You have more time than you think (part 2) -- Career Center Blog

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May 30, 2010

You have more time than you think (part 2)

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By Michelle Goodman
NWjobs

On Thursday, I posted a Q&A with Laura Vanderkam, author of the new book 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think, about some relatively painless ways to squeeze more downtime from each week. Vanderkam's book offers invaluable insights on how to do the same on the job -- and how doing so is the best way to achieve your career aspirations. Here's what she had to say about having more time than you think at work.

Q. You talk about mistaking things that look like work for actual work. What are some of these activities and why are we so deluded about how much time we actually spend working?

A. I define "work" as activities that are advancing you toward the career and life that you want. Many people are proud that, at the end of the day, they've answered all their e-mails. So what? Unless these e-mails actually accomplished something that matters, you didn't really do anything. It's the same with meetings. People will tell me "I had a busy day -- I had four hours of meetings." Well, what came out of those meetings? What changed in the world by the end? Did your organization move toward higher profits? Did you get closer to accomplishing your life's work? These are important questions because time spent doing one thing is time not spent doing something else. Don't delude yourself that being at work long hours means anything's getting done.

Q. You say there's no perfect job out there. So what's the antidote for someone who wishes they had a job they enjoyed?

A. No one else will have dreamed up the perfect job for you. If you want the perfect job, you will have to create it, whether you're working for yourself or someone else. In 168 Hours, I reference the work of Teresa Amabile of Harvard Business School, who has been studying creativity and job satisfaction for decades. Her definition of the right job is that "you should do what you love, and you should love what you do." That sounds like a graduation cliché, but every word of it is backed up by research. People are happiest and most creative in jobs that tap their intrinsic motivations (often things people love and would do for free) and that meet certain working conditions, including autonomy and being challenged to the extent of their abilities.

While many people go the entrepreneurial route in order to create the perfect job, it's not absolutely necessary. You can change your job description and working conditions in a million ways that will get you closer to the right job. It doesn't necessarily matter what you were hired for. Fundamentally, most employers want you to make more money for them. If you think hard enough, there is bound to be some way you can spend the working chunk of your 168 hours solving your organization's problems in a way that aligns neatly with what you want out of the job.

Q. You talk about the benefits of sticking to one's core competencies on the job. What does this mean and how is this done?

A. Core competencies are the things you do best and that other people can't do nearly as well. We're all happier when we spend time doing what we love and do well. The first step to focusing on your core competencies is to be in the right job. If you're great at design and love it and your job doesn't involve design, that's a problem. But once you are in a job that taps your talents, you need to seek out projects that excite you. It's a good sign if you are pondering these projects while you're waiting in line at the supermarket! As much as possible, try to ignore, minimize, or outsource other tasks. That doesn't mean these other tasks aren't important. It means that someone else is better suited to do them. For instance, I don't do my own taxes. It's not that I can't -- it's just that someone else is much, much better at it than me.

Q. How can sticking to these core competencies help people move closer to their professional goals?

A. If you want to achieve a career breakthrough in this competitive world, you'd better be really good at what you do. The only way to get better at something is to spend hours engaged in deliberate practice of your craft. Unless you plan to work around the clock, which you can't, most of your workweek needs to be spent actually practicing your craft with a focus on getting better. Doing a lot of non-core competency work just distracts you from your goal.

Michelle Goodman is the author of "My So-Called Freelance Life" and "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide." E-mail Michelle at mgoodman@nwjobs.com