When you estimate the time you will be spending in a week across various tasks, how often does it actually add up to 100%? If you’re like me, your week probably starts at closer to 150+% and you know going in that you’re going to be setting a lot of expectations daily. Starting that high gives a certain level of confidence to the “I’m needed” sensation all of us experience in life. But it doesn’t leave much time to think about “what if”.
What if I figured out how to do this task 3x faster? What if I could tweak this service to do these two additional things. What if today I focused on cross training with that group I hear a lot about but haven’t met.
Is it better to just always be busy with no room for the new or to also make time for the things not on your schedule.
You wouldn’t believe, but there is a huge bias against overachieving employees. People hate it when you’re x time faster in concurring tasks seemingly same in comparison. They generally hate creativity and productivity.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all sadly. I’ve been very fortunate to have some excellent managers who are very results oriented. But I see and know too many people who are in the opposite situation.