jody fransch

The story is told of a very strong woodcutter who asked for a job at a timber merchant. He got the job and was very excited to start working as the pay and working conditions were great. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was to fell the trees.

The first day the woodcutter brought 15 trees. The boss congratulated him and told him to continue with his good work. Highly motivated by the words of his boss the woodcutter tried harder the next day but he could only bring 10 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 7 trees. Day after day he was bringing less trees. The woodcutter thought that he was losing his strength. So he went to the boss to apologize and explained that he did not know what was going on. The boss the asked him a simple question: “When was the last time you sharpened the blade your axe?”

Habit #7 in Steve Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is called “Sharpen the Saw.”

I have seen that most people  in practice, fail to understand what sharpening the saw really means. If you are overworked and your productivity starts to decrease, one may think that they need to take a break and go on holiday. However, that isn’t sharpening the saw — that’s putting the saw down. When you put down a dull blade for a while, it will still be dull when you pick it up again.

Therefore, sharpening the saw is in fact an actual activity as the story suggests. Think of the benefits your would reap if you begin to start sharpening the saws in your life. Here are a few saw-sharpening ideas:

• Exercise
• Improve your diet
• Educate yourself (read, listen to audio programs, attend seminars)
• Learn a new skill
• Write in your journal/start a blog
• Set some new goals or review/update your old goals
• Read this blog

What we need to understand is that downtime is not the same as sharpening the saw. For example, the woodcutter can become even more productive by sharpening the blade, studying new woodcutting techniques, working out in order to become stronger, and learning from his fellow woodcutters.

When we feel stressed and burnt out, it’s good to take some time off, but it is what we do in that time off that is of real benefit. Attending a seminar, reading an inspirational book, or even having an interesting conversation with someone we admire is an example of really sharpening the saw. These activities also increase our energy and motivation.

Question: How are your various blades doing? Your skills, your knowledge, state of your body, your relationships, your motivation — are they all still sharp? If not, which ones are dull and what can you do to sharpen them?

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