Does Working Smarter Really Work?

We all have been hearing this expression since we stepped into the corporate life. When I first heard this, I thought this could be yet another management jargon like many others. The second thought that popped into my head was that it refers to the employees and managers who love to show off by using heavy expressions. Whatever the case may be, the fact remains that there is a bunch of people who work immensely hard (both physically and mentally) don’t really achieve the desired results as done by another category of employees who work smartly.

When it comes to working smarter and not harder, we all know the usual solutions and remedies i.e. manage your time, take strategic breaks, get enough sleep. And that’s all good advice, but you’ve probably asked yourself if there’s more you can be doing. After all, you’re already using those strategies, and you still find yourself with more work than you can possibly do in one day.

1. Choices have to be ‘CORRECT’

There is a clear difference between Hard Workers and Smart Workers. Hard Workers want all the possible work to be done, while smart workers don’t bother with most of the work they should do. Instead, they brutally focus themselves only on the tasks that bring the biggest long-term impact, and those are all the tasks connected with creating, delivering and capturing as much value as possible.

Have a million items on your famous ‘to-do list”? Stop thinking you need to finish all of them — instead focus on the things that are crucial to your job performance and your company’s success. Sure, it would be nice to get to Inbox Zero, but is that really more important than finishing up that critical investor report right now? So, select your tasks wisely.

2. Maintain a ‘Work-Life’ Balance

When employees are behind the schedule, they stay back late trying to catch up. This works if you do it very occasionally, but some do it all the time. This makes them tired, meaning more mistakes, less foresight, and less energy focused on the work. When you feeling behind and tired, go home early and come in the next day raring to go.

As tempting as it is to buckle down and grind out all of that work, it’s really setting you up for burnout in the long run. Take a break, get adequate sleep, and figure out a plan for how you’re going to tackle things more effectively tomorrow

3. Parkinson’s Law

Remember Parkinson’s Law? Tasks expand to the time allotted. If you have all day to write an article, it will take you all day. If you have all day to make sales calls, they will take all day. You got the idea!

By giving everything in your schedule — no matter how small — a deadline, you’re instantly freeing up time for other tasks. Not only is there beauty in compartmentalizing everything, but there’s something to be said for taking away your ability to procrastinate.

4. Talk, Don’t Email

Communicate more by talking rather than over emails with clients, consultants, vendors and especially employees and colleagues at work. Make quick phone calls, conference calls. Host virtual meetings, share screens, and get issues resolved quickly. A 30-minute meeting session will save at least three to four days of delay communicating over emails.

Give your employees, clients, bosses, and, yes, yourself a break from the dreaded inbox by finding a way to talk instead of email. Whether that’s hopping on a quick Google Hangout or (gasp!) picking up the phone, your colleagues and fingers will thank you.

5. Preparation is the ‘Key’

To make the most of the morning, let’s make sure to prep ourselves the night before. As soon as we wake up, we know where we’re going to start, we know what project we’re diving into, we know which problem we’re going to be tackling first. If you can set these firmly in your mind before you go to bed, you’ll wake up with far more energy and drive to tackle them — because they’ve been marinating in your subconscious.

This goes out to all the people who wouldn’t describe themselves as a morning person. When you wake up, the last thing you want to do is make big decisions about your workload and your schedule before your first cup of coffee has kicked in. Taking even 10 or 15 minutes to decide what you’ll be doing the following day can make a huge difference in your workflow.

Conclusion

We all want to work smarter, not harder to be effective at work and get things done on time. We can achieve this professional goal no matter which industry we belong to. The true spirit of getting things done smartly is more than just creating your to-do list for daily tasks and checking your calendar each time. It will require a few adjustments in your work habits and you can watch your productivity to soar.

HRB Research says that the employee’s productivity decreases after 6-hours at work.

The key to greater productivity is to work smarter, not harder. Working smarter saves precious time and energy for the things that really matter — your life goals, your personal growth, your health, and your family and your relationships.

Many people, when faced with 50 tasks in hand at a time, decide to work longer hours and push themselves to the point of exhaustion and illness to get things done. However, this really isn’t the best way to go about it. Instead, it’s time to look at how to work smarter, not harder and learn more effective ways to work efficiently.

Learn how sometimes smaller things in our lives make huge impact and you can take some learnings on a personal and professional level by following me on LinkedIn and on our official website. Also follow us on social media: Facebook, LinkedIn, Medium, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Muhammad Sajwani is the Founder, Managing Director and Principal Consultant at Evolve HR which aims at transforming, enriching and evolving Human Capital of Pakistan. At Evolve HR, him and his team thrives in challenging assumptions that hinder organisational aspirations, by creating innovative solutions that yield maximum impact, scalability & benefit to a wider base of stakeholders. As a Business Coach and Organisational Consultant, Sajwani knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.