How many times have you got to the end of a rather unproductive working day but still found yourself feeling exhausted? 

This happens because we tend to work hard but not smart, and we put our energy into all the wrong things.

What does ‘working smarter’ mean?

Working smarter aims to improve your efficiency, productivity and performance without increasing how hard you work. Developing your self-awareness and time-management skills will help strengthen these traits. 

Put simply, it means getting more done without putting in more time or effort.

Why is ‘working smart’ crucial?

One of the main reasons you hear people talking about working smarter not harder is that it helps prevent burnout and exhaustion, without decreasing your work output. 

Imagine if you could get lots of work done but still feeling energised at the end of the day…

It might seem impossible, but it’s not.

How can you work smarter, not harder?

The next step is to learn how it works in practice. There are many ways you can begin to work smarter, but here are a few that we have found particularly useful and effective.

• Routine
  Having a set routine means you’re not spending time in the mornings trying to work out how to organise your day so you have more time to spend on other tasks.
  
  
• To-do lists
  Writing your to-do list the evening before means that when you get to work the next morning, your day is already planned out, significantly improving your ability to flow from task to task.
  
  
• Not multitasking
  While this might sound counterintuitive, focusing on one task at a time means you are likely to get more done and to a higher quality.

How can you now put this all into action? 

It can be difficult to translate strategy into action so here is our simplified step-by-step guide on how you can put all of this into action.

• List it
  Look at your day-to-day routine and what tasks you have to complete tomorrow and write them all in a list.
  
  
• Group it
  Group similar tasks together so you can complete them one after another;  you’ll build more momentum and get in the right mindset easier.
  
  
• Plan it
  Pick out the tasks you do daily, such as reading your emails, and allocate specific times to these daily tasks. This means you’ll have less planning to do every evening.
  
  
• Prioritise it
  List the remaining tasks in priority order. Click here for a comprehensive guide on how to do this most effectively.
  
  
• Finalise it
  Now that you have organised your day, finalise the plan by writing up your to-do list for tomorrow.

Getting used to this way of organising your time and tasks may be challenging at times and difficult to get used to, but developing this discipline is absolutely crucial for mastering personal effectiveness. 

As the saying goes: if something doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.

Keep using this strategy and soon it’ll become second nature.