Working Smarter, Not Harder: A Bufferchat Recap

This week in #bufferchat, we all talked about working smarter and not harder! We discussed what “work smarter, not harder” means to us, how we manage our energy and be productive, our favourite ways of taking breaks and making time for ourselves and much more.

Catch our weekly Twitter chat, #bufferchat, at TWO times every Wednesday for valuable industry insights and networking with nearly 400 other smart marketers and community managers. Same topic, same place, just at different times – feel free to join whichever chat time that works best for you!

For our community in Asia and Australia (or anyone in other timezones that like this time the best!): 4 pm AEST (Sydney time, UTC+10)

For our community in North/South America, Europe and Africa (or others!): 9 am PT (California time)

This week’s stats:
1st Bufferchat: 118 participants; 848 tweets; reach of 1,156,943
2nd Bufferchat: 321 participants; 1,626 tweets; reach of 1,450,826

Q1: What does “work smarter, not harder” mean to you?

From the community:

• “It means you get more things done, more efficiently. Not just task-prioritizing, but well managing your time and energy” @ZalkaB
• “For me it means focusing on efficiency, not hours spent. It’s about focusing on one task at a time, not trying to do it all.” @MktgInnovator
• “Allow yourself time to do tasks that ultimately mean smarter working & mean you provide a better service long term” @bigmouth_digi
• “Smarter is working less, avoid repeating the same tasks again & again & avoiding doing the same errors (learn instead)” @brunowinck
• “Work to your strengths and let others work to theirs. Know when to let ideas percolate and when to dig in.” @scribblinghappy

See all the great answers to question 1 here!

Q2: How can working smarter impact your work and work life?

From the community:

• “Working smarter allows you to focus time on what drives #results. Discarding time-wasters. Helps balance work and work life.” @mr0ach
• “It broadens the overall outlook, as you have sufficient time to think, mould and revise your work life” @s4socialmedia
• “By working smarter, I have more time to be creative, experiment, push the boundaries, educate, listen & have fun!” @MrASingh
• “By being at my most productive during my working hours, I can truly enjoy my leisure time & be at one with my family” @the_career_ace
• “Biggest plus for me is the avoidance / elimination of frustration and wheel spinning. Promotes momentum building!” @bentleyhqcom

See all the great answers to question 2 here!

Q3: How do you manage your energy throughout the day?

From the community:

• “Know thyself. Know when you are most & least productive. Plan accordingly.” @ErinMcHanaburgh
• “I prioritize & regulate my energy for the tasks at hand. You can accomplish a lot with strategically allocated energy!” @lizeischen
• “Managing energy can be all about your mindset. Find excitement and positivity in everything you do and you’ll be unstoppable” @Adtegrity
• “I create to-do list the night before that are prioritized by what needs to be completed the next day vs what doesn’t.” @ChiokeMcRae
• “& my newest lesson: don’t be too harsh on urself & over stress. This can lead to wasting time instead of acting accurately” @Typ0Queen

See all the great answers to question 3 here!

Q4: What are great strategies you’ve tried for working more productively?

From the community:

• “Time-boxing is so key. Start and finish a task in a given time, then ship it. Perfection is poison.” @izzydoesizzy
• “But most importantly, when I do meet a milestone, I celebrate it (no matter how small).” @jenaromer
• “Modify your workspace. Difference tasks require different setups. Ex. when coding a tall narrow monitor helps greatly” @timothymehlhorn
• “Asking for help and input when I get stuck. Sometimes you need another perspective to get you out of a funk!” @Loulou_Uberkirk
• “Stay focus, be aware of your potential & at the same time never forget that it’s always possible to improve!” @so_mari

See all the great answers to question 4 here!

Q5: What are your favorite ways to take breaks and make time for yourself during your work day?

From the community:

• “Schedule self care and exercise as you would any other important meeting.” @rouxroamer
• “Find activities that take u outside the office and your mind off tasks/projects – phone calls with an old friend” @mobileslate
• “Get outside and away from a screen. Leave your mobile device behind” @Hassanmirza
• “Scheduling in “me” time & exercise, as well as planning events & meetups at night, help to set boundaries on your day.” @KatLoughrey
• “Personal concert in my vehicle. Refreshed and recharged!” @RoundedConcepts

See all the great answers to question 5 here!

Q6: How often do you check your email throughout the day?

From the community:

• “My coworkers know I don’t check email for the first few hours of my day: that’s focus time. Call if urgent :)” @jesswlms
• “Depends on what’s going on, but usually I do it in chunks.” @nancycasanova
• “Such a hard one, ideally 2x/day but some work cultures don’t allow that. We do daily syncs to limit emails flying around” @steveTjohnson
• “At least once an hour if not more. When dealing with time sensitive data for the entire system, I have to stay up to date.” @RCPatchett
• “I’m “one of those”. Email is always open. Check every 5-10 min. Respond, delete, or defer. #GTD” @andymci

See all the great answers to question 6 here!

Q7: What’s your super secret tip for saving time?

From the community:

• “Avoiding wasting time with overwhelm and overload. I try not to let the to do list paralyze me. Just get started” @michaelthenoker
• “Give yourself deadlines, and keep to them! You’ll be surprised what you achieve when you push yourself.” @MattMadeContent
• “Look ahead. Know what’s on ur calendar. This ensures ur prepared & can plan for things coming ur way” @mwilton13
• “Don’t be afraid to take a break from something and come back to it – better than not being able to make any progress on it.” @BasicBon
• “I’m learning to say no. It’s tough.” @jenhoverstad

See all the great answers to question 7 here!

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Thank you so much to our community for sharing your awesome insights and for participating in this chat!

Catch #bufferchat each Wednesday at 9 am PST, 12 pm EST, 5 pm BST **OR** at 4 pm AEST (Sydney time, UTC+10). Join our new Slack community with over 2,000 members to continue these awesome conversations all week long!

Do you have any comments or answers to these questions? Leave your thoughts in the comments! We’d love to hear from you!

Image sources: UnSplash