The single best way to increase your productivity.

It requires more effort and elbow grease to get a job done when using a dull knife, scissors, or saw. We recognize facts like that and, if we’re smart, we’ll stop and do a little a sharpening. People work a lot like this as well. When we’re rested and recharged, we get more done. It is such a simple concept and yet many of us push on with our work as though our attention and energy will remain as sharp as it was the first day back from a restful vacation. What are we thinking?

We Americans are no slackers, however, so the notion of stopping to smell the roses – and not pruning them in the process – is, well, a bit akin to anarchy. We have sayings like, ‘work hard and play hard’ or ‘working vacation’, as though our playtime has to be difficult or contain an element of work or we can’t enjoy it. There are lots of articles out there on why this is a bad thing and I won’t reiterate them here because you also know it is a bad thing. The problem is, you probably just can’t stop yourself.

Years ago, I lived in Switzerland. The country shut down for one month in summer. Literally; one entire month. In addition to businesses closing, many shops also closed. You had to be patient or clever to be able to buy something you wanted if you remained in the country during that summer month. But it didn’t matter for the majority of Swiss because they were off somewhere delightful like Spain lying on a beach. When they returned, they were rested, pleasant, and ready to go to work. How did they do it? They had sharpened their most important tool – self.

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If you’ve been in the work world awhile, you begin to realize a thing or two. After an even longer time, you know even that much more. Who would have ever thought that would be a bad thing?

I remember when looking for my first jobs and, on more than one occasion, hearing the words, “You don’t have any experience”. Of course, to get the experience, you had to get a job. But, somehow, you got your foot in a door and, well, you know what you got. Fast forward to 2009 where there are more people than there are jobs. If you’re one of the unfortunate who is presently dislocated from a career spot, you may enter this phase thinking, no sweat, I’ve got experience, only to find that you are now woefully over-experienced. What’s a body to do?

When a huge earthquake hit San Francisco in 1906, San Francisco was cut-off from its East Bay neighborhoods. Those who owned boats began ferrying passengers across the bay – for a price. Some people went from being a simple boat owner to wealth, almost overnight. As the saying goes, when there is a crisis, money changes hands.

It is not that companies suddenly don’t need CFOs, customer service reps, or salespeople. They need ‘em, they just can’t afford ‘em as a regular employee. This shouldn’t stop you from approaching them with a proposal on how you can make or save them money (the only two things they’re really interested in doing). Instead of trying to jam your square peg into an exceedingly small round hole, exploit your knowledge and expertise by proposing to a company that they let you do for them what you’ve done well for others – on a contract basis. And treat the transaction as would any contractor. Give them a money-back guarantee or suggest a pay-for-performance deal. While competing candidates may be looking to pare down their resumes, you will want to showcase yours.

Do you do what you do because others think you should?

I am fond of Fred Smith, the CEO of FedEx. As most know, when Smith attended Yale, he wrote a paper about an overnight delivery service for which his professor gave him an average grade. The reason I like Fred Smith is that in spite of what someone of stature thought would not fly – no pun intended – he did it anyway.

Great ideas almost always suffer great criticism. You will always find someone, somewhere, who will tell you that your notion is not viable or worth the risk. This criticism isn’t restricted to launching unheard of products or services. You will also find it when moving from a well-seeded career to something you’ve never done before; like quitting your law practice to become a windsurfer instructor in Tahiti. Everyone will think you are crazy.

This makes me think of Ray Kroc, former CEO of McDonald’s. As a milkshake machine salesman in his early fifties, Kroc discovered McDonald’s, an efficiently run outfit on “E” Street in San Bernardino, California. He gave up his job and bought the restaurant from the McDonald brothers for a comparative pittance. I have no doubt many thought Kroc to be nuts. And, when McDonald’s struggled in the early days, I am certain those naysayers were smug in their critique of Kroc’s life choice.

However, there is some real wisdom to be taken away from people who take great risks – even if that risk, by conventional definition, was a failure. Look closely. These people are not satisfied with simply getting from Point A to Point B with the most security or toys. Life is for the livin’, man. Choosing a career because others think it is great is one seriously lousy way to live – especially if your heart is on the tip of a wave in Tahiti.

The important thing to remember is, at the end of the day, you’re the one who lives with your choices. Don’t you want to do what you do because you think you should?