Reading Comprehension
(Unseen Passage) - Set-13
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER
You can work all day on a vital project without making any apparent progress into it — even though you have slogged hard, focused all your energies and even give up your lunch break to squeeze in more time. Your colleague, on the other hand, completes the same task in half-a-day and without any errors and leaves office with a smile. So why this huge difference in output? The answer lies in not being able to maximize productivity and minimize timelines. There is a vital difference between working hard and working smart and the letter is the way to accomplishing more in less time. Here are some ways in which you can become a smarter worker.
Plan and Assess: The biggest secret of success of smart workers is planning. Half the job is accomplished if you are able to plan in advance. Assess the work at hand, think about each aspect of
it in detail and then draw up a plan of action—either in your mind or on your paper. It allows you to tackle the job with focus and prevents oversights, wrong turns or misjudgements.
Get Organised: Before you start planning though, it is important to first get organized. Clean the
clutter off your desk and desktop. Through away papers that you shall not need, else file and keep them in a storing cabinet.
Be open to changes: See the change as an opportunity, not an obstacle. Think on your feet and
come up with alternative options. Don’t continue slogging along the original plan. Being resourceful and flexible is critical to working smart, so allow space for changes.
Multi-Task: Smart workers know when to multi-task and when to focus. Only jobs that don’t require
much thought ought to be done side-by-side.
Divide and Delegate: Learn to delegate work intelligently—break down the work into pieces and
pair each with the team member most-experienced to do it.
Be Techno Savy: Find out if there are tools that will help streamline your work process.
Give Yourself a Break: Don’t work yourself up to a state of exhaustion, or take work home. The
saying, ‘health is wealth’ holds true here as well. It’s important to care for your body and mind if you wish to perform your best at work. If you’re sleepy, you’ll take double or triple the time to finish the required job, and may end up inducing mistakes.
Similarly, make time for your family on the weekends. Party, dine out, watch a movie, travel – do
anything to be relaxed, recharged and preparing to get back to work.
(a) What is the difference between ‘working hard’ and ‘working smart’? 1
(b) Why should we plan a job/work in advance? 2
(c) “Assessing the work is useful”. How? 2
(d) Do we give ourselves a break from the job? Why/Why not? 2
(e) Frame two questions from the underlined part of the passage. 2
(f) Choose the correct answer from the following options. 1
Before you plan a job, it is essential :
i. to break the job into pieces
ii. to get organized
iii. to plan the job
iv. to assess the job.
(g) Find out words from the passage which mean the same as 2
i. Something which acts as a barrier.
ii. That can be changed.
Answers:
a. Working Hard – less output, more time.
Working Smart – more output, less time.
b. Half of the job is accomplished.
c. Allow you to tackle the job with focus and prevents oversight, wrong turns or misjudgements.
d. Yes because ‘health is wealth’. Important to care for your body and mind.
e. (1) What do Smart workers know?
(2) What kind of jobs can be done side by side?
f. to get organized.
