How to Work Smart and Not Hard

Work hard and success will be at your doorstep. That is the worldly logic that dictates how we pursue our goals and life in general. Except the maths do not add up.

How about the single mother holding down three jobs? How about the factory worker working overtime? How about the manager working 8 weeks but can’t seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel?

Yes, working hard is part of the process. But that is not the only way to success. We have been told part of the truth so we keep working hard and oil the machines.

After years of toiling, if you are only seeing crickets for your efforts maybe you need to replace some of the hard work with smart moves.

After years of working long hours in an industry that never sleeps(finance), I have some nuggets of wisdom about how working smart has saved me time, energy and money. Here is the truth:

Reassess

The problem with getting head-deep into work is that it is hard to stop. It becomes necessary to see where we stand but the irony is we don’t have time to do that. If we take a step back, that delays the work.

It feels counterintuitive to do so but so important. We often get on a tangent where we blindly cruise along at breakneck speed and don’t stop to look at the big picture of our own life.

Which part are you adding value to? How can you maximise that and cut the rest? What are the strengths that you can focus on and make more money there?

What is causing you stress and can be removed?

If you think nothing can be changed, that means a bigger change is needed. Be willing to cut out what is unnecessary or be willing to take a risk.

Marks of brilliance

I was watching a Korean drama last month about a fictional town with mages fighting each other and soul-swapping adventures. It seemed like a nice watch based on the fantasy genre that would entertain me after work.

Yet, it stayed with me for weeks. I kept replaying the scenes in my head. As I watch a lot of K-dramas, I knew the formulaic storytelling that they used throughout the episodes. But there is a reason why K-dramas became popular worldwide. When they are good, they are really good.

And it dawned on me, that we are doing something wrong about the path to success. We have been taught to be diligent all the time and do the best work and we would stand out.

What has a soap opera got to with it? Everything. The one I am talking about is one of the highest-rated shows on Netflix last season. How did it compete with the best of a lot and come out as a winner? It was just done well with marks of brilliance.

And that is why it sticks. If you want to be ‘sticky’ and successful, you need to shift focus from very good all the way to good enough with spots of absolute brilliance.

Recovery

We often associate rest with sleep. But it is also crucial to get the necessary downtime to do our work. Have you ever woken up on some days after some good sleep but still didn’t feel productive?

There are seven different types of rest: physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, social, sensory, and creative. Each type of rest has its own traits that will manifest if you are lacking somewhere.

There are a few rest quizzes on the internet that can help ascertain what kind of rest you need. Sometimes, what we need is social rest when we have been exposed to big gatherings and need some alone time. In addition to sleeping well, knowing the type of rest deficit that we have can increase the quality of our productive hours and achieve greater success.

Sprint vs Marathon

There are times when we have to go all in and there are times when we have to sit back and let go. Except we are always ON. We are always grasping in case we are missing out on something and run out of breath.

Life is a marathon with moments of sprints. This applies to success as well. It is very tricky to find the WHEN though. At what point do you need to give it your all and at what point do you need to wait it out is a subjective game.

It comes with experience, wisdom, learning and leaning on others but can also be very intuitive. Always trust your gut. Our instincts can help us where experience falters.

At the same time, we can also build on the awareness to know when we have to be part of the game and knowing when to quit. If we are constantly latching on and can’t let go, it can deplete us of the resourcefulness we need when it is time to execute.

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We can’t get away without doing the work. That is a fact. However, we put too much emphasis on the grind when it comes to success. First of all, success is subjective and that is not the debate of this article.

The hecticness of the modern world perpetuates the vicious cycle of working hard and you will arrive at your destination. Once we analyse the reasons behind the successful people, there is an underrated element of smart work (aside from sheer luck obviously) that is barely visible on the surface.

If you want to put the odds in your favour, why not devise ways to work tactically?

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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