Work smart not hard

Do you know the feeling of “It‘s only real work, if you (physically) feel the effort and energy you put into it”?

Do you feel bad or guilty if you had an easygoing day and maybe even felt full of energy at the end of it?

Special question for women: Are you proud if someone calls you a “busy bee”? Maybe because you worked so hard and finally someone recognized all the effort and engagement?

Would you describe others as lazy if they relax publicly and enjoy breaks, because you make assumptions without actually knowing about their work results?

You might be in the trap of believing that working hard is the only way to success.

Depending on your culture, your education, and your environment, you created beliefs of what is right and how one should work. Your parents and teachers showed you how to achieve results. Oftentimes, we tend to believe that our way is the best way (and maybe even the only way) of being successful. 

You might guess what I will say next: Like always in life, there is no single right way of doing things and being successful. Each individual must find their own best way of getting to a result.

What leads to smart working?

Try to observe yourself while working. Maybe you already know your areas of strengths. How does it feel when you work in one of those areas? Does it feel like hard work or do you enjoy the work and it goes smoothly?

Next, don’t focus on what you are doing, but how you are doing it. Observe your working style. How do you behave in this working style? How would you describe it? And how do you feel when being in that mood? Observe. Reflect on it. Are there maybe other occasions when you feel similar?

Also reflect on your surroundings: Are there special times (during the day, week, or year) when you feel positive? Are you in a particular room? What about the weather? Some feel inspired by sun which lifts their general mood while others prefer focusing on work when there is heavy rain outside.

Most probably, you will find out that you feel great when you are in your flow. That it feels easy with a lot of energy. Maybe you even forget about time or don’t care how many hours you spend. It just feels right.

Working smart means that you do not fight or spend all your energy available. You are focused and rely on yourself. And guess what: The result will come itself. This happens when you focus on how you do something (i.e. the process) instead of just wanting to achieve something (i.e. the result).

Don’t worry: You can get into that working style even when doing things which are not your favorite tasks. If you observe yourself closely and understand how you work and feel in your areas of strength, start copying as much as possible of the how to a task which you don’t enjoy as much. Again, don’t focus on the result, but change your perspective and look at the working style. It might take some practice, but with time you will discover that it is possible to get into a focused or even enjoyable working attitude while doing something which you must do but normally would prefer to avoid.

The most important point is: Achieving great results often happens when feeling light. It does not have to be painful work in order to become beautiful. You have the power to influence your way of doing things. The smarter you work in your way, the better your results will be and the better you will feel at the same time.

If you want to reach a new level of work and results, change the how and your way of thinking.