12/18/2024
It's a common thing that people say, and I've said it myself: work smarter not harder. In other words, accomplish more with less, don't make it harder on yourself than it needs to be. However, there's lots of examples where we don't do this in our daily life for one reason or another.
Why do we water our lawn when it ends up creating more work for ourselves or others to cut it more often? The "work smarter not harder" crowd would say, "Don't water the grass", to avoid the hard work of mowing altogether.
Why do so many people choose to wash their car in the driveway when there's a car wash right down the road? In the heat of the summer, washing your car at home is definitely working harder, not smarter.
Why do we still appreciate the act of sitting down and reading a good book? There's no need to read a physical book anymore with the accessibility of audiobooks, which some would say is much smarter way to read.
Why bother training for a marathon when the half marathon distance is more than enough to keep you in shape and feeling accomplished? Running a marathon is way harder than running a half marathon.
Maybe these aren't the perfect examples to set this up, but the list goes on and on. The point is: working smarter and working harder are a package deal, not an absolute idea where you only get to choose one. They mean different things for different people.
I think "work smarter" means to do something the way you want it done. For those who like to save time, it's much smarter to drive to the car wash rather than wash the car by hand. However, for those who appreciate the feeling of accomplishment that comes from washing the car themselves, it's smarter to break out the supplies and physically get it done.
"Work harder" means to put more effort into something, which is subjective too. Running a marathon requires more training and endurance than running a half marathon, but it's still something people strive for. If we always set out to "work smarter not harder", no one would ever run a marathon. A better way to phrase it might be: work smarter AND harder.
You can strategically choose what you want to accomplish and how much effort you want to put into it. The feeling of fulfillment and accomplishment that comes from working hard on something that closely aligns with your goals and values is powerful. Figure out what you want to accomplish, how you want to get it done, and go do it.
"Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."
- Theodore Roosevelt