Have you ever stopped for a second and thought about all of the things you do at work in a week? Dorie Clark’s new book, The Long Game: How To Be A Long-Term Thinker In A Short-Term World delves into how the little tasks we do day-to-day at work may be harming our long-term career strategy. In other words — how the seemingly urgent (or even just the things we find ourselves raising our hands for without ever knowing why) sometimes gets in the way of the truly important.
For example, there are some tasks most of us need to do to be successful at our jobs such as responding to emails, preparing for and attending meetings, writing proposals, or creating PowerPoint presentations. But do you also find yourself taking on things that are not part of your remit? Additional administrative work, planning and setting up for parties, or training new employees? And have these responsibilities started to take over your work days?
Welcome to the world of “non-promotable tasks.” Interestingly, researcher Linda Babcock found that women volunteer for them far more often than men, are asked to take them on more frequently, and are more likely to say yes when asked to do them.
The problem is that by saying yes to these things, we give ourselves less time to take on “promotable work” that takes more creative thinking and planning. For example, leading projects that contribute significantly to our company’s goals, implementing cost-saving initiatives, or identifying and solving critical business challenges.
So how do we keep our focus (or more of our focus) on those items that align with our big-picture career goals rather than getting stuck doing things (like planning our coworker’s birthday lunch) that may not make sense for where we want to go?
Learn How To Say No
In her new book The Long Game, Dorie Clark says if we want to start thinking long-term we need to learn how to say no. She has some quick tips for learning what to say no to and how to say it.
One way is to “be savvy enough to push back on the premise that the other person asking you has put forward,” Clark says. For example, if someone asks you to jump on a call, Clark advises rather than saying yes right away, ask them what it’s going to be about so you can make an informed decision. It’s also helpful to question their assumptions. Just because someone asks for a call or an in-person meeting doesn’t mean that’s the best way to connect. Dorie Clark advises responding with, ‘I’d be so glad to help you, but my schedule is slammed. Can you send me an email with the details and I will email you back?’
“Boom, you’ve just saved yourself 25 minutes,” Clark says. “It’s small things like that that enable you to still be helpful to people, but on your terms, not theirs.”
Optimize For Interesting
You’re more likely to move ahead in your career if you’re truly engaged in what you’re doing. In order to do that, Dorie Clark suggests in her new book The Long Game trying to “optimize for interesting.” In other words, make time for the things that you actually find fun, relevant, and important — those you get satisfaction from doing. Sticking to this strategy “means that you will likely be engaged enough that over time you’ll keep doing it, and you’ll get better.”
This leads, she says, to “a sense of mastery, which ultimately is a flywheel. The better you are at something the more pleasurable you find it. That is the path to finding a very meaningful and fulfilling career over time.”
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