Work Smarter AND Harder
It’s an age-old adage, and one I won’t attempt to take credit for myself, “work smarter not harder”. It’s a phrase that upon first glance seems intelligent enough, but when we dive into it, there’s one simple adjustment we can make that sets us ahead of those who use the mantra literally.
When I was 15 years old, I worked a construction labor job in the summers between school years. Construction was 100% subscribed to this work smarter not harder method, but what I couldn’t understand in my later years...was why did the construction laborers, carpenters, and other blue-collar workers had it all figured out?
When you work smarter, you’re creating automation within your workflow no matter how it manifests itself. It’s like thinking before you speak, which we can all agree, leads to a better phrase uttered from your mouth once it passes your lips. Working smarter is a very important step for everyone professionally in their work and personally in their relationships. It enables you to “trim the fat” so to speak, and use your limited energy in the best possible places for the highest possible return on your time investment.
I realized later on that the phrase itself is negative simply because of one word...NOT.
“Work Smarter NOT Harder” is essentially a built-in excuse. Why move 50 chords of wood in an hour when I’m expected to fill the hour with the wood moving regardless of how I do it? For most, working smarter not harder means finding a short-cut, a variable cheat-code within your real life that allows you to input less effort for the same amount of exported success.
In fact, it should mean the opposite!
Working smarter AND harder is a much better recipe for success. Finding the workflows and automation tactics that improve your efficiency is an opportunity to pivot that efficiency into more work that improves the task at hand!
We all only have 100% to give, why not find the best methodology to cutting up that 100% rather than using a “work smarter NOT harder” attitude to put in 75% and allow someone else to put in 100% and surpass you.
Effort and energy are the left side of an equation that equals positive results. By adopting a “work smarter AND harder” mindset, you add to the ultimate sum rather than multiplying by a figure less than one with your “work smarter” efficiency. Work Smarter AND Harder, and you’ll find you’re always able to find more room on your plate!
