Tips on How To Work Hard for a

Successful Career
By Indeed Editorial Team
12 May 2021

Working hard is an essential requirement to be successful in your career. It gives

you a sense of achievement and joy. However, working hard may not come easily
all the time to all the people and may require some conscious efforts from your
end. In this article, we discuss why it is important to work hard and provide some
actionable tips on how to work hard for a successful career.

Why is it important to work hard?

It is important to work hard because it plays an important role in the success of
your career. Here are some major benefits associated with hard work:

 Hard work contributes to your success and achievement.

 Working hard promotes your personal and professional
development.
 Working hard earns you respect, since you set an example for
others to follow.
 Working hard gives you a sense of achievement, fulfilment and self-
satisfaction.
 Working hard helps you stay positive and confident.
 Hard work makes you more determined, responsible and mature.
 Hard work helps you earn resources to fulfil your dreams.
 Society benefits from your hard work.
 Working hard ensures that you make the best use of your time,
which would pass anyway, even if you were to sit idle.
 Working hard prevents you from being engaged in useless, trivial
things.

Tips on how to work hard

Here are some useful tips and ideas to help you work hard for a successful career:

1. Do something you love

While choosing a career, it is essential that you choose something that interests
you. When you do something you love, the motivation comes from within and you
automatically become more productive. Often we get stuck in a job we do not
enjoy doing or stop enjoying after a certain point in time. Irrespective of whatever
compulsions and reasons you have for it, it may become extremely difficult to
work hard at something you do not find meaningful. A career change could be the
right thing to do in such cases after making a reassessment of your career choices.

Try choosing a career that you would enjoy for the rest of your life, or at least for a
substantial part of it. It would give you a sense of fulfilment and your work would
feel more like pursuing a hobby rather than doing something to earn a livelihood.
Visualise a career where every night you would look forward to getting up the next
morning and rushing to your office. The excitement of the job would push you to
face new challenges and learn new skills.

However, it may take several years before you discover your real passion in the
form of a career. Making a conscious effort towards it may shorten this process.

Read more: Guide: How to Choose a Career

2. Keep yourself motivated

Motivation can provide the energy and commitment required to work harder
towards your goal. There are basically two types of motivation – intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation drives you from within, whereas extrinsic
motivation involves a desire to earn a reward from an external source. For
example, if you are doing something because it gives you mental peace or a sense
of fulfilment, it is intrinsic motivation that is driving you. On the other hand, if you
are doing something because you would get monetary compensation on
successful completion of the task, you are said to be extrinsically motivated.

Both types of motivation can drive you to work hard. Irrespective of what your
company offers, you can look for ways to motivate yourself. For example, think
about how your project would contribute to the community or how it would impact
an existing product or technology. When you realise the meaning and purpose of
your work, you would be intrinsically motivated to give your best.
To motivate yourself extrinsically, you can think about the ways your hard work
can benefit you. For example, visualise the luxuries you can afford when you
become successful or the promotion you can expect when you consistently
outperform.

3. Set your career goals

Goal setting helps you determine the end result you want to achieve from your
career. Once you know what you want, working towards it becomes much easier.
Having a clear career goal keeps you focused and motivated to work hard for its
achievement. However, ensure that the job you choose is compatible with your
career goals and values.

You can make your goals more effective by following the concept of SMART goals.
SMART is an acronym that indicates five important features, namely specific,
measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

Define your goals in a clear and specific manner. Consider quantifying your goals
in order to make them measurable. Ensure that your goals are realistic and
possible to achieve, considering the skills and resources you have. The smaller,
short-term goals you set should be relevant and related to your larger, long-term
goals. Similarly, the final long-term goals should be such that their achievement
results in something significant and meaningful for you. It is also important to set
a deadline within which you would want to achieve your goals (making them time-
bound).

Read more: SMART Goals: Definition and Examples

4. Prepare an action plan

Set your career goals and have a well-documented action plan to achieve them. An
action plan breaks down the process of achieving your goals into a series of simple
tasks. It removes all the potential confusion and outlines a clear path to achieve
your goals. Each task has a certain deadline attached to it. Thus, an action plan
prompts you to work harder to complete a project or achieve your goals within a
predetermined timeframe.

Sometimes, while working towards a goal, we may face a challenging situation that
may dampen our zeal to complete a task on schedule. An action plan can prevent
such loss of motivation as you would consider the potential obstacles and come up
with an effective solution at the time of writing the plan. An action plan also
arranges the tasks in the order of priority, which makes you more productive.

5. Manage your time effectively

Time management is the art of allocating your available time between different
tasks and activities based on their priority. It increases your efficiency and helps
you achieve a better work-life balance. Effective time management also helps you
meet deadlines, provide high-quality work, remove unwanted stress and maintain
healthy workplace relationships.

Here are some common tools and techniques you can use to manage your time
better:

 Prioritise your tasks: Perform the more important tasks first and

the less significant ones later.
 Schedule your tasks: Work on the challenging tasks that need
more concentration during such hours of the day when your energy
level is high.
 Make lists: Prepare to-do lists of important tasks on a daily, weekly
and monthly basis.
 Use online planners: Use online calendars, planners and
scheduling forms to manage the workflow of large projects.
 Delegate tasks: Distribute the tasks among team members based
on their level and area of expertise.
 Declutter your workspace: Organise your workspace and remove
all the unwanted items so that you can easily retrieve the
information you need.

Read more: Time Management Skills: Definition and Examples

6. Accompany positive people

The type of people you accompany can have a significant bearing on your attitude
towards work. If you spend time with coworkers who are great at work, you will
get the inspiration to work hard. On the contrary, if you associate with people who
consistently indulge in gossip, it is likely to impact your work negatively. Hence,
keep yourself in the company of positive people so that you can approach your
work with a positive mindset.

7. Take short breaks between work

Working continuously can make you feel tired and inactive, ultimately affecting
your productivity. On the other hand, taking short breaks can refresh and
rejuvenate you, enabling you to remain focused and work faster. Hence, consider
taking sufficient breaks while working so that you continue to remain active
throughout the day. For example, depending on your office rules and work policy,
you can take a short, five to seven minute break every one hour.

8. Remove distractions

Distractions and interruptions while working affect your productivity negatively

since it takes time and effort to refocus back on work. The quality of your work
may also deteriorate because of the divided attention. Hence, remove all the
distractions and stay focused on your work to as much an extent as possible. Close
your email unless you need it for your work. Similarly, switch off your mobile
phone or keep it away from work.

9. Take care of your health

In addition to willpower, working hard also requires physical energy. Hence, to be

able to work hard, you need to take good care of your health. Get enough sleep
and maintain a healthy diet. Include yoga, meditation or some form of physical
exercise in your daily routine