Want More Time? Stop Doing Work That Isn’t Your Work
Photo by Morgan Housel on Unsplash
One of our scarcest and most sought after currencies is time.
We want to maximise productivity, minimise effort, optimise workouts, meditate-on-the-go and have our books summarised for us so we can digest insights rapidly. All to save time. But these time-saving tools often just make our lives more complicated.
Trying to cram more into our 24 hours doesn’t create more time, it just creates more stuff to do.
The single most effective way to have more time is very simple. Work less. Specifically: stop doing work at work that isn’t your work.
Many of my clients are frustrated with work. They don’t necessarily hate their jobs, but they are exhausted. They feel stuck and under-appreciated and are often overwhelmed and uninspired.
One very common cause? The hours upon hours they spend doing work that isn’t their work.
What I mean by work that isn’t your work is all of those side-of-desk projects; the brain-picks; the putting out of fires; the voluntary networks; picking up the team admin; and so on and so on.
Why are so many of us doing work that isn’t our work?
There are a number of reasons and the truth is: there’s a pay-off.
It’s good for your career (pay-off)
It’s good for your ego (pay-off)
You volunteer your time to a good cause (big pay-off)
You have no choice (no pay off, time to quit your job!)
The pay-offs for doing work that isn’t your work
1. It’s good for your career
Doing work that isn’t part of your day job can be great for your career. You can learn new skills, stand out from your peers and demonstrate a willingness to roll your sleeves up and earn your stripes. At many points in my own career, I’ve happily done work that wasn’t ‘my work’. As a volunteer for my previous organisation’s Women’s Network, I gave up evenings, early mornings and weekends. I built a team from scratch (a first for me), created lasting friendships, expanded my professional network and had a lot of fun. To this day, many of my clients come to me via those relationships. Investing my own time to do that work was a choice and the pay-off was substantial.
2. It’s good for your ego
This is a different ballgame entirely and THIS is where the time-saving opportunities are plenty. This is the work that often goes unappreciated, that isn’t visible, that was on someone else’s to-do list but is now somehow on yours. This is the work that means your actual work will have to be completed after 5pm or on the weekend. At first glance it doesn’t have a pay-off. But actually, it almost always does.
Being the one who fixes other people’s mistakes could create a sense of validation, even superiority. Always picking up the latest project or initiative may create a sense of being needed. Struggling to delegate could satisfy the need to be in control and have things done a certain way. If you find yourself resentfully doing work that isn’t yours, you need to get real and get radically self-honest.
How to work stop doing work that isn’t your work
1. Identify your situation
Get your facts straight and know your data. How much time are you actually spending on work that is directly related to your day job? Where is the rest of the time going? Account for every hour of your day and where you can’t, note it as ‘lost time’.
2. Identify the pay-off
Be very honest with yourself about what the pay-off is. Ask yourself “Why am I doing this?”, “Why can’t someone else do it?”, “Do I have a choice?”, “Why don’t I have a choice?”, “What would happen if I didn’t do this?”, “Is that my responsibility?” and “What is the pay-off?”
3. Make your choice
Once you have identified the pay-off, you have to determine if you’re ready to let go of it. If you are not ready, then I’m afraid you’ll need to crack on with your crippling workload and stop complaining. But if you are ready you will liberate yourself from wasted hours and find yourself with more time and space in your diary than you’ve had in years.
Letting go of the pay-offs can be really hard but if you want more time, it’s the quickest way to do it. If you’re not working under a terrible boss, then you will have at least some control over your workload and choice over how you spend your time.
Spend it well.
Monique Shaw is an Executive Career & Leadership Coach and Brand Story Specialist helping passionate, frustrated and ambitious professionals create careers, teams and businesses that are aligned and effective. Book a consult or get in touch to explore how she can support you.
