Comments on: What Does Working Hard Mean to You?

By: Mike King

Mike King — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:39:02 +0000

@JJ and CC – you both seem to have the same idea that more hours AND productive hours is what counts. I do agree with that, but also have a strong belief that in order to truly work harder, you need to try to do it in less time, as it’s the only way to reach your most productive work.

By: CC

CC — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:58:03 +0000

I didn’t have time to read all the comments so sorry if this is a repost of the same idea.

I agree with the article. Your rate of productivity is critial. To me a high rate of productivity times long hours equals hard worker (contingent that the hours are spent working).

In other words, I believe if you are relatively better than your peers at your job and you work more hours you are a hard worker.

By: JJ

JJ — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:07:37 +0000

I think most people would consider the hardest workers to be those who work long hours AND are working hard during that whole time they are there. I always understood that to be the American work ethic.

If you’re not working hard the whole time you’re at work, you’re stealing from your employer. If you’re not working long hours, then I guarantee there is MUCH more you could be accomplishing than you are.

By: Mike King

Mike King — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:08:46 +0000

Great points Tai. It’s always funny seeing things done the hard way isn’t it. Especially when we have an eye for effectiveness ourselves.

By: Tai Goodwin

Tai Goodwin — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 02:18:17 +0000

I tend to work hard coming up with ways to make my tasks more efficient. I absolutely hate taking the long/effort-draining way to do things. Most times I am able to share a more efficient way with others so that we are all saving time. I look for ways to leverage technology to save time. It’s funny though how some people will opt for simple rather than efficient, even if it takes twice as long because they are afraid to learn a new tool. I’ve seen this happen most often around MS office applications, for example, when folks print out a hard copy to compare edits instead of using the merge/compare feature built in the tool.

By: Mike King

Mike King — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:02:49 +0000

@Dan, sorry for the delay in your comment (got held up due to the links). I like your thoughts on alignment of the work and play and know quite well that most people don’t enjoy that alignment. As or me, some aspects I do and some I don’t but there is still a clear distinction to me about what play time and work time really are. Even if they are similar activities, the hard work is when you really get to it, focus and get results. Not the case if you are ‘playing’ around, that is for sure.

By: Mike King

Mike King — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:50:08 +0000

Mary, oh yes, this is a completely different angle and definitely true to some people as well. The hard worker adjective seems to have so many meanings. Trust between people seems to be based sometimes on your work ethic so I can understand how these become so easily related. Thanks for adding this point!

By: Mary aka pandapicks Hofstetter

Mary aka pandapicks Hofstetter — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:20:32 +0000

Working Hard has many means as covered here but there is one more meaning in the phrase “he is a hard worker”. Yes, it could be that he puts lots of energy into the task or works long hours but it also could mean that he is a trusted worker.

Employers like people who they can trust to be on time, put their best effort into the job, and give an honest days work. As for the homeworker, it means that you are honest, give your best, follow through, work with the team and show that you are a “hard worker” as in disciplined.

Thanks for creating a great subject.

By: Links You Might Enjoy — The Rat Race Trap

Links You Might Enjoy — The Rat Race Trap — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:36:24 +0000

[...] What Does Working Hard Mean to You? [...]

By: Mike King

Mike King — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:40:56 +0000

@Dhanamjaya – I can’t say I follow that reasoning or logic. I mean if you were to ignore all things hard this completely depends on what you consider to be hard or not. Isn’t that simply perspective then and leave you doing nothing if you think it too be hard? I would say that is what lazy people do all the time and they do not find things get easier for them simple by not doing it.

I like the idea of your formula but the whole notion of automatically bringing things together? huh?? What does that mean really.

@Start Blogging – Oooh.. I definitely think SOME people take advantage of the working smart but I have also found that those people who want it without believing and changing their habits don’t actually get more work done in less time, they simply do less work and become more and more unproductive. I agree that hard work is still necessary to succeed and I also believe that simply putting in more and more hours is NOT working harder or smarter and will get you no where, especially considering all life has to offer, and not just one portion of it, your business life.

@Productive Pinow – Spot on! And thanks for stopping by to comment. That results focus is what enables someone to eliminate the wasted time and get more done work in the same hours as the next guy, that’s working hard if you ask me!

@Stacey – It’s easy to hit that guilty feeling if you work with people who put long hours in. The way out is to always be looking at output though and results, if you do that you can leave early even after a day of good results feeling comfortable. If others choose to take longer to do the same amount of work, let them, you don’t need to!