Smart Work Pays Off

I have a technology background and our job in technology is to make things easier, not harder. When I had my IT consultancy, the aim I had for my customers was to make technology work for them. All the progress we have made as humankind should count for something. I am very bothered when persons say, hard work pays off. I would much rather say and hear, smart work pays off.

There is a difference between hard work and smart work. When I Google "smart work vs hard work", I see that there are many articles covering the topic. It is important to recognise the difference and start embracing smart work over hard work. When we glorify hard work we perpetuate hardships and there are no incentives for doing things the smart and better way.

I like to see when people come up with smart ways to do things. This topic has me thinking about SMART goals. Let's be smart about life and what we want to achieve. What is hard work? When I think about hard work, I think about long hours, sacrifice, no fun, no days off, strick schedule and the likes. On the other hand, when I think about smart work, I think about efficiency, process reengineering, automation, using tools and the likes. I also think about street smarts and how important it is in surviving life. There is a difference between being educated and being intelligent.

Came across this quote while researching this topic, "give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe," said by Abraham Lincoln. We should be using tools to make our work and life easier and more comfortable. Technology is a major tool and so much we are hearing about digital transformation these days. Also, there is no need to reinvent the wheel.

In terms of paying off, we have to think up our own definition of success. What makes us happy? What are we passionate about? What motivates us? Not everyone needs a lot of money, big house, fancy car and expensive vacations. This reminds me of a common saying, work to live and not live to work. Work life balance is important and smart work affords us that. Our health is our true wealth.

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