Work hard in silence
As I was low-key wasting my life away mindlessly scrolling through social media, I saw one of those generic posts where they put a famous person and a quote so that the quote can have some more element of credibility. One of which is a poster of maybe Kobe or Tom Hardy saying “Work hard in silence”. Nope, it was probably a face of Kobe since Tom Hardy was the one put in the quote that has something to do with having an equal amount of respect to a janitor or something.
Anyway, lately, I have found myself having to spend more time working, or in Filipino, we call it “naghahanap-buhay”. At some point, of course, it’s work, sometimes things can get a bit, hard and dull and the opposite playful fun time. Especially in this work from home era where the boundaries of work and play are very blurry, in order to cope, I play some office drama in the background like Suits, Grey’s Anatomy, and Brooklyn 99.
While this may work sometimes, depending on the task at hand, I find myself being less engaged in the work I have to do. Since I have no choice (or the least of evils) is to push through with executing the work that has to be done, I end up rolling up my sleeves, gathering composure, taking a deep breath, and powering through with what’s left of my willpower.
Eventually, I do end up somehow enjoying the task and finishing efficiently.
I’m writing this down here so I don’t forget. It reminded me of 2 classes I had back in university. Specifically in 2 classes with 2 legendary professors where you can’t make a noise (otherwise, you’ll get kicked out of the room), I do remember them as being the 2 classes where I learned the most, both academic and non-academic which is: how to think more critically, how to be more objective, how to let go of past patterns of thinking, how to approach certain topics of discussion.
Those wise old men were up to something. The brain is more performant when its attention is only put into one thing.
Silence is golden.
It removes the clutter in your head enabling and empowering you to operate more efficiently. Especially in this era of notifications and systems built for dopamine hits, silence is golden. Less various mental stimulation leads to deeper thought and stronger focus.
I know that working hard in silence for the most part meant not showing off or not looking for recognition, but I just thought it was interesting to find it having a slightly different, more literal, and yet meaningful meaning.
