The 4-Hour Workweek
"Work smarter, not harder" is one of the ultimate clichés. And, like most clichés, few people actually do it. The busy outnumber the productive by a wide margin. Here's the difference, from a geek perspective:

Busy	Productive
Rolls their own	Uses someone else's
Makes it "elegant" and "extensible"	Makes it work
Responds to your email within a few minutes	Responds to your email within a few days
Ready. Aim. Aim. Aim.	Ready. Fire. Aim.
Makes the boss happy	Makes the user happy
What else can we add?	What else can we remove?
Sees the toolchain as a competitive advantage	Sees the user-kickassness as a competitive advantage

I recently read an amazing book on working smarter: The 4-Hour Workweek. It's about applying the 80/20 rule to all parts of your life, to get more from doing less, and free up precious time for the pursuit of happiness. (I won't write a proper review of it right now. Just read the book. :) Here are some examples of how I've since refactored my own life:

• Cut my billable hours by 50%; increased my rate by 60%. Sure, I make a little less overall than before, but I've been using the extra time to build a site that, I hope, will help people realize their potential. And I'm writing a book.


• Signed up for the CMA's Do Not Contact List and Call Privacy. This eliminates about 10-15 calls I get per week from fax machines and telemarketers.


• Automated all my bill payments. Switched to paperless accounts. My next action here will be to give power of attorney to my accountant for tax-related payments.

Want a challenge? Do less. Make your product smaller. Cut your deadline in half. Check your email 2 times a day instead of 20. Eliminate half your RSS feeds. Stop making it pluggable and start making it work.

Come up with one action you can take to put less time and/or effort into something you do and still get the same, or better, results. And do it now.