Working Effectively, Efficiently and Effing Amazingly
When it comes to working, you can work to get by, or you can work to make a difference, to be an asset and to make yourself as valuable as possible. By utilizing the three “effs” of being the star pupil, you’ll not only be the best at what you do, but you’ll also be able to do it without overextending yourself into the realm of insanity. If you’re going to put the effort into working, make it effective. Make it efficient. Make it effing Amazing.
Sure, you may be working a job and getting a paycheck, but that by no stretch of the word means you’re doing it fully effectively, efficiently, or effing amazingly. In fact, many people work just enough to get by, and intentionally choose not to be efficient, whether because they want to look busy, or are being paid for the time spent working on a job. This is no way to work. If you are going to spend such a large portion of your life to working, which you’ll likely have to unless you are one of the lucky few, then make it worthwhile. Make it effective, efficient, and effing amazing.
If I’m completing my work, doesn’t that mean I’m already working effectively?
Perhaps, to an extent, you have told yourself you’re working effectively. You meet your deadlines, answer your emails, and help your boss when needed. By the strict definition of the word, you have been successful in producing a desired or intended result. So, sure, you’ve been effective. But have you challenged that level of effectiveness? Have you completely fulfilled the expectations or just fulfilled them enough to get by?
Being fully effective means you should not just be that way in the way you perceive yourself, but in the way that you interact with colleagues, clients, and others in your work day. You want every interaction to leave those around you feeling like you are an asset, and that they are lucky that they had the opportunity to work with you. Leave your customers satisfied by answering their questions and the questions they didn’t know they had.
What happens if I’m so efficient that I run out of work to do?
The definition of efficient is achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense. Being efficient means you are able to do your work at the best pace possible while maintaining quality. To be efficient you must be organized, and have solid time management skills. While some people prefer to appear busy all the time, are you really working just to look busy? The star of the Three Effs does not work to look busy. That person works to make a difference, to help their company, to be fulfilled, and to leave work not only with a paycheck, but with a sense of importance that a lazy day at work can’t provide.
The most common opposition to being efficient is that you certainly can run out of work to do. Sometimes you may work yourself out of a job because you’ve made yourself so efficient. But that just means you have not only been efficient, but effective at doing your job. If there is room for improvement in your job, such as room for more efficiency, there is also room for you to be more effective. If you worked yourself out of a job, then you are able to move on and help make production more efficient elsewhere.
My mom already told me I’m amazing, why do I have to be effing amazing?
Because your mom doesn’t pay your bills. And if she does then this whole article is probably lost on you. Your mom is always going to think you’re the bomb. You want your boss to think you’re effing amazing. Being valuable and liked is key to making yourself an effective and efficient employee. If you work so efficiently and effectively that you run out of work, if you’re effing amazing your boss is going to give you more responsibilities and potentially more dinero.
Being effing amazing at work will open doors that you didn’t think were possible. You’ll be promoted, and other people you’ve worked with will remember how effective and efficient you are and they’ll want the chance for you to work with them. Once you’ve mastered being effective and efficient, being effing awesome will come naturally.
But work sucks, why give it my all?
Like I said before, most of us have to work for a living. We have to make the best of what we spend most days doing. If you’re going to go to the effort to show up at work every day, don’t just show and try to slide under the radar. Find a job where you want to surpass the three effs. Keep trying until you make it. If you are spending most of your waking hours working, make that work efficient so you don’t have to waste any effort, make it effective, so you’re not just completing a task, but excelling at a task. Don’t waste your time just getting by.
If you hate your job so much that you don’t want to give it your all, then you have to either hit the lottery, fast, or keep climbing until you find a place where you are satisfied mentally, and are willing and able to give it everything.
What we’ve almost forgotten in the trifecta of effs is effort. All of these things involve effort. You have to want to give it your all. You have to physically put in the effort to make yourself work effectively, efficiently and effing amazingly. Effort is the unsung hero of the effs. But if you are able to put forth the effort, it is only a matter of time before you’ve become the best you can be, making yourself nonexpendable, and a valuable member of the team. Your effort will give you the power to be not only efficient and effective, but effing amazing to boot.
About the Author
I am an entrepreneur, business consultant, investor & developer from New York. I create brands & help others build theirs. You can connect with me on Twitter or Instagram.
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