The Difference Between Working Hard and Working Smart
By
Many people think that because they work large numbers of hours they can claim to be the best workers in their industry. I disagree somewhat with this statement. Of course you do need to dedicate time to work. But at the end of the day it is the quality of work that people look at rather than the hours you have spent at it.
Being able to accomplish more with less time is an art. It requires much heart. But one must bear in mind that working smart should be the number one concern. It can be bad for your health to burn the midnight oil. If you do not get sufficient sleep and are tired by all the demands placed on you, your work will suffer. You will find it difficult to focus if you are too tired.
Working hard offers many rewards, but experience tells me that the best way to achieve success is to work hard at working smart.
But how does one do this?
The first point is that you have to be more flexible. We face changes every day and sometimes even in the middle of a project you might need to change quite a few things. It’s best not to complain about this. Change comes with the territory. Adults deal with change every day and being an adult yourself requires you to be gracious when accepting change.
A further problem that stops people from working smart is that they procrastinate. I am guilty of this myself but as with everybody else I have had to learn my lessons the hard way. The more I put off, the larger the pile of responsibilities became. If you do this as well, you will most probably end up disappointing more people than pleasing them.
It’s important to plan ahead.
Determine the steps you need to take to complete the task. Take your time doing this as haste makes waste. Be calm too because if you panic your output will become messier.
Observe your colleagues and you will notice that those who are most successful are those who are able to multi-task and balance their responsibilities. Completing more than one task at the same time does not have to be confusing. You just need to work out which tasks can be grouped so that you are not left bewildered.
The one point to remember is that putting double the time to a task does not necessarily mean double the results. It will help your productivity if you update yourself on the latest technological advances. These machines were invented to make work easier for mankind. Find out which programs work the best for you and reduce stress by avoiding things that could be too confusing.
One positive about modern technology is that designers have made software simpler and easier to use. These developers know that this is what everybody needs and have therefore designed programs that are easier to understand and use.
To succeed and achieve higher goals requires that we constantly have to strategise. Easy access to information will help you achieve your goals. Read up relevant info and learn. In the end you will realise just how much you’ve learned and how it is quite simple to put the theories into good practise.









Hi, Andrew Rondeau here. I have over 25 years of hands-on management experience within a diverse range of different industries including retail, manufacturing, finance and IT. I’ve managed teams of up to 1000 individuals, managing numerous $multi-million projects, mergers, acquisitions and company sales.