Tips on Working Smart Instead Of Working Hard

How to Work Smart Instead of Working Hard

What Is “Working Smarter”?

The term “work smarter” has been thrown around a lot lately. We shouldn’t be working as hard; instead, we should be working smart. Working smart can translate into a lot of different things depending on your business, but it boils down to these fundamentals:

Make The Best Use Of Your Time

You don’t want to fill your day with busy work. Instead, you want to know exactly what you should be working on and then get it done in a timely fashion. There are some great tools and strategies out there to help you do just that. I’ll share two of my favorites with you a little later in this report.

The main idea here is that you don’t want to waste your time. Working smart is about increasing productivity and making the most of your work time.

Automate And Outsource To Leverage Time

No matter how efficient you are with your time, you only have 24 hours a day to work with. The next part about working smart is to realize that you don’t have to do everything yourself. There are two sides to this approach. You can automate some of the things that need doing, or you can hire someone else to do them for you.

Working smart means knowing what you should be doing personally and what you shouldn’t.

Track What’s Working And What Isn’t

That last piece of the puzzle is to know what exactly needs to get done each day. Working smart here means tracking what works and what doesn’t. After that, it’s a matter of working more on what’s working and stop doing the things that don’t get you the results you want.

Now that you have an idea of what working smarter is all about, it sounds like a lot of extra work initially, doesn’t it? You’ve got to figure out what’s working, get more done in less time, and spend even more time finding software and people that can help your business. Wouldn’t it be easier to stick with how you’ve always done things?

Not really, and here’s why …

How Working Smarter Can Improve Your Life and Your Bottom Line

Working smarter can have a huge impact on your business and your life. Working long, hard hours indefinitely really doesn’t sound all that great in the first place. But it goes deeper than that. Working hard can take a toll on your personal life and your health.

We need to strive for balance and make sure we take some time to get plenty of sleep, relax, and eat well. And let’s not forget about loved ones. There’s a reason we started out working long, hard hours. For most of us, it’s to provide a better life and future for our family. That’s a great goal, but what good is a large bank account when we don’t get a chance to spend time with them.

You Get More Time For Family, Fun, and Charity

As you start to work smarter, you end up spending less and less time chained to your desk. As you automate, outsource and prioritize what needs to be done, you get more time to spend on the fun stuff. It’s a chance to reconnect with family and friends, rediscover old hobbies and even donate some of your time to a good cause.

That sort of balance is important. It’s what will keep you from getting burnt out. Give it a try. Take an entire weekend off from work. Forget about emails, projects and deadlines. Something amazing happens when you walk back to your desk on Monday morning. You’ll find yourself re-energized and ready to get things done.

You also get a fresh perspective by taking some time away from work. Don’t be surprised to suddenly come up with a solution to a problem that’s been eluding you for weeks. Working smarter and taking time off is good for business (and you).

Less Stress –  Better Health

Working long hours and stressing about deadlines and bills isn’t good for your health. You can only spread yourself so thin before you end up getting sick. By focusing on the important stuff and becoming the brains of the operations (instead of running things as a one man/woman show) you give yourself a chance to rest and recuperate as needed.

Not only is this good for your stress levels and your overall health, it also means things in your business will continue to move forward in case you do come down with the flu and can’t work for a week. Which nicely leads us to the third big benefit of working smarter…

A More Secure Future

As you work smarter and think more about the big picture of your business you’re able to spot trends and changes more quickly. This helps you adjust your strategies as needed to stay ahead of the game (and profitable).

It also keeps you from getting burnt out on day-to-day tasks. You’re less likely to lose your passion for your business, and that will keep you going for years to come. The end result is a more secure financial future for you and your business.

I hope I have you convinced by now that the effort it takes to go from working hard to working smart is well worth it. Let’s wrap this up with two hands-on tips you can implement right away.

Two Simple Hacks To Help You Work Smarter

Let’s jump right in. I have two simple hacks for you that you can start implementing today. I hope you find these helpful. They are a great way to work smarter instead of harder. Best of all they aren’t complicated and you don’t need any fancy equipment or tools to make them work.

Hack #1 – The Smart To-Do List

Before you can start to work smart, you need to know what you should be working on. That’s where our first hack comes in – the smart to-do list. Think about your next project. What do you need to get done to make it happen and pay off? You probably have a pretty long list of things running through your head right now that you need to take care of. Go ahead and write them all down. Don’t worry about order or priority, just get it all on paper or in a word document.

Next, start sorting through things. What order do these tasks need to be accomplished in? What parts can you outsource to someone else? Make a note of those and get that process started.

Rewrite your list with what’s left for you to do. This time go ahead and arrange the items in chronological order. This will be your master list and from it we’re creating daily to-do lists.

Start at the top of your master list and pick the things you need to get done today to move forward with your project. Start with the most important task first and if needed break it down into smaller chunks.

With this hack you know exactly what you need to get done today. Let’s move on to hack #2 to learn how to get it done in record time.      

Hack #2 – Super Productive Work Time

You know what to do, let’s talk about getting it done. The first thing I want you to do is to grab a timer. This could be a kitchen timer, an app on your phone, or a countdown timer on your watch. Heck, you can even start the timer on your oven if you’d like.

Next it’s time to eliminate all distractions. Take the phone off the hook, close your office door, turn off your email and log out of all social media accounts. Close any browser windows and documents you don’t need. In other words, eliminate as many distractions as you possibly can.

Grab that timer and set it for 25 minutes.

Look at the first item on your to-do list and get to work. Focus and make each minute count. Let’s see how much you can get done until the timer goes off.

Take a 5 minute break. Get up from your desk, stretch, grab a glass of water or some coffee. Then reset your timer and keep working for another 25 minutes. Repeat this once or twice more and then take a longer break. Check your email, spend some time on Facebook, grab some lunch, or even better go out for a walk.

After your lunch break go back to working for 25 minutes completely focused on your task and then taking a 5 minute break. Rinse and repeat until you get through your to-do list. You’ll be amazed at how productive your day will be.

After a few days of working through your smart to-do list using a timer, you should see some serious progress. Your next paid product, coaching program, or lead magnet will be ready to launch. And this my friend is how working smarter can improve your business, your life, and your bottom line.