I’ve worked hard for a long time on my small design studio, and that’s not being braggy but I’ve dedicated, time, money and a lot of energy. This year I’ve been questioning the working hard aspect. I’ve been wondering does working hard and you’ll be successful actually go hand in hand. Or are some people just lucky? We live in a digital world were instagram feeds us nice little one liners, mantras and quotes motivating us to keep going and grants us tis feeling like we are doing all that we can. But are we? Or are we actually working hard and being constantly busy just so we can wear that badge of honour. Are we focusing our time and energy on the things we need to? Are you working harder or smarter? Today I want to discuss working hard and does it actually help us?
Audio Time Stamp | 01:11
Does Working Hard Always Lead To Success?
Firstly I’m not saying that anyone can walk away from working and expect great results. But why do we start to work hard, then harder and harder, then we actually really should? Well my theory is because we are told working hard usually leads to Successes. Therefore if we haven’t reached success what do we believe well we thinking, we haven’t done enough, we didn’t work hard enough. So to rectify this we think the solution is to work harder, do more and that surely will then lead us to success and thus the never ending cycle.
We need to remind ourselves, that there are lot of other factors that can effect success, results and outcome, I don’t think i can be 100% based on our actions a good percentage yes but not all. Plus should we be seeking more healthy sustainable growth in business rather than a quick successful period that could disappear as quickly as it appeared. I think working hard can derail us, when something not giving us results maybe it not about working even harder. Maybe it’s about evaluating, we need to take into consider a couple factors, like length of time if you’re expecting to see unrealistic growth you need to reset you expectations. If the length of time it’s take then it could be a more performance issue, maybe you methods and technique aren’t to a good standard and you need to improve them rather than doing more of the same things at a low performance level.
Audio Time Stamp | 03:33
Are Your Working Hard At The Wrong Thing?
We also need to rethink and figure our what work is actually the most important. I’ve been in business longer than hot minute. And I told you I have worked hard, but I have worked hard at a lot of the wrong things. So working hard can be great if you’re working in the areas that can yield the most results. Work hard on things that don’t need to be hard is going to drain you and make you tired for all the other important work you need to complete! So how do you figure our the most important things? Well that’s a tricky one, but usually it’s the things that are providing you a ROI of your time as well as actually contributing to your main goal.
Audio Time Stamp | 04:27
Does Working Hard Just Mean Working Longer hours?
Secondly I believe that there is a season for everything. We live our lives thinking everything stays the same or at least we try to keep everything the same. Routine and familiarity is our new safety blanket as an adults, might be a reason as to why so many people don’t move from a job that is making them happy or a relationship.
Being a small business owner I understand that time is our new currency and we are up against it everyday. I felt this enormous amount of pressure that If I didn’t accomplish XYZ then I won’t move the needle in my business, plus the realisation of if I don’t get it done who will?
So if you feel like you’re wearing 10 different hats, need to sprout 2 more pairs of arms and one of them just waved goodbye to your social live because you’ve decided a 5 day week isn’t enough you’re working weekends too. Then you are my friend are working hard! Harder than hard! But does using all this time bring you close to being successful?
Audio Time Stamp | 05:54
Do Other Actives Can Benefit Your Mind And Work
To be successful we have to redefine what success looks like to us? I can probably guess it doesn’t include 70 hours of work every week. That being said I do believe that in business you may need to occasional work longer hours for a couple day or even occasionally weeks. But it’s only dangerous when it become your knew norm. An d the hours you’re working aren’t energising you, but instead draining you.
I’ve heard on another podcast not sure which one but they mention how it can be beneficial to do something completely different from whatever we do in the day. Whether that’s doing excises after work because you’ve being very still most of the day, or doing something more creative if your job is very logical orientated or vice-versa. Making you activate different areas of your brain you wouldn’t normal use can help you day to day work.
Doing these activities take the pressure off you feel because they aren’t about being the best at it, they aren’t really about gaining results. It’s simply to provide you with a vacation from the usual areas of your brain you actively use day in day out. I’ve heard before that some writers say like to go on walks, not staring at a blank page, that might be because when we focus so hard on something it’s even harder to complete. Therefore going on a walk a great example you’re A moving your body and being stimulate by things around you as well as letting your mind expand and wonder different thoughts aimlessly.
If that doesn’t relate we have all experience at one time or another, when we are trying to remember something and it’s like on the tip of our tongue but you just can’t seem to put you finger on it. Then later that day you’re doing something unrelated and that thing you work so hard on to remember just pops into your head out of nowhere! Maybe these are solutions and indicators that sometime working hard and so focused on something doesn’t actually help us but actually prohibits us from getting it done. Maybe hard work is overrated and actually time away from work is undervalued.
Audio Time Stamp | 08:30
Difference Between Deep Work & Working Hard
Lastly I think we can get confused with deep work and hard work. Deep work is when you’re so engrossed in something that you become unaware of time passing you by in the work day, this is deep work. When you zone out and are 100% focused at the task at hand. Where as hard work is more about forcing yourself to do more and more than you have time or energy for. I think deep work can help us feel energised. Where as hard work can quickly leads to exhaustion and burn out. There is a quote I can’t remember who said it but it was along the lines of “If you work very very hard, the world will give you more opportunities to work very very hard.”
Audio Time Stamp | 09:25
Are You Working Hard For The Sake Of Working Hard?!
Let’s recap, working hard isn’t always the best policy, work hard at small periods of time is acceptable but shouldn’t become a normality. We can see a correlation when we are overly focused on something can actually make it hard to obtain the specific outcome. We can see the benefit of doing something complete different to our usual work to stimulate other areas of our brain to improve the way we think. Working hard is very different from deep work I believe one can energise you and lift you up where as the other can drain and make you feel not enough. The more work you put in doesn’t always mean you’ll receive the same amounts of results back, therefore evaluation must be essential. Either way working hard isn’t the aim, you goals and type you personal of success, whatever that looks like for you. I hope this episode helped anyone who feel currently all they do is work hard and see no results. This might be the right time for you to let go a little and get some of your time back away from your small business. Looking to hiring a brand designer? Find out what you can do to prepare yourself!