One of my favorite entrepreneurs, Gary Vaynerchuk, often tells an anecdote about hard work versus smart work. The exact wording changes when he repeats the story but it goes something like this. Someone says ‘Hey Gary, I don’t have to work hard because I work smart. I figured out a process that cuts out the hard part.’ Gary replies ‘Yeah? Well I work hard and smart, now what?’

Many people believe there are only two options here, working non-stop with maximum effort to produce maximum results, or, fabricating an ingenious system that will achieve the same results with less effort. The latter seems like the obvious choice, right? Do a little thinking upfront, and never have to exert yourself again, while maintaining the same outcome. Well it really depends on your objective, and for Gary, there’s only ever one objective — winning. So if all the ‘winners’ are executing the second method of working smart, how do you take it to the next level? The answer is rather obvious when you think about it. Don’t just work smart, work hard too.

To quote Gary again, ‘the answer is almost always more.’ If working hard only gets you so far, the same can be said for working smart. So, if we combine the two, you’ll yield more results than you thought were possible. This may seem like overkill to some, but it’s all relative. If you need to gain an edge over the competition, this could be the answer. But how do you find the time, you may ask? If you were to audit your day, you’ll find a ton of time to get to work. Watching your favourite Netflix show? That’s time that can be spent hustling. Sleeping eight hours a day? Try six, it might not work for you, but it could, and that’s two more hours to work.

Obviously, everyone’s situation is different, these are just some thoughts to help you think outside the box and open up more options. The business world never stops moving, so not only do we have to get creative, we have to keep up the pace.

Dylan Langille is an entrepreneur and multimedia developer at Velsoft Training Materials.