How to Work Smarter at Working Harder
We’ve all heard the old cliché work smarter, not harder. While this cliché does sound good, it’s not sound advice. There is value working smarter and there is value in working harder. Therefore, the best advice is to work smarter at working harder.
However, the challenge is how do you do this? How do you put into practice the idea to work smarter at working harder?
I suggest you start by looking at the practical application of the strategic mindset. In 2020, a new research study analyzing the strategic mindset was released by a group of psychology professors. The research group was led by Patricia Chen, Ph.D., an assistant professor of social psychology at the National University of Singapore. Notably, the research group includes contributions from Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., who many regard as the preeminent expert on mindset.
The conclusion of this research is straightforward. Simply stated, Chen’s research finds that those who employ a strategic mindset make more progress towards their goals than those who don’t. The research concludes with the following summation:
Our three studies pointed toward the role of a strategic mindset. Across the three studies and 864 participants, this mindset predicted people’s tendency to generate and apply metacognitive strategies as they pursued challenging goals. Moreover, the more people reported employing such strategic behavior during goal pursuit, the more progress they actually made toward achieving their goals across different domains of life. These included students’ college grade point averages (Study 1), adults’ professional, educational, health, and fitness goals (Study 2), and performance on a novel task (Study 3). Thus, as we hypothesized, a strategic mindset indirectly predicted goal achievement.
In addition to this conclusion, I think it’s important to note the types of questions those with the strategic mindset ask themselves. The research specifically points to one’s ability to question themselves as a key indicator of having a strategic mindset. Furthermore, the research also suggest that people can be taught how to ask themselves questions and in turn learn to apply the strategic mindset.
7 Metacognition Questions Strategic Thinkers Ask Themselves to Work Smarter at Working Harder
Within the notes of the research study, I found 7 specific types of questions those with the strategic mindset used to work smarter at working harder. Without doubt, these questions are not an end all be all lists. They only represent a type of question. Metacognition questions to be exact. Metacognition is when you think about how you think and then use what you learn to improve your thinking.
The research suggests those with the strategic mindset use these type of metacognition questions to improve their performance. I suggest this list as a simple reference to keep in your back pocket. Having a primer list of questions to help you practically apply the idea of how to work smarter is beneficial. Especially when stuck or when facing a decrease in progress.
- What can I do that’s within my control to improve?
- Is there a way to make a small change so I can do this even better?
- How else can I do this by taking a completely different approach?
- What can I do that’s within my control to help myself master the concepts giving me the most trouble?
- How can I be more effective in my preparation or execution?
- How can I keep track of how effective my approach is going forward?
- What can I do differently right now that will help me in the future?
In short, the best way to work smarter at working harder is to invest your time working hard on answering metacognition questions then apply what you discover to work smarter.