People Explain How 'Work Smart Instead Of Hard' Didn't Pan Out

Foundation First.

Whenever you've just started a new job. While I hate the mentality "We do it this way because we've always done it this way", often there are good reasons for why something is done a certain way. Understand your job fully before you start altering the way you do it. Alwin_

Less for Less. 

I had a job that was task oriented- and hourly. I had a list of the same things to do every night to the property and I would sign out and go home whenever I was done.

I ended up getting more efficient at my job after doing them everyday so I was doing my tasks faster so I was done faster so they would send me home earlier so my checks got smaller and smaller.

In this case when I worked smarter it just got me less money. BlersianDonuts

Patience. 

When you've only just started learning something. When you know nothing, you can't know what's best to learn so just get started. After you've got your bearings, then you can assess what is best to learn and start working smart.

Some people might say choose a good course but I'd class that as working hard, not working smart. Someone else has done the thinking bit for you! TannedCroissant

"paid by the hour duuuude"

When you are paid hourly. NowMoreAnonymous

Used to work with an American chef (in a steakhouse in Australia) who worked at a singular pace regardless of speed of service or time constraints. His favorite words, in a heavy accent: "paid by the hour duuuude"! criti_biti

Lift Bro!

Weightlifting. You can try and find the optimal program... but you'll have more success just picking something and then working your butt off than anything else. pm_me_some_kitties2

Coded. 

Coding contractor work paid by the line or letter. Yes you could spend a good 20 minutes making sure your regex is right and have that function be 4 short lines long. But you could ALSO make it a massive if/else statement and get it up to 60 lines easily then you gotta act like a first year CS student and make really long unnecessary comments about every single line, to double that count! TGotAReddit

Cracked! 

During CPR. Smart helps, but it's hard work if you're doing it right. drunken_monkey9

Its quite common saying in med field that "During well performed CPR you might crack few ribs. BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO CRACK THEM ALL!" Zourtyx

Don't make yourself redundant.

When "working smart" means automating your own job. Your boss will be really thankful - and fire you because you're no longer needed. Don't make yourself redundant. EzraSkorpion

I made myself redundant once, the company just put me somewhere else. I then made THAT position redundant (this company wasn't exactly a model of efficiency), and they put me somewhere else. Getting rid of an employee who finds efficiencies where no one else has certainly happens but if you're working somewhere that isn't 100% short-sighted there's a good chance they'll want to keep you around. nph333

Up & Go! 

Moving. Former mover for about three years here. Your job is literally to pick people's crap up, put it on the truck, take it to the unload and pick it up and put it in their house. The amount of times I had to stop and tell co-workers to quit messing around with trying to engineer some solution to make it easier to lift stuff. Like naw, man, just pick it up and go.

I've been out of moving for a couple years, but was helping a friend move over the weekend and so many times I just wanted to scream "Stop trying to over-think this; pick your sh!t up and put it in the truck!" bohnzy

Put in the Work!

When you're in college. You wouldn't believe the number of students senior year that still wanted to cheat to get the grade. If you don't know the content and aren't willing to put in the work, you shouldn't get the chance to compete in the job market or design and build things that transport people. (Aerospace Engineering). fearlesspoet