The Efficiency Trap: The Counterintuitive Truth

You know it to be true: Time is the most important resource you have.?

That’s why you live by the mantra: Work Smarter, Not Harder.?

That’s why each day you look for new productivity hacks so you can get even more efficient than you are right now. You block your calendar in hopes of protecting your time. You try every different to-do list strategy under the sun. You sign up for every webinar that promises you more productivity.?

And surprisingly….?

This mantra seems to be failing you.?

How could that be??

How could this piece of productivity wisdom be failing you??

The Enduring Appeal of “Work Smarter, Not Harder”?

I don’t know about you, but I started leaning into this idea early in my career. It was pretty easy considering I graduated as an Industrial and Operations Engineer. The ultimate study of efficiency! I was trained to optimize processes and maximize efficiency. Look for any bit of waste and remove it.?

It’s no wonder I started looking at all my work through that lens.?

Yes, my education contributed to me leaning into being efficient with my work, but really I applied it to work because I didn’t want to waste any time. I wanted to leave work at the end of the day. I wanted to go home and have a life outside of the office.?

I definitely didn’t want to fall into the trap that I saw others around me fall into: 60+ hour work weeks.?

Sleeping under their desks.?

Working weekends.?

No Thank You!

There’s more to life than that and I knew it.?

Instead, I became someone that thrived off of making things more efficient. Cutting out as much of the loose ends and constantly trying to improve the processes around it. I loved it, too!

You would think that as a result I was constantly on the proactive side of work.?

But that’s not what happened.?

Why Efficiency Alone Can Backfire

I became the person who came in to fix things. Something went wrong and I ended up being the one that needed to come in and address it. Why? Because as the person who dug into making things more efficient, I also became the person who held a ton of knowledge about our products and our processes. As a result, I was constantly put in firefighting mode, stressed out and exhausted.?

Not quite what I was looking to achieve by focusing on “Working Smarter Not Harder”.?

There's one problem when we live by the “Work Smarter Not Harder” mantra alone.?

It only addresses a SINGLE goal - EFFICIENCY.

It doesn’t look at the BIG picture.?

It doesn’t look at the WHOLE picture.?

I saw this early in my career.?

During my internship, I would crank through endless account payable entries. I prided myself on my ability to get a ton done. Fast forward a few weeks into the internship and our whole team was called into a meeting. We were reprimanded for the work we were doing.?

I felt deflated. I was putting out my best work and had figured out a way to be efficient. Getting more done than what was expected of us each day. That was the day I learned some of my teammates were not of the same mind as me.?

And I felt disrespected. By them and by my boss, who knew I was cranking through things more than they expected.?

That’s when I realized that efficiency is not the only goal to consider.?

You can’t just work smarter as your singular goal.?

But I see women repeat this pattern over and over again.?

You focus on working smarter. Becoming more efficient as a result.?

What happens??

You get more work. More tasks, more projects, more clients. Sometimes it ends up feeling like more chaos is added to your plate instead of less. And sometimes you are lumped with the whole group even when you are doing more than they are.?

Top it off that this doesn’t always equate to moving your career forward. Those extra tasks, projects and clients don’t always have the benefit of getting you more recognition. Instead, it feels like all you are doing is making sure your boss gets the most work out of you as possible.?

Think about that for a moment.?

If you aren’t advancing your career from your efficiency efforts,? is it the solution you actually need??

If more work isn’t getting you a nod of recognition….?

If more work doesn’t get you the respect you deserve for what you have accomplished….?

Then something is missing.?

This is where Working Smarter fails you. It doesn’t achieve all of your goals or solve your problems.?

Sometimes it makes it worse. (More work = More work. Hmmm)

What do you do??

The Missing Piece: Your Purpose

You want to be efficient.?

You want to do the best job possible.?

You want to leave your work at home.

You also want to be respected for what you bring to the table and what you contribute.?

When you attempt to solve one problem with a surface level solution like Work Smarter Not Harder, you cause more problems for yourself. In this case, more work.?

Should you throw away the idea of working smarter though??

No.?

You just need to do something very important first.?

Understand what you want from your career and why you want it.?

Consider the FULL picture and not just the surface goal. Going deep into each of these questions. The reason you want these for your life is critical.?

• What do you envision for your career?
• What do you want for your life??
• How do these two pieces of your life interact? Commingle? Impact each other??
• Why are these things important to you??

Having a clear picture of this is critical for being able to create it.?

When you have an understanding of where you want to go that’s when you get to figure out how to create it.?

It’s where working smarter actually comes in….?

You see, I learned from my internship that it wasn’t just about working smarter or efficiently. I learned that I wanted to be respected at work by my coworkers and my boss for what I contributed. With that WHY in mind, I looked at my approach to work differently, which led me to advancing my career with each and every job I took.?

When you have an understanding of where you want to go, what you desire and why, you get to make decisions about how you work that changes your trajectory and outcome.?

If you feel like I did during my internship, like you are working smart but still somehow working hard without being respected for what you contribute, it’s time to rethink your approach to work.?

And that’s why I created the Free Digital Course:? Less Work More Respect

Are you ready for More Respect at work??

Click on the Link to gain access to it. Of course, the first place we start is understanding your? WHY.?