Work brings to mind long hours chained to the desk, overtime and scheduled breaks. Success lies in putting in the hours, the old mantra:
‘work hard and you’ll see the results’ is a popular one, but quite often, if
you really look, the results aren’t there to back it up.
Companies
and individuals are starting to focus on productivity, rather than hours
worked, because the appearance of working hard doesn’t always mean you’re
working in the most efficient way and achieving what you need to be achieving.
We’ve
all been there. You’ve been working hard for hours and look back over the day
and think ‘what did I actually achieve? I’m tired, I haven’t moved, but I’ve
still got a long list of things to do.’ Maybe the quality of your work isn’t
even that high. You become frustrated with yourself.
This
is particularly important if you’re a freelancer or an entrepreneur. You’re
working for yourself and having to manage more tasks, learn more things and
talk to more people than ever so your time has to be managed extremely well to
ensure you get to where you want to go.
Smart
work is all about efficiency, essentially achieving more in less time, creating
systems and processes to enable you to use your time well ‘We all have the same
amount of time each and every single day. What we do with that time is entirely
up to us.’
I’ve
always believed long work hours don’t suit everyone, I’ve always worked well in
short, sharp bursts, however, previous jobs have meant that sitting at a desk
is actually the mark of whether people think you’re good at your job, as
opposed to the output you create. Some organizations (less progressive) place
more value on ‘face time’ then actual results, luckily this is starting to
change and flexible working and remote working (the magical Friday ‘work from
home’) are on the rise. Taking a break, ending early one day, taking a longer
lunch to read can all help increase productivity, and if that works for you,
then it’s what you should be doing. We’ve just all got to remove this
competition we enter with each other over who can work the most.
Strategic
hard work (or smart work) doesn’t mean not ‘working hard’, it just means
working more effectively and becoming results orientated rather than
time-orientated. Some of us very much advocate putting in the effort, just in
the most productive way possible.
So
how do we become smart workers?
Many
successful people have been proven to be naturally ‘smart workers’. While this
is great for them, there are many ways we can train ourselves into working in a
more efficient way, freeing up some of our valuable time. The best way is to
consider that it is possible, to be able to achieve the same amount, in a
shorter amount of time, free-ing up time to actually live your life. No-one on
their death bed wishes they worked more.
Prioritize:
Find
the things that are really important and do them first. It sounds simple but we
all know how easy it is to get distracted by another aspect of your business
(perhaps part of it you prefer working on). Split your tasks into 3 categories,
1, 2 and 3 (or whatever you want to call them) and apply some rules. Here are
my rules to get you started:
1
is needed, huge value add and needs to be completed this week. These are the
tasks which NEED to be done.
2
is less urgent, ideally done this week, but can wait until next. These can
afford to wait for all 1s to be completed.
3
are ‘nice to haves’ — these are the things which aren’t crucial and can wait.
Often, we let ourselves feel overwhelmed by our to-do list when actually, it’s
a load of 3s which can either wait or actually should be removed all together.
When
you do those things is up to you but they have to be done. So, if you need a
break or you need to do something for yourself, fine. You’ll probably find
you’re more productive for it.
Delegate/Outsource:
Learn
how to delegate, use other people’s time and expertise. Spending three times as
long doing something someone else could do faster isn’t a cost-effective way to
manage your time and it’s definitely not working smartly. Outsourcing is key to
a successful business mindset — network with others and asks for help from
people who know how and one
we aren’t taught how to do properly but one that can actually change our
working lives.
Conclusion
Finally,
keep some long and short term perspective. Be realistic about what you can
achieve and by when. You need to keep goal orientated, understand your field
and what you want out of it. Having a view of the ‘big picture’ can help pull
you back when you’re overwhelmed jumping from task to task.
Now,
I’m not saying that success doesn’t take hard work. Success takes effort, but
it’s important to make sure you’re channeling your effort in the right
direction. Don’t kid yourself into thinking you’re spending your time
effectively and ‘working hard’ just because you’re sat at a Laptop 10 hours a
day and work weekends. Spend 1 week challenging yourself on every task and see
if it’s ACTUALLY a task which needs doing, or if it’s a brilliant way of
deferring the real work.
Use
strategic hard work, have a positive goal-orientated attitude, and you can stop
wasting your time behind the desk, start working effectively and enjoying your
life!
