Dealing with productivity concerns — Early career advice
The perception of productivity is subjective. There are days when we work a lot, but we feel that the performance wasn’t good, while there are days when with little effort we manage to solve several problems and we feel that so desired sense of accomplishment.
Understanding the business as a whole before worrying about how to execute its activities is very important. With an expanded view, the professional will be able to better select and prioritize their tasks, being able also to choose the best tools for each of them. Understanding the purpose of what you are doing is essential for any professional.
To ensure regularity in productivity, professionals also need to avoid engaging in activities that end up wasting their time, such as social media or side conversations at inopportune moments. However, having focus is not a guarantee of productivity, looking for ways to automate or simplify repetitive tasks is needed, so professionals can invest their efforts in more meaningful tasks, like analysis and story-telling.
Task automation might sound difficult, but it can be applied with common tools, from word or excel, with macros and formulas, to complex tools like data analysis software and programming languages. For this, professional should seek references, notable professionals in their field (two of mine are Martha Gabriel and Elemar Jr), who present trends and ways to solve everyday problems, and then study continuously. It’s recommended to have a consistent study routine, since the better the practices and tools, the greater the productivity.
Saying “no” when necessary is an essential skill for a professional’s productivity. Often, in order to meet or exceed expectations, we end up accepting to reduce the delivery time or to commit to many responsibilities in parallel, however, this can be very costly for the daily work schedule. You may eventually fail to deliver the essentials due to taking on unnecessary workload.
Exceeding expectations is good, but ensuring that the requirements are always fully delivered is even better.
Finally, presenting the positive results of your work to superiors and teammates, but in a subtle way, is a key for recognition. There is no need to show off. Being humble and communicative is enough to earn trust and reputation over time.
Thank you for reading! Feel free to leave a comment!
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