How to Do Things in a Smart Way: Strategies for Avoiding Wasted Effort

A recent project meeting reminded me once again of something my colleagues often mention at work: "do things in a smart way." Our everyday interactions—together with this phrase—have gradually influenced my thinking, and I've come to realize that it's fundamentally an embodiment of critical thinking—a way of approaching both work and life with intentionality and wisdom.

The Core Philosophy: Critical Thinking

At its essence, working smartly and rationally means using rational thinking and critical thinking to clarify what needs to be done, especially identifying the crucial first step. Our work and personal lives are filled with uncertainty—too many situations where perfect planning is impossible. What we need to be clear about is what the first step should be, then adapt as circumstances evolve, rather than seeing a pile of tasks and blindly starting everything at once. The latter approach often creates more work and can make us anxious and restless.

Smart work means thinking more, then combining that thinking with hands-on practice and verification, followed by more thinking. This iterative process helps minimize unnecessary investment of time and energy. Perhaps this is the true essence of doing things in a smart way.

A Project Timeline Dilemma

Let me share a recent experience that perfectly illustrates this philosophy in action. We had scheduled an experiment for the following Wednesday, but with Thursday through Sunday being holidays, our timeline was extremely tight. During that Wednesday’s meeting, we discovered the substantial scope of work ahead: algorithm debugging, comparing different scenarios, processing results—the workload was much more extensive than initially anticipated.

This meant I'd need to work during my holiday time, yet even with overtime, there was no guarantee everything would be ready by the following Wednesday. We decided to schedule another brief project meeting for the following Monday before the experiment to assess our progress, discuss our preparation results, and determine if the following Wednesday's timeline was still feasible. At that point, we'd have a clearer picture of whether we could meet the deadline, and with the following Tuesday as our final preparation day after the meeting, this seemed like a reasonable approach.

The 30-Minute Decision

Here's where the philosophy of smart work revealed itself in a seemingly small decision. I needed to book travel arrangements—train tickets and hotel reservations for the experiment trip. My project partner suggested booking flexible options, as I can cancel the reservation if we are unable to conduct the experiment. Booking the train and hotel would probably take around 30 minutes, according to my past experience, if everything goes smoothly.

On the surface, this seems logical and I could certainly do it. Thirty minutes isn't particularly long—looking at hotels and trains shouldn't take more than half an hour. But here's the catch: if we didn't complete everything by the following Monday, I'd need to cancel or modify these arrangements, requiring additional time and energy. While I didn't want to waste that 30 minutes, I also didn't want to spend the extra time on cancellations or changes.

This is a manifestation of doing things in a smart way. The issue isn't really about those 30 minutes—it's about the countless similar decisions we face in our work and personal lives. If every situation costs us an unnecessary 30 minutes, these moments accumulate into significant chunks of time and energy that we could spend on other work tasks, personal activities, relaxation, or other meaningful pursuits.

This isn't just about time management; it's about a mindset—a higher-level thinking approach that allows us to handle work and life more rationally, reasonably, and wisely.

The Temptation to Overcommit

To avoid wasting those 30 minutes, I could have committed to working overtime during those four holiday days to ensure everything was ready. While I might manage it this time, the fundamental problem is that I can work overtime occasionally, but I can't always work overtime. If I compromise this time, it might mean that next time I'll have to compromise again.

So this time, I could only say I'd do my best to work overtime and complete some tasks, but I couldn't guarantee completing everything. This kind of high-pressure situation is unsustainable—it's not a viable work approach. That's why I didn't promise I could definitely complete everything within those four days to ensure better experimental conditions the following week.

To calm myself, I tried a bit of positive reframing: if I work hard over the next few days and finish all the experiment preparations on time, great — we can run the experiment as planned. If I couldn’t finish in time and the experiment has to be postponed, that’s fine too; we’ll simply set a new date and I’ll be able to attend the school party instead. Either way, something wonderful will happen.

Balancing Priorities and Avoiding Unnecessary Coordination

When scheduling the following Monday's meeting, I faced another decision that exemplified smart work principles. I had two morning meetings and an evening event to attend, while my project partner was only available at 9 AM or 4 PM. I could only choose the 4 PM slot.

If I had chosen the morning time, while it might have been more suitable from a project progress perspective—allowing more time for debugging after the meeting—I would have needed to reschedule my morning meetings and coordinate new times with others. This would require additional time and energy that I might have done in the past, thinking project work was more important. But now I wouldn't do this because life is equally important, other meetings are equally important, and the extra coordination time represents exactly the kind of inefficiency that smart work seeks to avoid.

So I decided to keep the other meetings as originally scheduled and chose 4 PM for the project-meeting discussion.

Adapting to Multiple Constraints

Interestingly, I had another commitment at 4:30 PM, requiring about 30 minutes of travel time. This meant our meeting would need to be brief—essentially a 30-minute meeting ending at 4:30 PM—which would make me 30 minutes to an hour late for my evening event.

But this wasn't a major problem. First, arriving a bit late to that event should be fine since registration takes time anyway. Second, I could arrive early at the venue and have the project meeting online there. While it might be somewhat noisy and chaotic, I could set up in advance and conduct the meeting on-site to synchronize results with everyone—this shouldn't be a significant issue.

There were also specific details to consider: What if there's no WiFi at the venue? Could I use my mobile data? I had previously tried using mobile data for work meetings, and an hour-long session worked fine, so mobile network and data wouldn't be a major concern. The venue might also have WiFi, and I could always arrive at the venue a bit later if needed.

So for this afternoon project meeting, I had multiple contingency plans and backup options that I could decide on the day itself. This again represents the redundancy in the time dimension, as I mentioned in a previous article.

Validation Through Real Results

The subsequent developments proved this approach right. I worked diligently to prepare for the experiment. Monday's project meeting introduced some algorithm modification requirements, but I believed we could still implement changes and improvements that day and Tuesday to meet Wednesday's experimental timeline. Therefore, Monday evening I booked Tuesday's business trip train and hotel, spending about 20-30 minutes.

Tuesday involved the business trip, Wednesday the experiment. After completing the experiment, I returned the same day. Although there were some episodes and unexpected issues along the way, we ultimately resolved the problems on-site. This experience further reinforced my belief in this "smart way" philosophy for both work and life.

A Living Philosophy for Modern Life

This isn't about perfection or rigid planning, but rather developing the judgment to know when to invest effort and when to preserve resources for more important battles. It's about recognizing that every small decision contributes to a larger pattern of how we spend our most precious resources: time and energy.

By applying critical thinking to even seemingly minor choices—like whether to book flexible travel arrangements or how to schedule conflicting meetings—we create space for what truly matters while reducing unnecessary stress and inefficiency. We learn to balance project importance with life balance, understanding that sustainable work practices are more valuable than short-term heroics.

In our complex, uncertain world, this might be one of the most valuable skills we can develop: the ability to think critically about our choices, recognize the cumulative impact of small decisions, and maintain a sustainable approach to both work and life challenges.

Conclusions

The goal isn't to become paralyzed by analysis or to avoid all risks, but to develop a systematic approach to decision-making that considers both immediate needs and long-term sustainability. When we consistently apply this "smart way" thinking to our daily choices—from major project decisions to minor scheduling conflicts—we gradually build a more intentional, less stressful, and ultimately more productive way of living and working.

Every 30-minute decision matters not because of the time itself, but because of what it represents: our commitment to thoughtful, sustainable practices that honor both our professional responsibilities and our personal well-being. This is the true essence of doing things in a smart way.