While in a job, most people want to impress their superiors to improve their growth and show that they are really hard working.
One of the most common methods to establish this is working overtime to earn the name of a reliable, loyal employee.
Mercedes De Luca, COO of Basecamp, gives an insight of why people tend to work overtime and whether it is really beneficial.
According to her, “People do feel that if they’re working long hours, they’re working hard. But those two are not synonymous. The first thing is breaking that mindset.” And there are simple ways to do just that.
The problem starts with people not setting proper boundaries to accomplish the task assigned to them.
'Even if you have a boss who says ‘Don’t work too late,’ I think a lot of people still confuse or still equate working long hours, being the last to leave the office, responding to emails at 11 PM, and so on, with being noticeable,' De Luca says.
Most people may think that without staying over night they cannot get the same amount of work done, this is purely because they have got accustomed to the extra time.
The extra time should be a real necessity and not for face time alone.
Part of the problem can be solved by identifying the extra time that is wasted during the office hours. Filling those gaps makes it easier to reduce the extra time.
If spending more time in meetings is the reason for the lag then the matter should be taken to your superior, especially if it will lead to better productivity in the company.
Always set a deadline to complete a task, set actionable goals on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, once you start seeing the progress you can establish it.
De Luca makes an extremely important point here: 'Staying late—you can’t put that on your resume.'
Working extra time is not going to add weightage to your resume.
De Luca says, for example, 'If your role is to produce X number of articles or get Y number of engagement or drive Z revenue, I think what you want to do is be able to point to that success. You can say, ‘Yeah, I left at 5 PM, but that’s because I achieved the goal that I set out to do.’
It will be relief if you achieve what you promised, it would be better if things are done before the specified deadline, but always remember works don't talk for your, you will have to build your reputation.
It is the results that get you notice and not the extra hours. Though it may seem a little odd to leave on time while others continue for extra hours.
Courtesy: www.themuse.com
