How to Work Smart Not Hard

How to Work Smart Not Hard
By A. Suzanne Wells, eHow Member

Work Smart Not Hard
User-Submitted Article
"Working smart not hard" means that your efforts should to go high-priority tasks that contribute to accomplishing your goals. If you run a home business, you may feel that you work all day but get very little accomplished. Learn how to work smart, not hard, to achieve your goals.
Instructions
You will still need to work hard. Working smart does not suggest that there is a back door to success. Working smart refers to planning, having efficient habits, and using your time and energy wisely.
Make lists. Every morning when you begin your day, make a list of all the tasks you need to accomplish that day. After you make the list, rewrite it with the items in order of importance. Always make sure that your income producing activities are first.
Be flexible. Understand that the world constantly changes, and you must change with it. Your day may not go as planned. Be open to trying new things and new ways of doing things.
Look for shortcuts in everything you. Don't reinvent the wheel every time you do something. For example, if you are in a service business where customers email you a lot of questions, you will probably see the same questions over and over again. Start saving your replies in files on your computer. Organize the replies by categories such as lost shipments, unhappy customers, or product questions. After a while, you will have a response that you can use as the foundation for any email for any situation. You may have to change a few details to fit the specific situation, but the bulk of the letter will already be written.
Avoid over scheduling yourself. Be realistic about what you can accomplish in one workday. Work can go on forever. Sometimes you just have to cut off your work and stop for the day.
Evaluate your systems and make them more efficient. By this, I am not referring to your computer system, but the way you do things. For example, if you run a business where you have to make phone calls, plan your phone time for when your kids aren't home and you won't be interrupted. You can get the job done much faster with no interruptions or distractions. Try to do things in batches rather than one at a time. Whether it is paying bills, shipping orders, or answering emails, doing these tasks in batches is much more time efficient than scattering yourself all over the place doing them one at a time. If you have kids and work at home, work on your business while they are at school and you can concentrate, and save housework and cooking for when they are home.
Avoid multi-tasking. Multi-tasking isn't always a good idea. In fact, many experts suggest that you get less done when you multi-task because you are trying to do too many things done at once. Your brain is switching and forth between the tasks. Multi-tasking is not as productive as sticking with one task until it is completed.
Rely on spreadsheets to help you stay organized. You can put just about anything in a spreadsheet. For example, I have all of my eHow articles in a spreadsheet with a link to the article. If anyone asks me a question that I have written an article about, I can just send them the link. You can also organize all of your internet marketing sites on a spreadsheet. You will know what you posted where and when.
Listen to your mentors and ask questions. You can move higher on the learning curve faster if you learn from other people's mistakes instead of waiting to learn from your own. Read what experts in your field have to say - read blogs, books, and newspaper and magazine articles. Join groups and forums and talk to others in your field and ask questions. Be proactive about learning and look for new ways to learn, and new people to learn from, so that you can prevent costly mistakes.
Look for people who work hard at working smart. These are the people who get more done in less time with fewer resources than others - you might wonder about them, "How do they get all that done?"




Work Smart, Not Hard
Working smart and not hard is a very useful skill to have. If you begin to do this your work will be so much better and easier. Here are a few steps you can take to start working from a smarter position. Read on.
Instructions
Look over everything that has to be completed before you start. For things like homework, classwork, a job, etc you should assess all the things that needs to be down.
Now make a thorough outline of all the things that you need to do. This will keep you on the right track for doing your work and not make your repeat any steps.
If you have to use materials for your work, make sure they are the best or close to it. Do not go for cheap items because you may have to repair it or get another one. You will not regret paying for good materials because they can help you get your work done faster.
Now that you have your plan laid out, make sure you stick to it unless it is absolutely needed to. If your plan is good you should stay with it but there are some issues or problems that may arise. You should think about these problems that come up and find a way to solve it.
If you are working with a team make sure everyone is up to date and know what they are doing. If you know your workers well you can make the fast workers do task that take long and skilled workers work on difficult jobs. This will make work much more efficient.
Make sure you present and finish the job very strong. You have worked hard for a long time and you may be tired and sleepy but you must keep that last impression strong. If it is a paper, make sure you revise and reread the paper so there are no mistakes.
How to Get Very Rich The Smart Way in Four Years
It is everyone's dream to get rich but it takes hard work. Most of these get rich quick models does not work. You have to work hard and smart for your money. If you are willing to do this, go on and read this article. This model I am going to present may work for you.
Instructions

The first step is to find a great idea. For me, a great idea is the one that can help you makes a lot of money. You do not have to invent anything. There are lots of existing ideas that can work for you if you have the brain to improve it and you have the skills to market it. You may ask me if these ideas are great, why they are not working so far. May be the problem is not in the ideas themselves but with those who have them. It takes a marketing genius to transfer an idea to a money machine. Find an idea and improve it and you are ready to go. Since this first step is the most important part of your project,I give you one year to do it. During that year, you find the idea, improve it and test it. You can also, during that year, educate yourself about business, marketing and sales.

In this step you will put your idea to work by starting your own business. For this step I give you two years to have a profitable business and at the same time you build a brand for yourself. The profit you will making during this step will not be enough to make you rich.You should make most of your fortune in the third step.

Once you build a successful business and a brand for your business, it is time to start franchising. Before you can do this, build a business model that is unique, patent everything and be aware of all the legal issues. You will be selling your business idea. There is no limit to how much you can make. It all depends on you and your idea. Good Luck