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Saturday, January 31, 2009

Work Smarter, Not Harder!

Work smarter, not harder!
-Allan F. Morgensen

The first time I heard this I literally stopped in my tracks. My parents taught me to work hard and through the years I have achieved many of my goals because of my work ethic. I am detail oriented, disciplined and persistent. These traits have served me well.

Many times since I have heard these four words I have paused to think about the way that I work. Time management has always been a challenge to me. I have a wide variety of business interests that keep me really busy. Sometimes I get side tracked from one project to the next so that at the end of the day I have not been as productive as I should have been. Now that I am more aware of this fact though, I am able to keep on task a lot more frequently.

I create and keep a schedule for each month. Within the month I break down what I would like to achieve each week. Then I break it down by day. This system seems to work really well for me. At the end of the month I evaluate what I have achieved and what still needs to be accomplished. I am not as hard on myself as I used to be. Beating myself up is counter productive. Not every project or task needs to completed immediately. By writing the projects and tasks down I am forced to decide what my priorities really are.

By working smarter, not harder I find myself accomplishing more in my life! Do you work hard? Do you work smart? Please feel free to share your tips here!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great Post! We sound like we have lots in common with how we process life. I too have a calendar and now a built in "Sticky" actually on my computer screen so I can add to or take off tasks, reminders, etc.They are a part of the screen so it can't be misplaced. I am always trying to find ways to organize my time better and work less . Like most of us,I sometimes work too many hours keeping up with work AND life responsibilities but wish to relax more and enjoy life. I think I am getting closer to that goal!