Work Smarter and Harder

The "quote of the day" on my site yesterday was "Nothing will work unless you do". I really like that simple statement from Maya Angelou. Simple, but powerful.

It got me thinking about another quote, "work smarter, not harder". I understand the point behind this one...if you use your brain and harness the power of the tools around you, it can make your life easier.

Do we need our lives easier?

I guess one can take that smarter and harder phrase, take it the way it was probably meant, and do great things.

Here's another question: do we need more productive lives?

In my life, I'm not looking for ways to make things easier; compared to a lot of folks in this country, and definitely around the world, I have an easy life already. What I want is for my hard work to be smartly performed. I want my smart work to be completed in an energetic, focused, diligent way always seeking out opportunities to be more productive. That's a good way for me to live. Smarter AND harder works for me.

What do you think? How do you interpret "smarter, not harder?"