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Have you ever came across the person who does about 35,263,774 different little things around the office? They are usually the people of whom the upper management usually asks “What exactly does John Smith do here?”. They also tend, in my experience, to be the first people filing for unemployment when hard times come up. The reason for that is that they get a lot of little things done, but the big things usually sit, and sit, and sit. Most of what they do manage to accomplish are less critical things that can wait or should be done by someone else. Does that describe anyone you know? Hell, does that describe you? It has described me in the past more than once.
Enter an article by MintLife. It describes the issue perfectly, and does you one better by giving advice about how to end the cycle and become a better, more focused employee. This is good for both your mental and professional health as well as makes you more valuable to your company.
Whether you work in an office or not, there are plenty of ways to burn the day away at work. Whether it’s checking your e-mail constantly or even dropping in on coworkers to analyze last night’s ball game, you can find plenty of distractions if you’re looking for them. However, what about the distractions you aren’t looking for, the ones that find you? We’re talking about the requests to help out with a project, 10 minutes of your time to discuss a new idea or that meeting that isn’t mandatory, but you really ought to be there for it. All of these things can take over your day without you realizing it. So, if you’re in the middle of something big that’s genuinely important, how do you keep the lesser stuff from distracting you from the bigger issues?
It’s easy. Just say: “No.”
Of course, there’s a little more to it than that, so read on as we cover the reasons “no” is so hard to say, and then set out the reasons you should say it anyway.
There are quite a few details in the article. If you know of any other great professional development resources, feel free to let us know in the comments, I’m always on the lookout to improve myself both personally and professionally.