Work Hard, Just... Work Hard.

So my uni holidays have begun and the assignments are rolling in!! I started off this six-week-dissertation-writing extravaganza with a mile-long to-do list thinking I would have all the time in the world. And then I picked up two extra days at work...

Which has got me thinking a lot about time efficiency. Realistically, how much time do we actually waste mucking around. We live in a day-and-age where people say, just work as hard as you can for as long as you can and then take a break because... well "because you deserve it!", right?

Well if that were the case, and I am being extremely honest here. I would work hard for as long as my attention span is. Bearing in mind that I have been called Dory since high-school, you can probably assume how long my attention span is. Not very long at all. So I would write half a sentence and remember a YouTube video I wanted to watch, or to check my emails for the 10th time that hour. Yup, that is what it has come to.

Since working two jobs though, I've realised how quickly time is passing, and how I've only got 4 1/2 weeks left to complete everything on my to-do list minus the ONE thing I have already ticked off. 1 1/2 weeks has already gone by!!! What am I doing with my time??? Nothing...

I mean, something. But not as much as I could be. You see, we think we are working hard until we have a comparison. Now I'm not trying to toot my own horn or anything, but I've really picked up my game this week and at work I've been getting through what I would normally do in a day in half a day. HALF A DAY!!! I HAVE DOUBLED MY SPARE TIME. I'm still taking toilet breaks, still getting up to get a drink of water, still taking my lunch break, so what is the difference?

I'm working hard. Just... working hard.

So hard that I get to the end of the day and I am actually mentally tired. I'm not just "ugh I worked hard today" tired. I am at the point where I just want to put on my dressing gown, eat dinner and go to bed at 8pm. When was the last time that happened?? I'm even sitting here thinking flip! All those times I stayed up till 1 or 2 writing an essay when I could have gone to bed before 10 if I had of just stuck to it. Not watched YouTube until the last minute, not hung out with lots of people until I had no time left.

And I think that's the point. If I work as hard as I think I can, then I'm not working hard at all. I pick a breaking point (probably around 4/10) and work that hard. But when I work above that, maybe a 7 or 8, where it is physically uncomfortable to read any quicker, or study any longer, that is when I am most productive. When I get to the end of my 25 minutes and I am physically craving a walk, or to look away from my screen, that's when I know I've studied hard.

There's no secret trick, no magic words. All it takes is disregarding the lie we have grown up with. That your 'hardest' (which is realistically a 4/10) is enough and that after that you deserve to have as long a break as you want. No, you work hard because you work hard, you work hard because it is just what has to be done, and you work hard because if you were at work with your boss staring down your neck you wouldn't check your phone every time it beeps. Heck, I wouldn't even have my phone on my desk if she were standing behind me.

Rant over :)

Honestly, this is more a mind rant for me than anything in particular. But I've started to realise the culture of laziness we have in the twenty-first century where we define our own "enough". It's only when others put those boundaries on us that we start to realise our full potential.

And that's the benefit of this whole thing. The sense of fulfilment that I get when I see how hard I've worked. When I see the product of my productivity. When I don't have to dread the late night. When I don't feel the last minute stress.

Why did I not learnt this 5 years ago...?

What are your thoughts? How do you stay productive? Did it take you 21 years to figure this out?

I'd love to know.

Until later,

Michaela.