Smart work — an attempt at a definition
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Elon Musk. Marissa Mayer. Tim Ferris. There are a lot of people out there that get a lot of stuff done during a day. How do they do it?
It’s easy to get caught up in productivity tips. I’m not going to give you any of those. I don’t think you can transform a mediocre office worker into Elon Musk by, say, limiting email to specific hours.
Thinking differently requires a broader perspective. We can’t get caught up in details.
I’ve analyzed the most productive people I know and have come up with an attempt at a definition of what makes them work smarter. I write ”attempt,” because I want to learn more and fine-tune this list.
So, here goes. An attempt at a definition.
I don’t believe that without any of these you’ll be on the top tier of quality output over time. I also believe there are a lot of things you could include as well, but these are the most important.
And great focus is about saying no, right?
Deliberate focus
Yeah, you can’t run around like a flipper ball and be productive. Is something on fire? Well, you might have to let it burn. Set your own goals and follow them through. Both in the short and long term.
There are two challenges to focus. One is outer requirements — people calling you, for example. The other is inner. That restlessness that keeps you from pushing through and giving the task at hand the energy it needs. (Rather than starting a new tab and reading some fragments of an article on TechCrunch.)
Pro-active, not re-active.
Efficient communication
If you don’t know how to write a great email, you’ll be writing email all day. Sure, it will feel kind of productive to answer a hundred emails in an hour — but what have you accomplished? Not much. Write one great and distribute the right responsibility and you’ll be on your way to finish more important work.
Communication is just as much about listening as talking. And good listening requires focus.
Ability to prioritize
Should we expand to a new market opportunity or work harder on getting more sales out of our existing customers? Should I answer this “urgent” email, write a report for the board meeting tomorrow, or take 15 minutes to meditate?
Knowing what questions to ask yourself and how to answer it will determine your success in business and in life.
Emotional intelligence
Anger. Fear. Jealousy. Our amygdala is sending all these caveman feelings to us all day long.
Knowing how to handle feelings will make you understand how to improve a relationship. Sometimes we wish business was all about numbers, but at the end if the day, business and strategy is a human-to-human skill. And feelings rule humans.
Health
Yeah, you can’t be sick and tired all year long and expect to get great work done. Eat right, lift weights, run.
This also includes mental health. Mental health is not something you should take for granted — take measures to ensure it. Meditation is a great start; good relationships, physical excercise and ample recharging good additions.
Right tools
Walking desk? Macbook Air or Asus Tablet? Wunderlist or Basecamp or Asana or Trello or post-its? Meeting rooms, whiteboards, fountain pens. A great sword (that you’re comfortable with) will make a better weapon.
Richard Branson famously never uses a smartphone or computer. How would that work out for you?
Recharging
We’ve all seen that guy talking biz on his phone at the BBQ, feeling great about himself. But fact is, he’s ruining his work. By never recharging he will never be able to see the big picture.
Genius is about hitting targets no-one else sees.
Meaningful work
It’s impossible to stay motivated on a task we don’t understand the purpose of. Make sure that you and your teams work is connected to the organizations vision, and that the vision is clear and desirable. Or start your own company.
Measurable goals
I’d also like to add: ”within your control.” This is an old stoic thought. Don’t be disappointed in yourself for not reaching a goal that you could not control. For sales, a good goal would not be a certain number of closed deals, but rather a certain number of new relevant contacts made.
Measurable goals, because otherwise you’ll not know if you reached them or not. And then you won’t be able to learn. And without learning …
Continous improvement
Stay hungry. Stay foolish.
If you think you know everything, you’ll be out of here in no-time. Remember BlackBerries? Kodak?
Distributing responsibility
Think you know everything? That you could do it better than the person doing it … and that you should? Good luck.
Note that there is a huge difference in distributing tasks (“go do this!”) and responsiblity (“this is the area you’re in charge of”). One will free up your and your team’s time.
Maximizing flow
Flow is the basis of true happiness and quality work. Know what it takes to get you in the zone, and keep stuff from pulling you out. How to get there? Find meaningful work, make sure it’s challenging but still within your grasp, and cut off any distractions — phone, coworkers, email.
So that’s my theory. An attempt at a definition of smart work. Think I should remove something? Add something? Re-name? Let me know. I’m currently working on ways to improve all of these and thus making a team or organization a quality work machine. Domain knowledge should maybe be in there, but I’m not sure.
