Trabajo Más Inteligente, No Más Pesado - Work Smarter, Not Harder

There is a saying (un dicho) back in the South where I am from which is “Measure twice, cut once”. The main idea (la idea principal) in this phrase is that you take your time, effectively plan what you are going to do, so that you do it right the first time (por primera vez). In that way, you minimize the waste of your materials and your efforts are leveraged so as to accomplish what you in fact intended to do.

There is also another phrase that I like to hold close that builds on this idea, which is “Go slow to go fast”. This has a more academic or professional feel (un sentido académico o profesional) that the “Measure twice, cut once” idea, but in reality, they mean the same thing. The main point is that you need to effectively listen and understand what is actually happening so that you can implement the most direct plan. The goal (la meta) is to get your work done in a manner (una manera) so that you do not have to repeat anything or worse, to have to undo things that you have done wrong, which I call negative work. A journey (un viaje) is never longer than when you have to back track or a project never more difficult when you have to scrap your work and start over.

As my days continue to move forward (se mueve derecho) here in Santiago, I am reminded that it is time to in effect build on these approaches and implement some new guidelines, specifically to “work smarter, not harder”. The effort I have had to put into place here has been rather (bastante) extreme at times, and this has truly tested me to the core and in many ways, has transformed me as well. Yet, to keep up this kind of pace and effort (esfuerza) is in some ways to be poised on exhaustion, to be used up and as a result, not to be able to finish with any impact what has been started.

Working smarter means learning from my mistakes and moving forward, but also, it means that I need to interact with the resources (los recursos) that are afforded to me, whether they are in technology or in the people that are all around. In other words (en otras palabras), it is time to pay even more attention, and to think and listen, not always speak and react. As my life in Santiago is most always in Spanish, let’s just say around 90%, and there are no subtitles (menos subtítulos), the skills of listening and learning to pay attention in each moment are practical skills that I can continue to refine in order to work smarter from here on out.