Is it really laziness if I don’t work more or hustle all day, every day in my own small business like a slave?
“I was Master Esuman’s apprentice for 3yrs.Andy*
That man was always busy doing something.
He loves his work. For him, work is life.
Seriously, I never saw him missed a day of work during my time with him.
He was always the first one in and the last one to leave – even after working with us, all day.
I always admired him for that.
He'd always make us stay until we've finished the work for the day.
Sometimes, he'd make us work for many hours on site; even late into the night.
He didn't just teach us hard work. He trained it into us.
That's why I kept on working like that when I also opened my own plumbing business.
But after five long years in business, I was still living hand to mouth.
Even though customers were happy with our work, business was always slow.
I was losing money on monthly expenses and loan payments but never made any profits.
It was that bad.
The only way I could make money was either do odd projects with some very bad working conditions; or cheat customers on estimates and steal their materials every now and then.
So, I did both.
Things were so bad that I just wanted to quit.
But then, everything changed after I met Mr. Anyim that afternoon.
Well, Mr. Anyim is a builder, a successful businessman in the construction business and also a good friend of Master Esuman.
Trust me, I didn't waste any time when we met.
Straight away I asked him if he could help me get anything to work on.
I was tired, desperate and ready to beg for anything.
But he just smiled and asked "Is business that bad?"
Saying yes wouldn’t have been enough. I just told him everything.
And then he asked me a simple question that I thought was a bit weird.
He asked me, "How do you spend your day as a business owner?"
And I proudly replied, "Oh, the usual. I work on sites with my boys."
"But when we don't have anything to do, I spend the day calling my contacts and visiting building sites to look for projects or potential clients."
He smiled again and said, "So you mean, you're mostly either being lazy or busy doing nothing."
Trust me, I wasn't only confused at this point. I was also getting angry.
I really felt insulted.
Me? Lazy?
But I had to try and hide my emotions. And I was lucky that I did.
Because what he said next, changed everything for me.
I didn't get any work that afternoon. Rather, he gave me a new lifeline.
Mr. Anyim became my mentor that day and he taught me how to really work as a business owner.
Currently, I own four more businesses and I don't remember the last time I did any kind of hard work.”
Plumber and Serial Entrepreneur
*Names in this article have been changed.
“Hard work pays”
We all like to say that.
Our culture tends to praise the idea of working hard and hustling all day.
Well, I don’t fault anyone who thinks that way.
Culture takes time to build; which also makes it hard for any culture to quickly adapt to changes.
In the old days, work was self-evident and obvious.
You could see it; and it was clear when the work was finished – or not finished.
Like moving crates, cooking food, plowing the fields, building a chair, milking cows, et cetera.
You knew what work had to be done.
And, being productive was all about making your work process more efficient, or simply working harder or longer.
Today, what we call work has changed.
It has changed so much that, working harder or longer today, is now unproductive and lazy – especially for business owners.
Believe it or not, being busy all the time or sleeping at the office, or putting work first before everything – are actually forms of laziness.
“the real forms of laziness“
First off, work is just one part of life – not life.
And, of course, anyone who’s unwilling to work or tries to avoid work is lazy.
Everyone knows that.
But then, laziness isn’t that simple as people think.
Laziness, actually has many forms and layers.
In particular, always busy working but not doing the work that’ll make you more productive is laziness.
Being so busy that you’re always too tired to make quick and clever decisions – laziness.
Trying to fix every problem by working more hours – laziness.
Working overtime so everyone would think you’re getting things done – laziness.
Look, there are almost limitless ways to be lazy by being busy or working hard or more.
So many easy ways to be a lazy-holic.
“to be or not be a lazy-holic“
Being busy or a workaholic doesn’t mean you’re productive or get more things done.
No. Not at all.
It just means you work more – and mostly on anything you get your hands on.
That’s because your values, priorities and decision-making end up being twisted.
You stop being able to decide what’s worth extra effort and what’s not.
It’s makes you a lazy thinker; makes your work disorganized; and waste lots of time, energy and opportunities.
Your work should always be selective and your actions ought to be deliberate, planned, critical and systematic.
Sure, you might have lots of things to get done (and done well), as a business owner.
But, as it turns out, not everything on your hands:
- is critically important
- and will push your business forward.
You can’t just work on anything and say, “I’m working hard”.
What you work on, is much more important than how fast, long and hard you work.
“working smart is NOT laziness“
So, No.
You don’t need to kill yourself with work every day like a slave in your own business – and it’s not laziness.
As long as, the little work you do creates maximum effect in your business, you’re good.
Doing less unimportant work, so that you can focus more on the few critically important work, is NOT laziness.
Focusing on the minimum necessary work that’ll deliver maximum effect in your business is NOT laziness.
Not willing to be busy for nothing is NOT laziness.
In fact, it’s not only possible to get more things done by doing less – it’s compulsory.
It’s rather smart, efficient and effective.
That’s what your business needs from you. Not a workaholic.
Correction.
I meant to say, “not a lazy-holic” .
Small To Sprout 