I came across a man in a forest who was vigorously sawing at a tree. He appeared to be exhausted even though the tree had not yet been cut an eighth of the way through. I spent a few moments assessing the situation. It appeared even though he had been putting forth an extreme amount of effort, he was making little headway.
So I asked him, "Sir, I have been observing your efforts to cut down this tree and it appears to me that there might be an issue with your tools. Perhaps you would be more successful if you checked to see if your saw requires sharpening?".
The man told me that he needed to focus on getting the tree cut down before it got dark and he did not have time to stop and check his saw.
If you that have read Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, you will recognize this analogy from the book. The point that Dr. Stephen R. Covey is trying to get across is that sometimes working hard is not as effective as working efficiently.
Personally, I can apply this theory to my own productivity here on Steemit. I think, "Is posting content that will only get read by only a handful of steemians an effective use of my time?". From the point of view that I am learning to communicate through writing and improving my skills, I would say that it is. However, a more effective use of my would be to focus on building relationships with other steemit contributors.
I realize that when someone leaves a thoughtful positive remark in response to a post I have created they are taking the time to show an interest in my efforts. In return, I try to extend this same courtesy. When I see that someone has taken effort and care to post well written thoughtful content, I like to think of an engaging remark to let them know I appreciate their point of view.
I feel that having a monetized reward system may be causing some minnows to saw hard at the steemit tree with multiple low-quality posts and low-quality comments resulting in less than optimal results. When I came to realize that quality trumps quantity, I realized that my tree was beginning to lean a little further in the right direction.
My question is this, "When my tree falls in the forest will any whales hear?"