I was recently inspired by the quote
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
which is often attributed to Abraham Lincoln.
You have probably heard it before – most of us have – but I heard it again recently, and it is one of those ideas that you do need to hear again (and again) to remind you to stop and think.
Let’s unpick it.
The first thing is – Abe didn’t say it! (He also didn’t say Don’t believe everything you read on the internet just because there’s a picture with a quote next to it!).
There is an old story which is told about two woodcutters. The short version is that they both went into the woods – one started swinging away and cut a certain amount – the other sharpened his axe before he started and cut a lot more. In some versions it’s a competition between the two men.
There is also a quote in the Bible (Ecclesiastes 10:10) which says that if your axe is dull you need more strength to use it. (The tale also seems to appear in many different cultures).
Intuitively we understand this! That the efficiency of the wood cutting would be improved if the axe is sharp! And it will take less effort.
The point of the story is of course that we need to hone our skills (and keep honing them) in order to be productive and efficient in the workplace. Not too many woodcutters reading this I am assuming!
How many times have you rushed into a task without proper preparation and it has taken you twice as long as a result.
How many times have you assigned a task to a team member who hasn’t had the right training and it hasn’t been done properly?
Proper preparation and the right training and skills are all necessary for everyone to be productive. It’s simply not enough to “work hard”.
When you plan out your week – you do plan out your week, don’t you? – you’re taking the time to get ready for the week ahead which will save you time later. Look at the tasks to be done, and work out what you need to do – or to have – in order to fulful that task. Do you need to do some research, or download data, or make a product or component before you can start? Then plan out each day before you begin – I add exercise and other “big rocks” – those things that are non-negotiable (there is a blog coming about those!). This would include meetings, but please be selective about those!
This helps me to be productive and get things done – so that at the end of the day I find most things are checked off and DONE, giving me that little dopamine rush. Add the tasks to tomorrow’s to-do, but also review why things remained undone? Was it external factors such as a client issue, or were you simply procrastinating?
Axe sharpening should also be a continual, regular process. So work it into your weekly routine. Part of my axe sharpening is reading to make sure I am constantly adding to and honing my business knowledge – so it goes in my weekly and daily plan (together with regular exercise which sharpens my axe in another no less important way).
Let me know what you do to sharpen the saw?!
If you’d like a notebook with weekly / daily planning pages then you can purchase mine on Amazon!
Get in touch if you would like to discuss further.