Working Smarter is More Effective Than Working Harder

We hope you’re sitting down. We have some shocking news. Are you ready?

Working smarter is better than working harder.

This may seem like more groundbreaking research from “The Journal of Duh,” but it is good to know that UC Davis researchers are on the side of right. According to Wbez.org:

Even though we are now a knowledge-based and service industry society, most firms – and most bosses – still think in terms of assembly line work. That is, the more time you are physically on the job, the more real work gets done. Employers still think, “If I’m going to pay you, you have to be here and you have to be constantly working.” The reality is, of course, that knowledge workers don’t do standardized assembly line work, and we, as a society, need new models to measure productivity, pay and promotion.

Both Robert Pozen and the UC Davis researchers argue that we need to change the paradigm and begin to pay and promote people on the basis of results rather than hours. They argue that focusing on results will help individual workers accomplish more work in less time and have more time for the rest of their lives.

This applies to studying as much as it does 9-5 jobs. If you’d like to brush up on your study skills, you can contact the UC Davis Student Academic Success Center. They are ready and waiting to help you.

We know many of you will put in at least some time in a cubicle farm during your working lives. Fortunately, telecommuting and working offsite at least part time are the wave of the future and put more of a premium on results than on face time. College is a great time to practice this skill.