Written by: Corey Janoff
This post was originally published on our previous blog website on May 31, 2018 and has since not been revised and/or updated.
Everybody says they want to work smarter, not harder. Well, that is easier said than done. One cannot simply “work smarter” without knowing how. It takes countless repetitions and years of practice in order to learn how to work smarter. So if you want to learn how to work smarter, you first have to work harder.
Outwork Everybody Else
Nothing annoys senior partners in a company more than the new guy who doesn’t work very hard. If you are the low man on the totem pole, you are expected to do the dirty work that nobody else wants to do. You are expected to put in the extra hours so the more experienced people on your team can lighten their workload.
That is the whole reason they brought you on in the first place! The company/firm/group/practice hired you because they were tired of working so hard and wanted someone to help them. If you prove your worth, do a good job and demonstrate a strong work ethic you will be cherished. Your company will want to retain you. They will offer you promotions and pay raises. They will hire someone else to do the grunt work and give you higher level projects and cases. The last thing they want is to lose you, especially to a competitor.
Also, by working hard, you will gradually hone your skillset and become more efficient with your time. It won’t happen overnight, but over a number of years. A case that used to take you eight hours to complete now only takes three hours. An appointment that you used to spend two hours preparing for now only requires thirty minutes of preparation.
That is when you are working smarter. When you are able to accomplish the same amount of work in less time.
A Common Theme
A common theme of top performers is an elite work ethic. Talent can only get you so far. Knowledge alone will not enable you to outsmart your peers. The wisdom and skill you hone over time needs to become instinctive. Only then, can you truly work smarter and become more efficient with your time.
Take Drew Brees for example. He is the future Hall of Fame quarterback for the New Orleans Saints. Barring injury, this coming NFL season he will break Peyton Manning’s record for most career passing yards. When he ends his career, he will likely hold the record for almost every major passing statistic in NFL history.
Listed at a generous six feet tall, Brees isn’t going to blow anyone away with his physical attributes. He isn’t the strongest player or the fastest player at his position – not even close. In fact, quite the opposite. He is one of the smallest quarterbacks in the league. And football is a sport where size, strength, and speed give you a BIG advantage.
So how does he continue to be one of the league leaders in passing each and every year?
The simple answer is he plays the game smarter than almost everyone else. But how did he become so smart at his position? He was a decent quarterback early on in his career, but he didn’t exactly step into the pros and dominate from day one.
He became so good and so smart by working harder than everyone else. Over time, the hours and experience translated into smarts. In interviews, teammates constantly praise his work ethic. “Drew is the first one in the building and the last one to leave every day. He studies film like it’s a hobby.”
By working harder, Brees has learned to become smarter and more efficient with his time. He knows which practice habits translate to games and which ones don’t. He knows what to look for when studying game film. During games, he recognizes things instantly and is able to be a very efficient quarterback.
By becoming more efficient, it enables him to accomplish more in the same amount of time as someone else. It’s as if time moves slower for him. Now that is a big advantage in any profession.
What You Do With Your Time
Once you learn the ropes and develop those efficiencies, you have a choice to make. You could either ease off the gas pedal and coast, or you could use the momentum you have built up to keep accelerating.
For most people who say they want to work smarter, not harder, coasting is probably the preferred choice. If you can accomplish the same amount in less time than everybody else, then you can get your work done and have more free time for yourself. Who doesn’t like the sound of that? And that is perfectly fine! Honestly, that’s how it should be.
But for those who truly want to stand out and be recognized as one of the great ones, they will use that extra time to accomplish even more. That is what separates the Hall of Famers from the All Stars and the All Stars from the rest of the bunch. They take those efficiencies they have developed over time to further separate themselves from the rest of the pack.
Everyone Has to Pay Their Dues
A mentor once told me that everyone has to pay their dues – it’s up to you to choose when. You could pay them in the first decade of your career, or at the end.
If you bust your butt early on and work hard for the first ten years, you will likely set yourself up for a lifetime of success. You can ease off the gas pedal after that first decade and create more time for yourself.
If you slack off early on, you will have to make up for it later.
Start By Working Harder
So if you want to work smarter, start by working harder and the smarter part will eventually follow.
