We are taught that working hard can help us achieve our dreams and aspirations. But the term working hard also conjures up an image depicted by four descriptive words - overwhelmed, overcommitted, frustrated and overworked. Those words translate into putting long hours into work. You have to start early, before everyone else, and you have to stay up late when everyone else is already enjoying their afternoons and evenings.
We also hear the phrase work smarter, not harder! Conjure up that image. It’s quite difficult to see it in your mind’s eye, unless you think of yourself on a beach holding your smart phone in one hand and a cocktail in the other. The phrase seems to touch an emotional and intellectual nerve with many of us because it is implies some magic formula for achieving ultimate success the quickest and most efficient way possible or having it all without having to work for it. We’ve all heard about the fellow who was considered to work smart because he leveraged other peoples’ time as an infinite resource.
No one gave us clear instructions on how to go about working smarter or explains how it differs from hard work in terms of value, life-satisfaction and achieving our dreams. That’s because working smart is different for every person. What is your life mission? Your definition of success? Is how you currently appoach work smart?
Here’s our educational guideline to working smart. Working smart is not the absence of work, but the ability to having better judgment and use creative strategies. Smart people are very well aware that in order to work smart, you need control - as much control as possible. Choice is the most powerful control you have in life. You can use choice wisely to protect your focus and time using the key principles of attention management while also finding the best creative ways to approach work.
You may have heard the phrase time management in the course of your career. Yet, time is not the issue. We all have the same twenty-four hours to work with. Those that get more done manage their attention differently. They make smart decisions to get efficient outcomes. They intentionally choose where to place their attention and can control that focus for an extended period of time.
You too, can develop skills and use attention management strategies to work smart. Instead of channeling your time, decide where or to what you will deliberately focus your attention.
One of the reasons these attention management strategies are effective is because they direct attention to the ways and times your brain works best, and as we know your brain is in charge of everything.
Attention management strategies break the cycle of distraction to protect your attention, focus, and time. Instead of executing your tasks blindly or responding to every alert, attention management puts you in control of your routine and mindset. When you are in control you can be adaptable to situations, be more innovative and achieve more. It’s the smart way to work. Adapting your day to incorporate any or all of these strategies provides you a roadmap for designing the perfect work day based on what is truly important to you.
You can work long difficult days, but not know for what you are working so hard. Do you have a clear picture of what you really want in life? So often people forget to focus on what they are seeking in life. They simply respond to a boss, teacher or family member and undertake responsibilities and demands placed on them by others. They are confused; they suffer burnout; they struggle as they float from task to task as they watch their life pass by. They feel unfulfilled.
People crave purpose and fulfillment. What is your why? What is your bliss?
You will have difficulty making good choices or working smart to reach your full potential if you don’t know what you want. Get to know yourself better. What do you stand for? Do you have a mission? Get into the habit of asking yourself deliberate questions not as the tasks and activities relate to your work, but as they relate to your life and living a life with greater work-life integration and balance. What about this task or activity makes it important? Who does it affect? How will it makes things better?
Of course you do not want to let anyone down, but if you say yes to everything, you will not be able to give 100% to everything. Your time has a value. You can eliminate, delegate, say no, or decide it has importance and put it on your schedule.
Science shows the human brain is not wired for multitasking. Instead we switch-task which takes a mental toll on our cognitive energies, eats up time, derails mental progress and is counter-productive. The more things you try to juggle, the less effective you become because of the time and attention lost when mentally switching from one activity to the next. If you have spent considerable days trying to multi-task you may have a false feeling productivity. You may not even realize the pressures and negatives that have set your whole day or week back. Research shows it takes 20 to 40 percent longer to complete a group of tasks while trying to multitasking—with nearly twice as many errors. If you think you have a gift or are an exception because you were raised using multiple devices and apps, we are sorry to burst your bubble. It is extremely rare that a person can do even two concentrated tasks at once without compromising one of them.
Learn More about the Myths of Multitasking
Your brain works best when you give it direction. One of the best things attention management strategies you can do is create a focused daily achievement plan that promotes single-tasking of only 4-6 key things you want to accomplish, and stick to it.
Your commitment to attention and effectiveness dictates that your daily calendar accurately reflects the important activities toward which you want to direct your attention. Essentially, on a daily basis you stop, think, and decide what activities will get your attention. You make an appointment with yourself to commit to achieving things like project work, creative time, reading, decision-making, strategic thinking, paperwork, or play time. That includes choosing a time to unplug throughout the day for proper rest and relaxation so your brain can effectively recover between assignments. You can designate times when you are open to interruptions or to do routine tasks. This way, disruption will not affect the quality of your work as much.
You should consider these regular appointments with yourself as important as appointments with your most valuable customer. It is your assurance to get those assignments done. To make it easier, keep your calendar obvious, so you can see it at a glance. Keeping those appointments requires discipline. You will need to tell your staff or coworkers, “I have to go now; I have an appointment.”
Learn more about this as a Key Strategy in Eliminating Procrastination
Build focus in your day by minimizing sensory and emotional distractions so you can stick to your schedule. To make changes, create a focus friendly environment for your work where you are free to focus on just one thing. Clutter, external noises, and people can deter you from focus. Minimize the clutter. Wear headphones if you cannot eliminate the outside noise. Put up a do-not-disturb sign. Hide your technology if you cannot ignore it. Keep to the simple rule. Emergencies and unexpected distractions will arise. Ignore them as much as possible, deal with them when you must, and get back to your schedule as soon as possible.
