Overhead vs. Productivity

I remember when toolbars were all the rage during the browser wars.

You’d add a new one at the top that would take a little more room. It was fine. It was handy. It made life a little easier with the clunkiness of the browsing experience. You didn’t mind. You were too busy learning what a forum was or how to write HTML code for your cute little website, complete with those lava lamp icons that would “animate” with a basic something called a GIF…

Then more came.

And more.

And even more.

Before you knew it, half of your screen would be dominated by multiple toolbars for various functions from quick searching to clipping to some other archaic function that is mostly invisible or obsolete now.

This is what happens as you progress in your career.

You try to send an email, get a test completed, analyze data, but then you remember you’re supposed to check in on some Google Excel spreadsheet or a Microsoft Sharepoint on your progress. Your Outlook pings with another stakeholder or customer asking for an update on the very thing you were interrupted from doing…

And on and on we go around the Disney Teacup ride that is the corporate overhead system.

Don’t get me wrong. Being visible is an essential part of your career, but when you’re being herded like a cat, you will definitely start to feel surly about all the interruptions.

The point I want to make here is that you have a choice.

There is a degree of “unavailability” that you need to cultivate in your daily activities that requires a bit of finesse, a bit of negotiation, in order to bring what’s needed to the table. This is especially true if you’re in a field where your actions are a direct consequence of your value to the company.

In technical fields, data is that currency. It’s numbers. It’s components. It’s the amount of testing that you complete on a regular basis. If you’re being pulled in from one discussion to the next without any time to actually DO the work, you’re eventually going to be sucked into a Merry-Go-Round of these wonderful virtual and in-person events where you go from explaining what you will do to what you couldn’t do because you hadn’t done the thing that you were going to do.

This is an extreme case, to be sure…but there’s a version of it that happens when you become the subject matter expert in your area.

If you find yourself getting into this fun little cycle, there are a few things that you can and should do to keep your sanity while keeping your stakeholders “fed and happy”.

Check your calendar

No. Really. Pull it up and see how much time is devoted to meetings. Then do an inventory of your daily real estate. If there aren’t “huge tracks of land” that are open for you to do the actual thing you need to do, it’s time to push those meeting blocks around.

Reach out to the people running those meetings and either promise an update at a later time or cancel the ones that have you flagged as “optional”. The truth is that the more people there are in some of the bigger meetings, the less likely you can make an impact if you just a fly on the wall.

Prioritize

My manager was quick to teach me the ropes on this when I first started in my current position, and it was one of my weak points as a real-life completionist. Not everything has to be done FIFO. The equipment or staff you need aren’t exactly available at all times, and you need to negotiate with others trying to get their work done.

I remember in graduate school when I could only use an essential piece of equipment that was the property of another department. I could only sign up for the graveyard slots (AKA 1-5 AM). Obviously this isn’t the case for a 9-5 job, but I share this to illustrate that you won’t always have choice pickings.

If you can, definitely batch what you can do in longer sessions. You’d be surprised how scattered all your activities can become over time. It’s like defragmenting your hard drive in real time. Have specific time slots to do different things like sending email or using one test station or piece of equipment.

And please, please, please, put everything back the way you found it if others share the same space. You know the saying: “Yo mama don’t work here.”

Check In

If you really want to avoid being sucked into to endless group chats and meetings, send updates to the people who organize and run the meetings. Chances are that they are just trying to get all their ducks in a row, and if you’re one of the ducks missing but already provided your piece of their pie, they won’t mind that you are aren’t part of that event.

This doesn’t always work, but you’d be surprised how many fewer requests you get for updates when you provide your own progress reports on your timeline. While this may slow you down a bit, it’s on your terms and is less time-consuming. This way, you aren’t showing up to hour-long meetings just so you can make one statement when it’s your turn.

The truth of the matter

Toolbars may be a thing of the past, but tabs have replaced them. If you have so many that you can’t even see the title, it’s time to close a few, buddy.

No one likes feeling like everyone else’s tool in life, and it’s not necessary by any means. You can’t please everyone, and you can’t make everyone happy at all times. If you want to be respected and build your reputation, you need to be the one to speak up for yourself. Advocation is a two-way street in this sense.

Manage your time and the expectations of others indirectly. If you can demonstrate that you’re a team player that doesn’t always need to be in the huddle, then you will see your days open up with less meetings and more time to execute while providing a sense of security to the powers-that-be.

Fight for your time and mental health.

P.S. When was the last time you were proactive about your time?