and going to bed later and later, just to meet everyday demands. The wife, mother and ophthalmic technician met her responsibilities『責(zé)職;任務(wù)』, but lacked time for the things that mattered most.

兩年前，圣路易斯州的雪莉·米歇爾斯發(fā)現(xiàn)自己起得越來越早，睡得越來越晚卻僅能滿足日常的生活需求。盡管無論是作為一名妻子，一位母親，還是眼科技師她都已盡了職責(zé)，但她卻沒有時(shí)間做最重要的事情。

She and her husband, Vic, an attorney, began searching for ways to simplify『簡化;精簡』their lives. “We had to decide what was really important,” says Shirley. They knew they wanted more time to play with their three-year-old son, Ryan, to exercise and eat right, and to nurture『培育;養(yǎng)育』friendships.

她和她的丈夫維克，一名律師，開始想辦法簡化他們的生活。雪莉說：“我們得決定什么是生活中真正重要的。”他們知道自己想擁有更多的時(shí)間和三歲的兒子瑞安在一起，做做游戲，做做運(yùn)動，讓他吃好，以培養(yǎng)他們之間的感情.

So the couple chose to live more modestly『適中的;適度的』, shopping with care for necessities and enjoying inexpensive pleasures such as reading, cooking and going to the park. Shirley quit her job and began working part time from home. She printed up business cards that read “At your service—buy yourself a little time,” and hired herself out for personal tasks such as shopping, paying bills, organizing parties, doing Internet research—whatever clients needed.

因此這對夫妻選擇了一種更簡單的生活方式，注意只買生活的必需品，從事一些花錢不多的消遣，諸如閱讀、烹調(diào)、逛公園。雪莉辭掉了原來的工作，開始做半天工作，比如說為私人購物、付款、組織聚會、做國際互聯(lián)網(wǎng)研究方面的事情——做客戶所要求做的一切。她在她的商業(yè)名片上印上“聽候您的吩咐——給你自己留點(diǎn)時(shí).

“I still work hard, but being able to control my hours makes all the difference,” she says. “I can carve out『(雕)刻出;開辟出』time to take my son to the zoo or play basketball with him. My stress headaches are gone. Having a chance to get to know neighbors not only has been fun, but it’s also helped us further simplify.

她說：“我仍然在努力工作，但現(xiàn)在能夠自己控制時(shí)間卻使一切變得大不一樣了。我能抽出一些時(shí)間領(lǐng)兒子去動物園或，和他一起玩玩籃球。我因壓力而造成的頭痛消失了。有機(jī)會去了解鄰居不僅給生活帶來了樂趣，而且還有助于使我的生活變得更加簡單化。 .