Nice Work Advice: Work smarter, not harder
Welcome back to Nice Work - and our 2nd edition of the Nice Work Advice Column! If you’ve been along for the ride for a while, you may have noticed we’ve begun to build themes around each month. We talked money, value and compensation in May, and we’re wrapping up a month of discussing productivity hacks and tools for better organization and ease in our workday - aka: how to work smarter and not harder!
Our Q+A drops in at the end of each month, to cover your specific questions related to the theme of the month (and anything else related to your work that you might need some perspective on).
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Hope these help! Let us know if they do,
Jade + Rachel
Get caught up on the last month! ✨
Life is too short to think about work outside of work
Tips to refine your daily workflow
The magical tools you need to slam that laptop shut on Friday
Nice Work Advice Column
on productivity, work-day organization and working smarter, not harder
Q: Every week I try to plan my work days to be efficient and productive, but without fail, I’m derailed by surprise new priorities that pop up, or urgent meetings that aren’t scheduled. I know part of this is just the way that my company works, but it feels like chaos and tbh I don’t know if I can say NO if the meetings are being set by leadership. What would you do?
Jade:
I’ve definitely been in a similar work dynamic! And I know how frustrating it can be when you’re trying really hard to set your day up for success and then feel like you constantly have the rug pulled out from you. I like to look at situations like this from two angles: what can I do on my own to make this better, and what if any do I need to action that might involve someone else.
In this case, if you know each day is going to come with an impromptu meeting or last minute urgent work you weren’t planning for, you might build that into your daily plan. I know this is more of a bandaid for a chaotic environment but I hope it might help you feel more in control! Block whatever amount of time makes sense for the unforeseen and when it happens, use that blocked space to shift your other work around, so you don’t feel like you can’t actually accomplish what you set out to do in that day.
Secondly, this might be worth discussing one-on-one with your leadership or boss. I know it might feel like you’re complaining, but it’s a business concern if it’s hindering your progress on other important projects you’ve been working towards.
Rachel:
I like that you specified “being set by leadership.” If that’s how the humans in charge are running their work, there’s only so much planning, orienting, and flexing you can do to work around them. I feel like you’re in a Twister board of work you need to get done, meetings that could be emails, and unclear work expectations. SO fun. 🫠
Here’s what I did when I worked somewhere like this. Write out, clearly, what you are being asked to deliver. Memorise it. And then ruthlessly prioritise it. Meaning: whenever you are not being pulled into random meetings, work on it. When someone asks you to do something new, re-iterate what your top goals/deliverables are, and ask if this new work fits in, or replaces, these. And when someone asks why these deliverables aren’t done, come ready with an answer about the number of meetings you’re being asked to join, the other asks being put on your plate, etc. It’s a bit similar to the chaotic working/malicious compliance approach, except you’re not being malicious. You are just getting clarity. And because your workplace is chaotic AF, that’s only fair. You’re getting answers - it just sucks that you have to constantly re-ask for them.
In the interim, I completely agree with Jade that you should build in time for the chaos. No one may have said it like this yet, but, your main deliverable might simply be: “Just be flexible and work on what the day requires.”
So again - write that down. Memorise it. Prioritise it. So when someone comes to you and asks you to do something else BESIDES be flexible, you can ask what the trade-off should be.
