The four weeks from mid-June through mid-July are a special time in professional tennis. After nearly a year of playing on hard courts and clay, players shift gears to the lush, low-bouncing grass courts of England and Northern Europe. And for the second year in a row, the beginning of the grass-court season signals the return of Roger Federer after a self-imposed absence from the clay. Amazingly, Federer has been able to skip nearly three months of of the tournament calendar – missing out on all the up-for-grabs ranking points of Roland Garros and the clay Masters tournaments – and still remain #1 or #2 in the world. By only playing the tournaments and surfaces where he excels, Federer seems to have struck the perfect balance of playing just enough to stay on top and continue building his legacy while resting enough to stay healthy, extend his career into his late 30s, and enjoy his life outside of tennis. Federer’s ability to remain a superstar and avoid the burnout that most players go through by his age is a perfect example of the philosophy “Work smarter, not harder” put into action. Of course, Roger is no slouch on clay. He’s won 11 clay-court titles, but the fact is that he’s not a natural on that surface the way Nadal and some other players are. I imagine that Federer knows he’s limited in what he can achieve on clay, and chooses to focus his time and energy on tournaments where his true greatness can be realized.
As I’ve said a few times before, lessons from tennis can often be applied to life off the court. In this case, Federer’s “work-smarter-not-harder” approach to his career is something we can all pull inspiration from. For years, I worked my way up the corporate ladder as an advertising Copywriter. Early on, the climb was exciting: working in a creative environment, feeling like I was constantly learning and improving, and having my talents validated with promotions and raises and bonuses. But at some point along the way, the job got both more difficult and less gratifying. As a VP-level supervisor, my job became less about writing and being creative, and more about defending my ideas – to clients, to account people, and to senior management. Defending those ideas often required a lot of arguing, smooth-talking and politicking (things I’m not particularly good at) and usually left me feeling exhausted and defeated. I realized that, if I wanted to be promoted to the high-status position of Creative Director, the work was going to get exponentially harder for me. I also realized that it made no sense to put in all that effort and emotional energy to try and succeed at something I wasn’t all that good at. After doing some soul-searching, I decided to quit my job as a full-time Group Copy Supervisor and reinvent myself as a freelance writer. As a freelancer, I’ve worked for the same types of ad agencies I’d worked for as a staffer, but the dynamic has changed completely. The work is no longer about budgets and timelines and cranky clients; it’s about writing and the creative process. The work can be demanding, but it never feels hard because it’s the kind of work that I’m good at and genuinely enjoy. And as a freelancer, I make my own schedule, usually working 8-9 months a year and taking summers off to travel, relax and, of course, play tennis. And while I won’t be gliding on the grass like Roger this summer (the NYC parks department only offers hard and clay), I will always be looking for ways to work smarter, not harder in everything I do.
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