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Working Smarter is not a Sign of Laziness

By: Sergeant Carpenter

As a productivity consultant to owners of small businesses and other managers, people sometimes seem to think I am promoting laziness and slothful behavior as I suggest ways for them to have more free time.

Having more free time doesn't make a person lazy, but it might just be a sign that the person is quite smart. Smart enough to break away from the mentality of the herd and think for him or herself. The herd mentality says that we must work hard and must work long in order to make a living and supply our family's needs.

Is there a fact of life that proves that working hard and long is the standard that measures our attitude?

Isn't our production the basis for the pay for most of us? Because of this, my consultations focus on empowering a person to produce more in less time, which allows them to earn their pay for the required production, just as surely as the person who works longer to achieve the same level of production.

At the end of the day, I would suggest that the person who produces more in less time is far from lazy. He or she is, in fact, more productive, smarter and less lazy than his or her counterpart who just shuffles along all day to produce requirements that can be done in much less time.

Another interesting consideration, as we compare working extra hard for no more or even for less results, is to note that all that time spent working, or standing around the workplace, making excuses to yourself and avoiding the work, until, there is no other choice, is that this excess activity reduces one's ability to think creatively. Working just to fill time is unnecessarily stressful, it wastes time and restricts creativity because it is unbalanced.

Look all around you and you will easily see that life is basically cyclical. For example, we experience cycles of work, rest and recreational activities. All are necessary for happiness and fulfillment. If you work all the time, you become ineffective and counter-productive. If always rest, you're sure to become a lazy sluggard. If you play all the time you will get very bored and start to hate your excessive hedonism. The obvious evidence clearly shows a balance in life.

After the requirements of our work are accomplished quickly and effectively, we then are able to claim some time for relaxing activities, and it is during these periods of relaxation, when doing things we enjoy that we are most likely to be inspired to creative action. This may lead us to invent something, or to paint or photograph a really gorgeous picture, write a song, enjoy our family more, etc. This non work time is more likely to make us creative and make a greater contribution to our work or to society.

I must be sure to clearly state that when it is actually necessary to work longer hours, it has to be done, but, again, remember that our value, our pay and our perks are, in the end, based on our production, not the time we hang around our place of work. Think about your dentist. Should his pay to depend on how long and hard he works on your teeth? Wouldn't you rather he finish quickly and effectively? Would you tell him he needs to work longer and harder for his fee?

We should avoid the idea that working less is a indication of laziness, unless the person in question is shirking his overall responsibility. Remember that every one of us work for incentives. If there were no profit, no one would operate a business and if there were not a favorable combination of life needs provided, the businessperson wouldn't find people to work and make it possible for him to produce more and make more profit.

When we realize that people work for incentives and do other things for fun, it begins to make sense to reward those, including yourself, who produce more in less time with more benefit, such as extra time off, without a reduction in pay. Doesn't that make good business sense? I pose this question assuming that you want a work force of cheerful, motivated people. If we only produce more only to enable us to work longer and harder to produce more with the time saved, we lose our balance and get back into the vicious cycle that may lead us to join 26% of American workers who have had or are about to have a nervous breakdown.

Article Source: http://www.topicinfo.com

Get more information and more free tips on how to get more done by visiting Sergeant Carpenter's site for effective business management You can also request a free consultation at his site.
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