Working Hard, Working Smart!

Once there was a group of men - a young hot-blooded chap among a group of older folks, cutting down trees in a jungle for a timber company.


This young chap was very hard working. He was always working through his break time and complained that the older folks were wasting time by taking a break a few times each day to drink and chat. As time went by, this young chap noticed that even though he worked through his break and hardly took a rest, the older folks were chopping down the same number of trees, if not more. It was as if these older folks were also working through the break time as he did. So he decided to work harder the next day. Unfortunately the results were even worse.

One day, one of the old folk invited him for a drink during their break time. That young chap refused and said he had no extra time to spend talking unproductively! Then the old man smiled at him and said it was just a waste of effort to keep chopping trees without re-sharpening his axe. Sooner or later he would have to give up or be so exhausted as he would have spent too much energy chopping with a blunt axe.

Suddenly the young chap realized that actually those older folks were sharpening their axes while they were having a chat. They were also regaining their energy by doing something different at the same time! And that  was how they could chop faster than him using lesser time!

The old folk said what was needed was efficiency by making use of one's skills and abilities intelligently. Only then can we do more and be more productive.


Working smart is as important as working hard!