Photo by Olav Ahrens Røtne on Unsplash
There’s nothing wrong with a good work ethos and the willingness to put in a little elbow grease, but if you’re always working super hard and not getting the results you want or the promotion you feel you deserve, perhaps it’s time to reevaluate. After all, the definition of insanity, as described by some, is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.
When it comes to productive and effective work, it’s all about working smart instead of working hard (only). To help you in your finances, or life in general, we’ve cherry picked three important rules to follow when it comes to working smart. Try them out and watch things change!
Start with a Plan!
Have you ever had those days where you feel like you’re constantly working through your mails and getting through hundreds of little tasks but you feel you haven’t really been productive that day? A well-known strategy for accomplishing more is to start with the biggest, hardest tasks first. But in order to do that, you need to identify them. The first thing you should be doing in the morning is spending 15-30minutes each day, planning what the most important tasks to work on are and picking your top three (as recommended by most productivity experts).
A lot of us start with the little tasks first to give us a sense of more immediate achievement, but what often happens is that we use this to procrastinate and never really get to what really matters.
Single-Tasking is Your Best Friend
Contrary to popular belief that multi-tasking shows off your productivity prowess, most neuroscientists or cognitive psychologists will tell you that single-tasking is the way to go. Why? Because when you switch between tasks constantly, you’re actually wasting time due to the fact that you’re not fully focused on what you’re doing – you may think you are, but the human brain can only handle so many chunks of information coming at if from all fronts. Our brain was never built for it! According to recent research, you lose around 20% of productivity per task you bring into your juggling act.
So, hide those distractions such as emails or phone notifications away (if your job permits), close those hundreds of browser tabs and get to it.
Say Yes to Breaks
It’s time to overhaul long work hauls. Just look at Germany, which is amongst some of the countries which work the fewest hours each week (1 362 a year) – no more than 4.3% of their population work beyond 50 hours each week. Despite this, Germany has one of the best economies in the world! The saying ‘work hard, play hard’ comes to mind looking at this situation. The happier you are and the more well-rested, the more positive you will be towards the work you have to tackle. And while not all countries have shorter working weeks, you can still apply the same concept on a smaller scale. For example, when it comes to taking breaks – take that lunch break or that stroll outside when you’re ‘hitting a wall’ at work because it really does make a difference. According to research by MIT senior lecturer, taking a break every 75-90 minutes makes you much more productive. After all, your brain is, in effect, a muscle, and muscles need rest to build up, grow and take on demanding activities.
After reading these three golden rules, we hope that you’ll be able to learn to master the art of working smart versus working hard! Let us know if they help you or if you have any golden rules of your own – feel free to let us know in the comment box below.