We’ve all heard the expression, “Work smarter, not harder.”  Of course this doesn’t mean be as lazy as we can get away with being.  That would develop a bad attitude and work ethic in general.  It would also not sit well with our supervisor, team leader, parents, etc.!

What does it mean, then?  When I think of working smarter, I think of accomplishing the desired outcome without extra effort, in a way that’s both effective and efficient. 

To that end, I tell myself, “There’s got to be an easier way—that works!”  If it doesn’t work, it wasn’t smarter. 

Here’s an example from a couple of weeks ago:  As a leadership coach who works online, I need a strong, stable, internet connection for an optimal, uninterrupted, conversation with my clients.  Unfortunately, however, I can’t get that from the part of the house that’s best and most convenient to work in.

I’ve tried everything we know to correct that—higher speed, moving the router, making sure no neighbors join our channel, updating my computer driver, and other things, all designed to make our internet work all over the house.

In fact, this could even be the subject of another post—how to turn problems into learning opportunities, given all the tech stuff I’ve learned that I didn’t even know existed before!

But the sad reality remains—way too hot to work from my upstairs office where the router/cable had to be connected, and unstable connection from our dining table.  Why put a nice, comfortable, high-up-enough, chair in front of that table if I can’t use it? 

The real mystery is why the connection worked there before but not anymore.  Well, I could sit and wonder and grumble and “if only…” about that all day, but it wouldn’t solve the problem.

So, for working smarter, not harder:

Step 1: Don’t waste time bemoaning what should be or wishing for once was but no longer is—accept the current reality, since that’s what we have to work with.

Step 2: Solve the immediate problem with whatever immediate options we have.  After all attempts to fix the internet problem had failed, this meant I needed to move my operation.  Upstairs?  Nope—still too hot and airless in summer.  Kitchen table?  Unprofessional background and internet is unstable there too.  Living room, directly down a short hall and six stairs, in the open, from the router?  Good background available.  Just need a table and right-height comfortable chair.

Great!  Small, portable, computer-table in the other room!  I brought it down and placed it strategically in front of the best background.  Now all I needed was the chair.

Uh oh—in order to get that office chair from the dining table to the living room area, I’d have to squeeze it between our sofa and piano.  Good thing we have an open L-shape that houses our dining and living room areas.  Bad thing—big, heavy, office chairs don’t squeeze.  And our heavier, hide-a-bed, sofa and piano are both “steadfast and immovable”. 

But—undeterred, I managed to wrestle that office chair between that narrow passageway—after many attempts, turning it various ways, watching it tumble over upside down, knocking the tower fan over, and scaring our confused golden-retriever!

Then I put everything to rights, smoothed my hair, logged onto the video platform, with one minute to spare… and thought—“There’s got to be an easier way that works!”

Step 3: Consider better, smarter, long-term options.  Use my husband’s home-office chair?  No— too hot in his room; his chair is too big and heavy to schlep down the stairs (even if I could get it out the door); what happens when he comes home and wants to use it in his office?!

Sit on the sofa or living room chair with the computer on my lap?  Works great when the video isn’t on, but otherwise most unprofessional, especially when the laptop jiggles and looks like an earthquake to the viewer.  (Have any of you discovered this as well?!)

Find a better, easier, way to move my office chair to the living room?  Without the pressure of a client session looming in five minutes, my brain was free to function unhindered by stress.  That’s when I noticed the solution—our kitchen has TWO DOORS—one leading into the dining area, and one leading into the living room!

So instead of having to muscle it between the sofa and piano, all I had to do was roll the chair through the kitchen door on one side and out the other into the living room, right in front of the portable table!  It helps that we have a very small kitchen.  Better yet, this works every time!

Step 4: Ask for help.  Enlist others to brainstorm with you. For the best results, I highly recommend enlisting the expert help of the most-wise Creator of the universe—this works so much better than our own, very-limited, brainpower, or even that of those available to help us.

In fact, this asking should really be part of every step!

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”  James 1:5

Step 5: Make sure our solution works, not just one time, but every time we need it.  In other words, ask ourselves, “Is this sustainable?  Is there anything that could change, rendering this solution no longer viable?”  In our case, no.  Our kitchen doorways aren’t going to change dimensions, and neither is my office chair.  At least not unless I buy a new one, in which case I’ll make sure it fits through the door.

Step 6: Continue to use the smarter way of working until you discover an EVEN SMARTER and better way than that.  Even the greatest solutions and inventions can be improved upon.  For example, smartphones, computers, internet connections…  As soon as our internet connection improves, I’m not going to keep rolling my office chair into the other room!  Or, at least when things cool off, I’ll be working upstairs 😊

So now you know the whole process of working smarter, not harder.

Find your own applications and enjoy what an easier way that works does for you!