When you decide it’s time to do a task, and you’ve eliminated potential interruptions, do that task until it is finished or until you reach a stopping point for a break. Do not watch the clock. Set a timer instead. If it’s one big task, break it into attainable pieces. The completion of one part become your designated stopping point. Hone in on each piece with your full attention until they’re finished. When you set a timer you decide you’re going to direct all your attention to completing what you can in that time frame.
For many of us, this is difficult. Our minds do wander. Practice noticing when your mind is veering off in its own direction, and gently guide your focus back to where you want it. If you think of some small task while you are doing focused work, jot it down on a notepad and come back to it later. Do the same with information you want to look up online. Another technique is to consciously think ‘I wonder what my next thought will be’. Whether this disrupts your internal dialogue, or just distracts your brain, it seems to give some space for the brain to become aware of what’s happening.
Your brain responds to ritual. Rituals act as confidence boosters while lessening anxiety. They help your brain adapt to a change in concentration. A morning ritual signals a fresh start to the day. A night ritual helps you reflect on the day. A ritual such as a short walk or cup of tea signals your brain you are getting ready to focus on deep work. Create a ritual when it is time to give someone your undivided attention. Put your phone in a drawer, clear space on your desk, close your laptop, move to a conference table. Do something personal and meaningful to you. It creates a vivid image of respect for the other person.
They are extremely important. Studies show we work best in 90 – 120 minute cycle of alertness before we need a mental break. When you body signals you that the 90 minute boundary has been crossed, disengage to go for a walk away from the computer, the office, the work environment, technology. Checking email, making a work related phone call, researching a question all count as work, not a break. You have to do something different and refreshing to help your brain reset or recharge. A real break takes your mind away from what you’re doing completely. A different environment like the outdoors or a different room looking at the outdoors does that. Pretend you are going to a meeting, but instead of people you are meeting with trees.
Recharge and strengthen your focus through deliberate rest. Recharging does not come from real breaks by themselves. You need deliberate rest or relaxation. We do not mean sleeping the required hours your body needs. Deliberate rest is immersing yourself in activities that are engaging and mentally stimulating, ones that keep your attention, but do not overtax your brain. You can give your brain a boost of energy through hobbies, leisure activities, family time, playing a musical instrument, cooking, or reading to name a few.
Your body’s energy has its own path and you are naturally more energetic and motivated at specific times of the day. Work with it. Decide that you will focus on single tasking and deep work when you have peak energy
Because of technology, it’s easy to let other things or people decide where your attention goes. If you exist in a constant state of alertness, think about your motivations. Are you afraid you will be disliked/unloved/fired if you fail to respond immediately? Do diversions like emails, face-to-face chats, or social networking give you a false feeling of productivity? In the short term, you may adapt reasonably well to the demands of this always-on, anywhere, anytime, anyplace behaviour. But, in the long term the stress hormones create a physiological hyper-alert state that is always scanning for stimuli, provoking a sense of addiction temporarily assuaged by checking in to the latest alert.
We are not suggesting you stop cold turkey. Attention management offers an alternative – be thoughtful about the timing of those distractions.
If you want to work smart your brain muscles must be as strong as possible. You have to get proper sleep, rest and relaxation not one or the other. Constantly train your brain and challenge yourself to new intellectual levels, analytical and creatively. Give your brain and senses regular workouts with specific challenges. Ask questions, be curious and stay curious, expose yourself to new experiences and opportunities. Read, learn to be resourceful and gain street smarts and work smarts. Invest in formal or informal education to develop useful and practical knowledge or acquire essential skills. Build on your strengths to shine and stand out. Hone in on any special talents you can develop or weakness you can eliminate. What about learning a rare skill that is in demand?
Remember: you can improve your ability to focus through practicing and committing to the process Keep in mind that change is not a event but a process, so it will take time to strengthen your brain’s ability to focus.
We often categorize success as a single event. For instance, people will say, “If I lose 20 pounds, I’ll be in shape.” Or, “if I can get my business featured in the major newspapers I’ll have the exposure and credibility I need.” Those events are not what makes success, it is the commitment to the process that gets you there. Remember to stay connected to the why.
Multitaskers think they are effective
than is actually the case. Science shows that trying to multitask is inefficient and less productive. Your ability to focus on one thing
at a time proves to have a more direct advantage.
You are smarter than you think, even when it doesn’t feel like it. Intelligence reveals itself in so many ways that you are often not aware of the ways in which you display intelligence through your diversity of strengths.
In working smart, time is not the problem. Distractions - even small ones - are the culprit. Use undivided attention strategies to limit or eliminate them, so you can use energies more meaningfully and productively.
Do you know how to overcome those times when you lack enthusiasm for a task? Did you know that motivation is more than desire or willpower? Pinpoint the glitch in your level of enthusiasm and use specific actions to boost your motivation.
If you are a diligent or passionate about what you do, you may find your workday blurs into your home life and you could forget to clock out. Burnout is real. Working smart requires firm boundaries between your personal and professional time.
Making time to chill out through rest and relaxation is an important part of maintaining good health, both are energizing. Frequent periods of “me” time are good for boosting spirits, enhancing cognitive function, and also the key tool in working smart.
