What's up, everyone? This is Alex Lieberman, co-founder and executive chairman of Morning Brew.

Welcome back to Founders Journal, my personal audio diary, where I give you the business builder,

the tools you need to think better in order to build better, whether that's building a business,

a team, or a new product. Today, I am giving you my nine rules for working smart.

Also, make sure to listen to the end of the episode because I'm also giving away free shit.

Let's hop into it.

There is so much self-help BS out there about how to be a good worker.

So much so that I was almost inclined not to do an episode about this very topic.

But I decided that I would for one simple reason.

Most people I have met are not smart workers, even if they think they are.

That includes me, by the way. And the fastest way for them to go from good to great

is to work smarter. That said, I set one ground rule for this episode so that I didn't feel like a

self-help guru. Every recommendation that I give is something that I actually do as a founder

and executive chairman to be a smarter worker in my life. Now, before telling you my nine rules

for working smart, I need to get something off my chest. I hear a lot of people these days say

that you need to work smart, not hard, or smart work is the only thing hard work doesn't matter.

And I gotta be honest, I kind of think that's bullshit. The reason I think that's bullshit is

because I have never met a successful person in my life who didn't work hard. This is how I visualize

it to myself. Smart work is making the most of the time you have. It's how you perform when you

step up to the plate. Hard work is increasing the time you have. It's how many times you step up

to the plate. I believe you need both to be successful. But here's the kicker. I think focusing

80% of your time on working smarter is the optimal strategy for most people because most people

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