Your Working Hard But Are You Working Smart?

We work in a day and age where everything is now, and if it's not now then it's late or not done. So the questions here lie with: When we are working, where should you really put your efforts and what makes what's given to us now, important for later?

I often hear people tell me "...my boss/manager doesn't acknowledge any of the work I do" , or ".. my team needs to function together but it just doesn't work" "I'm working so hard..." My response is always along the lines, "You might be working hard but are you working smart?"

Working hard is not measurable as we can easily find ourselves too busy to deliver results as we are busy doing "busy work" and not focused on adding value to the work being delivered. I can sit at my desk all day and "research" but if I don't pick pick up a phone what's the point? I am working hard but I am simply "at work". Working smart is measurable, it is results oriented and essures the effort put in matches the results and goals.

Here is a program to see results:

Have a goal! When push comes to shove you need to know what you want to achieve. If it's just workload survival aka the end of the day then the goal is to make it hour by hour but companies have goals, and you should to! You should: Have them. Set them. Achieve them. Put them somewhere where you see them regularly so you don't forget as just like any goal, it's easy to lose focus if we forget what or why we are doing something. When it comes to work, it is your career at hand and your career is a huge part of your life, so know what you want to achieve and once you know what you want to achieve...

Have a plan! Seek for opportunities to achieve results and write out how you plan to achieve your goals. What is the step by step measures you will take to reach your goals and then...

Measure it! These are numbers, these are actual facts and actions that are leading you to your goals. You don't know what you are doing wrong or right if you don't have a way to figure it out. If you are missing the mark, figure out why and change it but measuring it allows you to see exactly what and how you are doing something in case you are..

Failing! We all fall down when we learn to walk and we all need to walk before we learn to run and we need to run really fast in order to fly so failing will be part of the process and that's okay. You may decide to take the wrong step but remember there's no wrong route as this is your journey to your goals. We all have different measures for success and for some it could be just getting out bed in the morning but whatever it is, make it count.

It's one thing to go to work every day and another to actually be productive as focusing on results assures you that the work you do is meaningful, important and actually achieved.