Sharpening Your Saw: Illustrating Practical Thinking

Sometimes the best way to tackle a challenge is by working smarter, not harder. Training can help you sharpen your skills to work more effectively.

Have you ever had one of those days when it seemed like you were working as hard as you could, yet when reality set in at the end of the day you knew you had not accomplished much—or anything at all? I think any honest person will admit to having days like that. Occasionally, despite our best efforts and intentions, there are days where all of our labor just doesn't bear any fruit.

It feels a bit like having to saw a stack of boards with a dull blade. You know it’s not the most efficient use of your time, and you know there is probably a better way to take care of this task. But at the same time, there are so many boards to go through that it’s easy to feel like you don’t have a choice—if you stop for any reason, the pile of boards is just going to keep growing. So you just keep sawing away with the dull blade, hoping that with more effort, you can make it through the pile.

It’s a frustrating feeling for both employers and employees. The lack of productivity is a waste of precious resources from the employer’s perspective and employees can easily become demotivated if they feel they are wasting their time.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is often quoted as saying, “If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I would spend six hours sharpening my ax.” The takeaway is clear: being prepared to do the task at hand is just as important as the work you put into the task itself—if not more so.

At the end of the day, hard work and determination can only accomplish so much. Sometimes what you really need to do is sharpen your saw. Putting a new edge on a dull blade makes all the difference in the world, enabling employees to do the same job in significantly less time. But how do we do that, especially when we have so much to do and such little time?

From remote online classes to in-person training, Progress offers several training programs that can help sharpen your "saws." Additionally, our courses can be tailored for your busy schedule, so you can dive right back into work afterward with minimal disruptions.

For experienced developers who have been working with Progress technology for years, there are courses for learning advanced topics like developing using an object-oriented approach. What about application architects and database administrators who need to learn how to shore up application security? We have courses for them as well.

With a wide variety of training courses covering a multitude of different jobs and roles, Progress Education Services can help every business be more productive. Head over to our Education Services page to find the perfect “file” to sharpen your saw.