Do More By Doing Less.
We are all busy. We all want to be even busier. But the only way to get more busy is to get less busy. Let me explain.
It’s impossible to spend anytime on the internet and not see tips on making better use of your time.
You’ll notice most of these lists have names such as “3 ways to save time.” “Do it like the pro’s: 7 cleaning hacks to save you hours.” “Crush your job. Get 8 hours of work done in 7 seconds. “ Most of these lists comprise the same tips as all the other lists.
Before I get to the good stuff, and in no way an attempt to pad out this article, let’s take a look at some of these tips.
“Wake up at 5 am.” Getting up earlier is not the same thing as squeezing more work out of your day. This tip should read “Work longer hours. Working just two extra hours a day while your sleep-deprived body cries out for the rest it craves will really help to crush your hopes and dreams. It’s amazing how much you can achieve when normal people are asleep. “
“Drink water” They say this as if we haven’t been drinking it since before we crawled out of the sea. Drinking water out-dates the cubicle by quite a factor. Some say it’s even older than the side hustle. There is always a little blurb about someone who drinks a lot of water and how it’s changed their lives. “Katy used to drink 9 gallons of Fanta a day, but since switching to water, she finds she doesn’t crash as early and can think clearer in the evenings.” She didn’t switch to Fanta. She’s detoxing. Katy is currently living in a clinic.
“Switch off your phone.” How will that help? We’re reading about how to get stuff done to avoid getting stuff done on our phones. Whom is this tip helping. It’s not helping us and it isn’t helping their ad revenue.
John was (and probably still is; I can’t imagine he’d look for another job) a delivery man/yard staff at a large hardware retailer. I worked with them for a while. He’d load his truck and off he’d go delivering. Well, frequently someone else would load him because he was too busy helping a customer by sitting in the break room and watching TV. A delivery two miles away would easily take two hours.
“His good company while you load your stuff.” was how a regular customer described John.
I used to work with a man known as “Useless Mike.” Unlike John, Useless Mike liked to look busy, but when I worked with him, I always thought there was no possible way for him to do any less. Somehow, he always found a way.
One of his tasks was to take the waste and put it in the compacter or cardboard baler. This became take the waste and put it in the nearest place other people couldn’t see. Leave it in the carts and stand in that spot until enough time had passed that we wouldn’t be suspicious.
Both John and Mike taught me more about work than any list on the internet ever could.
So if you want to get more done, Follow their example.
Never Volunteer. You won’t be chastised for not taking on any extra work as long as you’re doing the minimum that’s required of you.
Never Engage. That means not even commenting on a subject. Even if you don’t mind doing it.
Never Soar. The moment you exceed expectations, you’ve made that the new minimum standard.
“I’ll Give You a Hand.” This is the sentence that starts your training to be the next person doing that job.
Let Useless Mike and John be your guides. They got paid the same as everyone else they worked with. But they didn’t put in the same effort. Both of them turned up, put in the minimum effort, and in the eyes of management, did the same as everyone else.
I told my boss that Mike wasn't pulling he weight and it was angering the other staff. “I have no problem with Mike.” was the response. As he turned up and didn’t cause management issues that was enough.
Use this to your advantage. Do your work well but nothing more. Don’t carry other people’s work. Use your work time as described in the ad. Freeing up all this time makes you less busy. This allows you to become more busy just doing the things you want to.
Did I just inadvertently write the rule book on quiet quitting?
