Many people associate working long hours with working hard. As a business owner, you might pat yourself on the back after a long, hard day at work. But business owners should focus on working smart versus working long hours. Hard work has a new definition in our lives today.

“Hard work is about risk. It begins when you deal with the things that you'd rather not deal with: fear of failure, fear of standing out, fear of rejection. Hard work is about training yourself to leap over this barrier, tunnel under that barrier, drive through the other barrier. And, after you've done that, to do it again the next day.”

-          Seth Godin, Labor Day of 2007 (Mr. Godin is still at work)

            What does it mean to “work smart”? According to Harvard Business School, working smart means simply, “getting the same results in less time.” To do that, the business owner must change how they work. Changing speed and increasing focus and organization are crucial to working smart. Don’t waste time simply feeling productive. You might feel like you are being productive, for example, by emailing 100 potential clients; but if those emails don’t show the desired results, then you are wasting your time and aren’t working smart. Filling your time with busy work doesn’t mean you are being productive either.

            Concentrate on higher-output work. What activity or activities do you perform during your work days that bring the most rewards or results? Once you focus your efforts on these high-output activities, you can spend less time working and still increase productivity. Streamlining activities will cut your working hours and allow you to concentrate on increasing productivity and working smart. Concentrate on constantly making your business processes more efficient and cutting processes that aren’t producing results.

http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/no-loans-when-you-need-them-96395.php Ilya Bodner
Small Business Owner
Initial Underwriting Group