Five tangible ways to ‘Work smarter, not harder’

Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

I find the advice to ‘work smarter, not harder’ some of the most frustrating advice there is.

When I’ve come across it in the past, I’ve thought, “Of course that’s what I want to do, but if I knew how to, then I’d be doing it already!”

Especially when you are just starting out or in those early days of business, trying to prioritise what to do or knowing what activities will actually make the biggest impact in the long run can be next to impossible on your own.

And even when you turn to others, everyone will likely give you a different answer.

I was a big fan of Pareto’s Principle early on - it’s based on the concept that 80% of your results will be produced in 20% of your time. 

But when I went to implement it and found that none of my activities were creating any results at all, or so it seemed, it wasn’t really a approach that I could make use of.

Anyway, I think that where we often get stuck with this type of thinking is being fixated on time as the bottleneck.

“If only I had more time to work on my business then of course I would have more results” 

“But in order for me to justify more time working on my business, it needs to be bringing in more than it currently is”

When actually, the key to ‘Working smarter, not harder” is realising that time is rarely the key issue.

Believe me when I say that I say this from experience. I work fewer hours now in my business than I did in my first side hustle that I started pre-kids and literally poured every spare moment into it (a side hustle that never made it full time).

In the context of the society we live in, it’s not surprising that when things aren’t going to plan in business at any stage, we naturally ask what we need to do more of. We look to bigger, more established companies or people further down the line than us and try to replicate what’s working for them. Only to find that frustratingly, that doesn’t work for us either.

What we actually need is a super simple plan that we can stick to.

One that not only makes the best use of the time you do have, but also frees up some precious headspace too. When we’re constantly trying to add in more things To-Do, it’s not just the time spent doing the things, it’s then trying to keep track of them and the constant internal juggling of emotions that goes along with them.

Familiar?

Learning this way of working is not just beneficial now, it also pays dividends in the long run when your business is well established. Then, you may not have the commitments of a day job or all of the start-up activities you have now, but you will have more hours spent with clients, or actually enjoying the freedom and flexibility that you worked so hard to achieve!

So here are the five things that I recommend to help you work smarter, not longer:

1. A simple plan you can stick to

I would go so far as to say it should be one that feels too simple. One that you know you can stick to, even when the kids get sick or the dog needs to go to the vet.

2. Getting to know the people already in your world

Rather than focussing on building your audience or getting more followers, speak to the people who are already there. Drop them a message or check out their stuff and say hi.

3. Sharing why your work matters

I love to hear the story behind a business, and I suspect you do too? Share with people why you started out and why you are so passionate about what you do.

4. Articulating the value of what you sell

No-one really cares so much about the features of your service, for example how long the calls are or how often they are. What they do care about is what they will get out of it. What is it that you’re promising will be different on the other side of working with you?

5. Telling people how they can buy from you

Be your own mystery shopper. Take a look at your social media bio or your website and assess how easy it is to actually buy from you.

I’d love to know what you think. Are there any of these that you feel excited to take action on?

Looking for an alternative approach to growing your online buisness?

One that puts purpose at the heart of everything that you do and gives back more than it takes for you, your customers and the planet?

🌳 Download your free copy of the REGENERATIVE BUSINESS STARTER KIT to do just that. You will receive a copy of the regenerative business canvas, along with a guided training on how to complete it and apply it to your own business.

➡️ Go to www.debbielee.co.uk/starter-kit