Work != Effort

I started reading Scott Berkun’s blog about a month ago after I started to really get into one of his books (The Art of Project Management). He has a very clear perspective on what it means to actually accomplish something (and even have a good plan for what that something is), and I’ve grown to really enjoy his insights (and stories). He recently posted the following to his blog (see the whole post):

Everyone in the tech-sector goes through a phase early in their career where they’re proud of their hours. At software and consulting companies everwhere, circles of 20 something friends debate, over drinks each night, who’s put in crazier hours – “I worked 70 hours last week”, “70? I worked 70 hours in 3 days.” “3 days? I worked 70 hours this morning, before breakfast.” And on it goes. It’s a kind of dumb male pride in size of things, rather that quality or, god forbid, actual hapiness. To work 70 hours is a statement of work, not of progress. For every idiot working 70 hours there’s a smarter, wiser man who’s doing the same amount of work in 50 because he’s paying more attention to results than the clock. I’d rather be, and rather hire, that man.

Introducing the “Realizations” Category

I turned on my televisions for a few minutes this afternoon. Normally, I watch just about zero television, but I wasn’t really motivated to do much with myself this afternoon. I happened upon a channel that I hadn’t seen before: Style. This was surprising, because I have the most basic form of cable possible. I would never have watched it, but I thought I recognized Lisa Loeb in the foreground on some street corner in New York City. She was talking about meeting guys, which was intriguing given that it was Lisa Loeb. I’ve always been fascinated by her and typically enjoy her music, so I watched for a while. It was actually that “Number One Single” show she apparently has now. I think I had heard something about it at some point, but it seems to be focussed on cameras following her around as she meets guys in her quest for “the one.” I ended up watching the whole show, and sometime later I had a realization: there is no Mr. Right.