Working smarter, not harder. Even in rote, blue-collar work, you can look at your process and figure out inefficiencies that make it harder to do things. Here'

Working smarter, not harder. Even in rote, blue-collar work, you can look at your process and figure out inefficiencies that make it harder to do things. Here's a simple example I learned from my dad, cutting firewood, that consistently surprises people. If you're not familiar with cutting firewood, it usually comes tree-length, and you've got to work it down to the length that fits in your stove with a chainsaw. You want it to all be the same length, within an inch or so, so that it stacks more consistently, and erring shorter is better than longer. Some people eyeball it. Some people take a tape and a crayon and mark every cut out. Some people even take a tape and measure every cut. But the easiest way is to cut a small pinky-thick stick the right length; then you go right along the pile with your measuring stick, cutting as you go. Simple, but it saves a ton of time and effort over the course of a day.