Working Hard and Getting Nowhere
Every company that I work with has some issue with perceived productivity — people working hard at things that add no value. It might be a team that’s lost direction or a culture that does things as they’ve always been done. It could a department who never evaluates the effectivenees of their process.
I suppose that comes from a misaligned perception that hard work is equal to a positive contribution. It’s not so. A positive contribution is any work that moves us closer to our goals — sometimes that’s hard work; sometimes it’s simple and elegant.
When we work at home, it’s easy to fall victim to the lure of productivity that gets us nowhere. We feel like we’re working. No one says our time investment isn’t worth it. In the past few months, people have said these things to me:
I’m all I can and in the last 6 months, I’ve only made $600.
I work 14 hours a day. I guess you need money to make money.
In my last job, I was a high performing VP. Now I can’t get a client to talk to me.
Every time I asked what they were doing. They answered with common wisdom about successful blogging.
- I spend hours writing high-quality blog posts.
- I spend hours writing comments and social networking.
- I tweak my blog to make it more inviting.
If you’ve got a blog, you know that it’s work to do all of that. It’s highly productive work, if the goal is to build a first-rate blog audience. But the folks who came to me had a goal to build a client-based business. They were working hard on some things that wouldn’t take them where wanted to be.
It was perceived productivity. Wisdom needs to match up wth where we’re going.
Each person took a minute to apply their goals to what they were doing. The wisdom matched to their goals made a new purpose and new direction. Every high-quality blog post and every hour spent networking and commenting was considered in light of their business. A slight shift made a big difference. Time spent became highly productive.
Wisdom + goals = direction, purpose, productivity
Ever been victim to perceived productivity?
I have. Now I keep my goal in front of me.
–ME “Liz”Β Strauss
Work with Liz!!
LOL Liz
Reminds me of what my dear friend Richard C drummed into me (and from time to time has to remind me about it):
Don’t work hard, work Smart!
Had to put LOL in front of my comment, because I’ve just spent 2 hours working very hard on just 1 item to make one of my blogs worker smarter – and am finally seeing some results π
Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)
I’ve worked hard in spurts and let me tell you that doesn’t work either. Just today, I sorted out my top three goals and how my blogging fits in with that.
already i feel energised, and less overwhelmed.
Hi Karin!
Sometimes it’s hard to figure out how to work smart. You’ve just shown that. But it’s worth the one time investment, because we know why we’re doing it. π
It’s also smart to be lucky and to know when you are. π
Hi Ming!
Isn’t it amazing how getting back to our goals can do that for us? Those slippery little goals sure have a way of getting out of our vision. π
I think a Yogi Berra quote is called for: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up somewhere else.” That means keep your goals in front of you!
Hi Hunter!
Welcome. Yogi had uncommon wisdom. π
Thanks for reminding me of all of the Yogi Berra quotes I like. π
Liz, this is great advice and a timely reminder. Your words sent me straight outdoors for a long walk despite the rain – a great way to clear the head and get focused on what matters.
Thanks, once again!
Joanna
>Ever been victim to perceived productivity?
Is a baby squirrel cute?
As a service business owner revenue is almost always in direct proportion to three key factors.
* The state of the general economy
* The state of my industry specifically
* Whether I’m able to talk to enough people who might be
interested/need what I have to offer
Since I can only control the last factor, pretending to work hard doing things other than talking to those folks isn’t as productive as most other tasks.
I’m reminded of what one of my mentors loved to say about what he termed, ‘so called hard work.’
“Some folks work hard at the things making them successful, while most work hard at getting ready to do the things that’ll make them successful.”
You’re either fumbling through your database, or you’re contacting those in your database. Which behavior produces results?
Hi Liz,
Good advice. It’s so easy to get lost working the process that we forget to make sure the process is the right one! (I say that from extensive experience, unfortunately)
Mike
This has been on my mind for (it would seem..)
months now!
I have been wondering just how much of a part “blogging” itself should play….
Long term goals vs. short term payoffs…
contemplating….
Hi Joanna!
This particular idea was the seed that started Biz School for Bloggers. So many work so hard for no reward, but can’t find another way.
Hi Jeff,
Fabulous point . . . “getting ready to be successful” is the problem in too many ways. We can feel good about working, but we don’t have to worry about failing, because we never get to bat.
Hi Mike!
That’s it exactly! We can talk about what to do next, or what the right order of steps is, but sometimes we need to think about why we’re doing it at all.
Phew! So timely, such a good point. I have a warroom. Actually it is a section in a notebook. I set short and long range goals in each major area of focus. I have a weekly checklist to help me tag all the bases and each week I review.
When you are a one person business essentially it is a lot of hats to wear, and plates to juggle. Am I closer to my goal or farther away today? Which hat must I put on now to get much closer than yesterday? Am I remembering my position and doing what it takes with whatever tool needed to get to the next step??
I guess it is called staying on task, or mission. Easy to say. Hard to do at times with so much to keep up with. Some mental touchstone is necessary.
All best, Jan
Liz, well that sounds like a convincing reason to come to Chicago in May!
Joanna
I battled this a ways back and set some pretty strident business practices – in the churn of my overwhelming personal life it “appears” at most levels anyway that business was occurring and moving forward. Consistent and planned efforts definitely paid off. With the bulk of that personal churn behind me I feel like this path is opening before my very eyes – This year I took on the goal of affiliating and while the courtships are longer …I am rather excited at this layer of working smarter
Mother Earth aka Karen Hanrahan
http://www.bestwellnessconsultant.com
Hi Karen!
I didn’t forget you. Business called me away. I’ve found that if I stop to think about why I’m blogging when I do — every day, every time — it helps me know and keeps my focus on what I should be working on.
The allure of staying here all day with folks is incredibly powerful. But it won’t pay the rent or give me the strategic problems I live to solve. π
Hi Mother Earth!
A key secret is knowing what we value. When we know, it’s so much easier to sort what we’re willing to spend time on. Looks like that’s just what you did. Every time I speak with you I hear the joy in your voice!
Well get back less than I expected is true. Then again, I would never start something unless I know I’ll be getting something out of it. There should be no actions wasted on things that bring no benefit, then again, no action is without gaining (or losing) something of equal value.
Most of the time we take those values for granted. Most of the time we might not even liked what we’ve gained in return. What we have to learn is to embrace not just what we like, but what we don’t like. Nothing is really weak or useless until we realize what we can do with it. Same with what we’ve worked for and gotten in return.
It may not be what we want, but very often, it just might be what we need.
Hi Edrei!
So many things I’ve had to do have gotten so much better when I’ve done as you say, embrace not just what we like, but what we donΓ’β¬β’t like. The time I invest and the way I do things changes when I decide that I’m doing to make it fun.
#14
Hi Jan,
Wow! I so admire that you do that. I’ve tried, but I can’t. My list has to be every day or I lose track of myself. Maybe I should hire you to help me out. π