Ever heard the saying ‘Less is more?’ This is where doing fewer things will result in better work.
Sometimes as humans, we all want our work to look good and by doing more, it'll show our dedication to the work.
However, I, as a person, going all out in whatever we do for work or in anything really will impact the quality of work and to an extent, my physical and mental health. Hence I always like to use the approach of ‘Less is More’, ‘Quality over Quantity’ or ‘Don’t Work Hard, Work Smart'.
How do I ensure that I will always ensure the quality of work is met? I always do my own to-do list.
Firstly, I just write down a rough outline of the deadlines for what I need to do. Secondly, I rank them in order of which deadline comes first and I always set mini-deadlines for me to reflect on the work I have done thus far. So this gives me an idea to give myself feedback and things I need to work more upon. Lastly, I just jot down the things I do for each day. For me, I keep it simple and do a to-do list when I wake up or the night before.
I always like to keep on track of everything so I don't panic. Remember, panicking does not solve anything. Staying calm and sticking to your plan is a way to stay in control.
The saying 'Don't work hard, work smart' is a way for me to describe this situation.
It's good that we are working hard for our goal, but it's important to take into account the execution side of things.
Let me paint you a situation: in school last time, when I was studying for my exams, teachers asked me how long I studied. I tell them straight up that I only study for 3-4 hours. Most of the time, teachers think that I'm not taking my work seriously, but in reality, do we need 8 hours for us to complete our work? Realistically, if you want to study for 8 hours, perhaps you study for an hour and take a half-hour break, followed by doing another hour and taking another half-hour break, so you don't cram too much information at a time.
But sometimes, each individual does things differently. Everyone has their on how many hours they want to study for and everyone is different in their own right.
I just tell them straight up I just need 3-4 hours to remember my ideas and that's it. Just because I do more work does not mean I am considered a lazy person. But say if I wanted to do an 8-hour day of solid revision, I'll just make sure to plan out a rough schedule on what to do and execute it.
Working hard all day consists of you working on everything all in one go without having any break which can lead to stress, tiredness and many more - hence this is considered quantity over quality and the end result of the product can lack quality.
However, working smart consists of breaking up segments into different parts of the day and focusing more on quality over quantity and the product at the end of the day will be met with high-quality standards.
At the end of the day, the word productive can mean something different for other people. Take a situation where a person's schedule starts at 7 am till 2 pm and they have several tasks to complete. Here's an example of how people's schedules might be different to others:
Person A:
7:00 am - 8:00 am: Workout
8:00 am - 8:30 am: Rest/write down daily tasks
8:30 - 9:30 am: Breakfast
9:30 - 10:30 am: Begin with task 1
10:30 am - 11:00 am: Break
11:00 am - 12:00 pm: Task 2
12:00 - 1:00 pm: Lunch
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm: Task 3
2:00 pm: Done for the day
Breakdown of Person A:
3 hours of work done
1 hour of working out
2 hours of breakfast and lunch
1 hour of break
Person B:
7:00 am - 8:00 am: Morning coffee
8:00 am - 8:30 am: To-do list
8:30 - 9:30 am: Task 1
9:30 - 10:30 am: Workout
10:30 am - 11:00 am: Break
11:00 am - 12:00 pm: Lunch
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm: Task 2
1:00 pm - 1:30 pm: Break
1:30 pm - 2:00 pm: Task 3
2:00 pm: Done for the day
Breakdown of Person B
2 hours and 30 minutes of work done
1 hour workout
1 hour break
2 hours of morning coffee/lunch
30 minutes: To-do list
Person C
7:00 am - 8:00 am: Task 1
8:00 am - 8:30 am: Break
8:30 - 9:30 am: Task 2
9:30 am - 10:00 am: Break
10:00 am - 11:00 am: Task 3
11:00 am - 12:00 pm: Lunch
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm: Workout
1:00 pm - 1:30 pm: Break
1:30 - 2:00 pm: Reflection
2:00 pm: Done for the day
Breakdown of Person C
3 hours of work
1 hour workout
1 hour and 30 minutes of break
1 hour lunch
30 minutes of reflection
Now you can see how a person who has a 7-2 schedule can differ from other people. Not all people are the same. After reading an article from LinkedIn about How Maintaining Quality is More Important than Quantity, certainly shows that taking a work smart not hard approach can have an impact in terms of delivering quality results.
It's normal for people to be overwhelmed with work or even assignments which results in panic. However, with a solid plan put in place, there's no need for a person to panic.
It's normal for everyone to be busy in their lives, I get it, but remember that we have 24 hours in a day - for example, you go to sleep at midnight and wake up at 8. You slept for 8 hours and that leaves you for 16 hours in the day. Say if you're a person working a 9-5 job, that's another 8 hours left in your day. Come back from work by 6, have dinner and rest for a bit. The time now is 8 pm, and you have 4 hours to chill. Perhaps use those 4 hours to work on your side hustles or work out.
I know I have not had that big break yet in life; however, especially with myself studying and working, no matter how busy life gets to me, I always make time for myself to complete everything - whether that's assignments, deadlines from clients and other side projects, it's important for me to complete my stuff first with and to do everything in my power to ensure the quality is met.
How do you like to plan ahead of time? Let me know
Lewis Knight is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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