Do you often find yourself with an 8-hour day job which only requires 2 hours to finish? What do you do with the downtime - 75% of your work time? You spent it here and there, looking at things on the Internet that you couldn't even tell afterwards? You tried different ways to kill time but still bo? You are not alone.
Having a job that couldn't live up to our potential is one of the worst things that can happen for our motivation at work. We would feel so frustrated. We are not committed any more to what we are doing. We don't feel that we are improving or making progress as we stop to be challenged by what we do.
Take a look around you. Most of us tend to be over-qualified for our jobs. While quitting or changing our jobs are not an option, what should we do to maximise the use of the 8-hour work time?
First and as always, we need to set a target. What do you want to achieve by taking full use of your work time? It can be as general as "I just want to be more productive", or "I just want to improve myself" at first. Then, it can be fine-tuned into a more specific target, like "I want to know more about the different marketing strategies so I can know how to integrate them into my work".
The next is to have a SMART plan - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound plan. Personally speaking, this is the key. The time that we spent looking at random things on time could be organised and channeled into one place, based on a SMART plan. For example, if you decide that you goal is to learn about about the marketing strategies, you can start to brainstorm about ways that can make it happen.
The thing is that if you are in an open space office, you also need to take the open space into consideration. Things that you can do on your own may not be appropriate anymore in an open space office, such as watching a 30-min YouTube video, or reading a book.
What you need are less explicit ways to achieve your target, such as researching your company's own marketing or any other kind of strategies. Do a quick search on your company's intranet. You may be surprised to find materials that you can study. Then you can move onto other companies in the same industry. The good thing about this approach is that you wouldn't be embarrassed if your boss or colleagues suddenly drop by your desk. Another good thing is that you learn better by linking it to your company or your industry. In fact it could be more valuable as you get a better sense of how to employ the strategy in real business situations.
Once you have an idea of what you can do and can't do in office, make a feasible plan for the next day, everyday before leaving office. Trust me, the next morning you will look forward to coming into office early. It's a completely different mindset, since you are working on something, for yourself.
If you still don't have an idea of where to start, how about starting with improving your writing skills? These are universal skills that you can use almost anywhere you work. You probably will find already a lot of valuable writing materials from your company's website, publications, or even just emails from people who are so good at presenting their ideas. How would you write about the same idea? Then compare with how others write about it, and learn. Apart from writing, you can also work on your speaking skills, presentation skills, analytical skills... The list is quite long.
Productivity and efficiency is all what we are looking for here. At the end, you may find yourself even short of time to execute all the plans you have made. It's always good to be occupied than to be idle. Most of us need to spend 8 hours at work anyway, so why not spend it wisely after all.
Having a job that couldn't live up to our potential is one of the worst things that can happen for our motivation at work. We would feel so frustrated. We are not committed any more to what we are doing. We don't feel that we are improving or making progress as we stop to be challenged by what we do.
Take a look around you. Most of us tend to be over-qualified for our jobs. While quitting or changing our jobs are not an option, what should we do to maximise the use of the 8-hour work time?
First and as always, we need to set a target. What do you want to achieve by taking full use of your work time? It can be as general as "I just want to be more productive", or "I just want to improve myself" at first. Then, it can be fine-tuned into a more specific target, like "I want to know more about the different marketing strategies so I can know how to integrate them into my work".
The next is to have a SMART plan - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound plan. Personally speaking, this is the key. The time that we spent looking at random things on time could be organised and channeled into one place, based on a SMART plan. For example, if you decide that you goal is to learn about about the marketing strategies, you can start to brainstorm about ways that can make it happen.
The thing is that if you are in an open space office, you also need to take the open space into consideration. Things that you can do on your own may not be appropriate anymore in an open space office, such as watching a 30-min YouTube video, or reading a book.
What you need are less explicit ways to achieve your target, such as researching your company's own marketing or any other kind of strategies. Do a quick search on your company's intranet. You may be surprised to find materials that you can study. Then you can move onto other companies in the same industry. The good thing about this approach is that you wouldn't be embarrassed if your boss or colleagues suddenly drop by your desk. Another good thing is that you learn better by linking it to your company or your industry. In fact it could be more valuable as you get a better sense of how to employ the strategy in real business situations.
Once you have an idea of what you can do and can't do in office, make a feasible plan for the next day, everyday before leaving office. Trust me, the next morning you will look forward to coming into office early. It's a completely different mindset, since you are working on something, for yourself.
If you still don't have an idea of where to start, how about starting with improving your writing skills? These are universal skills that you can use almost anywhere you work. You probably will find already a lot of valuable writing materials from your company's website, publications, or even just emails from people who are so good at presenting their ideas. How would you write about the same idea? Then compare with how others write about it, and learn. Apart from writing, you can also work on your speaking skills, presentation skills, analytical skills... The list is quite long.
Productivity and efficiency is all what we are looking for here. At the end, you may find yourself even short of time to execute all the plans you have made. It's always good to be occupied than to be idle. Most of us need to spend 8 hours at work anyway, so why not spend it wisely after all.
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