You can’t just show up to work early and leave late and expect to accomplish anything meaningful. It’s what you do in between that’s important. If you just sit at your desk and stare into space you’re not going to get a lot done. Likewise if you walk around shooting the bull with your friends all day (much more active than the last example) you still are not likely to get a lot done.

To achieve success you first need to know where you want to go. Assuming that you do, making sure you focus on activities that will get you to your goal is the best use of your time. By doing so you’re working smarter.

I like to think of time as money. To achieve financial success you need to know how to leverage a dollar. You need to know how to get your money to make money. In other words for every dollar you invest you want to get two dollars back.

Using that analogy, if you can make sure every minute you spend on a task is getting you directly to your goal, you’re working smart. If you can combine two tasks together using the same amount of time or make sure the time spent on one task is going towards two goals, you’re working even smarter.

Being disciplined in your endeavors is a start. But if you really want to achieve success, you need to learn how to work smarter.