My collage titled "I am a work in progress." I prefer to be a smart work rather than a busy one.Years ago, I was on a consulting job in New Jersey, where I was part of a team of about 30 writers, actuaries, nurses, doctors, retired military personnel, and graphic designers. We were developing a proposal for TRICARE, the military managed health care system. The woman I shared an office with would sit down at her computer first thing in the morning and click away at the keys at a rapid rate. She wouldn’t take breaks, barely stopped for lunch, was there long after I left at 6:00 p.m., and often would mention the next day how she’d been there till midnight.
I was so impressed by her productivity and focus. Plus, since we were all paid by the hour, I knew she was making A LOT more money than I was since I was billing for 9 hours a day and she had to be billing for 14.
One day she wasn’t around any more. Turned out, the lead consultant—a more experienced one than I was—had checked her work one day. Here’s a quote: “sksdeierje ifjdkfjdskfjkdjfdkjf dkfjdfkdf dkfjdkfjdkfjfd dskfjdkfj ddkf” No wonder her fingers were flying so fast! Now, I won’t even bring up that she was in effect stealing from the client, or the ethics of it, or any of that since I don’t feel it needs to be said. What stuck with me was what the lead consultant said. He explained, “writers need to ‘work smart.’ We should be able to accomplish what we need to in 8 to 10 hours a day. If I see someone who is not ‘working smart’ and is slaving away frantically from early to late, I get suspicious.” Look around your office. Chances are there is someone who looks really really busy. And he or she might actually be producing ‘smart work’ and be a true gem at whatever he or she does. Or be a little bit suspicious . . . it might be "skesdjksjafdiod."
I was so impressed by her productivity and focus. Plus, since we were all paid by the hour, I knew she was making A LOT more money than I was since I was billing for 9 hours a day and she had to be billing for 14.
One day she wasn’t around any more. Turned out, the lead consultant—a more experienced one than I was—had checked her work one day. Here’s a quote: “sksdeierje ifjdkfjdskfjkdjfdkjf dkfjdfkdf dkfjdkfjdkfjfd dskfjdkfj ddkf” No wonder her fingers were flying so fast! Now, I won’t even bring up that she was in effect stealing from the client, or the ethics of it, or any of that since I don’t feel it needs to be said. What stuck with me was what the lead consultant said. He explained, “writers need to ‘work smart.’ We should be able to accomplish what we need to in 8 to 10 hours a day. If I see someone who is not ‘working smart’ and is slaving away frantically from early to late, I get suspicious.” Look around your office. Chances are there is someone who looks really really busy. And he or she might actually be producing ‘smart work’ and be a true gem at whatever he or she does. Or be a little bit suspicious . . . it might be "skesdjksjafdiod."
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