Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to enjoy your efficiency dividend. As we become
Speaker 1: more experienced and connected, certain work tasks can be done
Speaker 1: a lot faster. There are lots of things you can
Speaker 1: do with this time, but recognizing its existence is a
Speaker 1: good first step. So I recently got a question from
Speaker 1: someone whose full time job was not taking her forty
Speaker 1: hours a week. She worked remotely and was able to
Speaker 1: meet all her work objectives in under thirty hours a week.
Speaker 1: Everyone she worked with was happy with her performance, So
Speaker 1: the question is this a problem? I think this is
Speaker 1: a relatively common scenario with some sorts of white collar jobs,
Speaker 1: particularly for experienced and skilled people who have chosen not
Speaker 1: to move into management. Everyone is hired with the expectation
Speaker 1: that the bundle of tasks designated as a full time
Speaker 1: job will take about forty hours a week, but people
Speaker 1: obviously have wildly different levels of efficiency. Someone just starting
Speaker 1: out won't know how to do things, so tasks will
Speaker 1: take them longer. Even people who have been in the
Speaker 1: same business the same amount of time might work at
Speaker 1: different paces and then there is the reality that the
Speaker 1: longer you do something, the more you know your way
Speaker 1: around things. Someone who is not well connected in an
Speaker 1: industry might spend a lot of time figuring out how
Speaker 1: to get some bit of information or how to get
Speaker 1: something to happen. Someone with a lot of experience just
Speaker 1: picks up the phone and asks for a favor. What
Speaker 1: could have taken weeks takes five minutes. What this means
Speaker 1: is that people with a lot of experience wind up
Speaker 1: with what I call a time dividend, or perhaps an
Speaker 1: efficiency dividend. They've invested time over the years in building
Speaker 1: their skills and their networks, and now it is paying off.
Speaker 1: What could have taken forty hours years ago now takes thirty.
Speaker 1: So what do we do with this? I don't think
Speaker 1: the answer is to force people to sit in the
Speaker 1: office coming up with things to do to look busy.
Speaker 1: Some people might ask for more work, and if you
Speaker 1: sense others are overwhelmed or could use your guidance, that
Speaker 1: would be a wise and kind thing to do. But
Speaker 1: there are other options. Some folks might disagree with me
Speaker 1: on this, but if you are in a season of life,
Speaker 1: or your personal life is extremely busy, it might be
Speaker 1: okay to just accept this for a while. Your full
Speaker 1: time job takes thirty hours a week, thank goodness, because
Speaker 1: you are dealing with your elderly parents, doctor's appointments, or
Speaker 1: maybe a health issue of your own. There will be
Speaker 1: other times in life when you work more, no doubt
Speaker 1: you already have. For those not dealing with these issues,
Speaker 1: I think it might be best in this situation to
Speaker 1: come up with your own project for those extra hours
Speaker 1: that is related to your career development. Read broadly in
Speaker 1: your field network, go to those various virtual semis and
Speaker 1: ours your company holds, or to any conferences you think
Speaker 1: might be useful. Start an employee group for something you
Speaker 1: find fascinating. Have lots of virtual coffees with new hires
Speaker 1: to get to know them. Those things are all better
Speaker 1: than working slower just to show that you are busy.
Speaker 1: They will most likely pay off for your employer, but
Speaker 1: they will definitely pay off for you. In any case,
Speaker 1: it is most helpful to recognize what's going on. Some
Speaker 1: people feel uneasy if their work is taking them less
Speaker 1: time than it used to, but no banker is sad
Speaker 1: about getting dividends. Likewise, there is no reason to worry
Speaker 1: about work taking less time than it used to. That
Speaker 1: is part of building up your career capital. Eventually you
Speaker 1: get returns in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our times. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
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