Hard work was considered to be the key to success in the olden days. But—no more! If the modern management gurus and pundits are to be believed, working smart is more productive than working hard. So, how does it work?
In the olden days, we used to go to our office and work hard on what comes to our table. There used to be little or no advance planning. But today, smart workers plan out their days, weeks and months in advance.
It was a general practice to complete basic studies up to graduation level and get into a job. Hardly anybody got to study once they got into a job. But that is no longer the case. Today, people continue to study no matter what stage of life or career they are in. Smart workers have learnt the hard way that investment in learning pays rich dividends.
Most of our work are routine in nature. We used to follow this monotonous routine day in and day out. Today, there is emphasis on automating routine jobs so that we have more time for working on other things.
There was a time I had two landlines, two cellphones and an intercom to deal with. That resulted in wastage of time and ate into my daily output. Today, we can block undesired callers and leave recorded messages to deal with callers when we are busy and do not want to be disturbed. This is boon for time management and should be used to create more time for your work.
The days or multitasking are gone. What was once considered to be a great asset is no loger considered to be desirable because in the ultimate tally of things, it is people who handle one job at a time that come out shining.
Lots of paper land on our table. Not all of them have to be responded to or actioned. Some are pretty useless things that we wrack our brains on just because there is a paper on our table which we think needs to be disposed of. We must learn to discriminate between important work that adds value to our organisation and what amounts to sheer wastage of time in order to optimise our output.
A cluttered table is harbinger of an inefficient work flow. The sooner we get organised, the better for our output.
Don’t go about answering all the e-mails that end up in your mailbox. Answer only those that need to be answered. That way you will save some time for more important jobs.
It is not how much time you put into your job but how much output you deliver in real terms that matters. Be result-oriented—not time oriented.
Create an efficient system and implement it. Once you do that your job will flow like clockwork.
Segregate your work into blocks of ‘Immediate,’ ‘Urgent,’ ‘Important,’ and ‘Miscellaneous.’ Learn to work in blocks. That will take a huge load off your back and the most important tasks will get done on priority basis.
The cellphone is both a facilitator as well as a wastage of time. Don’t download too many apps—focuson the ones that are absolutely necessary in your life. Also, turn off unnecessary notifications on apps.
Conduct a periodic review of tasks to keep tabs on which ones are useless and eliminate them to reduce your workload.
Stress can lead to major health issues or even kill you. Keep a constant eye on your stress levels and find ways to destress from time to time.
Don’t work hard—work smart. That is the order of the day!
