Do Your Employees Make This Productivity Mistake?

Let’s continue the discussion of the phrase that is a big productivity mistake at work. It’s “One more thing.” Recently, we talked about how leaders can create problems and burnout in their teams by constantly asking, “Can you do one more thing?”

Now let’s focus when an employee says, “Let me do one more thing.” The employee may be undermining your organization, instead of helping it.

A good employee should want to go the extra mile for an employer. That commitment can’t be taught.

What should be is the understanding that time is a resource and it’s not an unlimited one.

For example, it’s 5 p.m. and you’ve worked a busy day. But there’s one more task, one more thing, that needs to be done. Rather than go home, you decide to stay late to complete it.

Before long, this becomes a habit. Without anyone asking, you’d decided to extend your workday.

While this strategy can succeed in the short term, over time it can lead to burnout and decreased performance. By adding time to your workday, you become less efficient, which makes you need to stay late more often. The problem feeds on itself and grows like a weed.

To avoid this productivity mistake at work, consider these strategies:

Prioritize Your Workload

Track your activities and figure out why you’re regularly needing to add time to your day. It it a matter of having too much work or are unpredictable requests being made at the last minute? Is there confusion over when tasks need to be done.

Also, if you prefer a quieter atmosphere after regular hours, is there a way to create that environment during the day?

Inform You Supervisor

If staying late is a habit, make sure your supervisor knows it. Don’t expect him or her to be omniscient and know all the extra time you’re logging.

This gives your boss the ability to take some items off your plate or adjust your schedule to account for busy times.

None of this happens if only the janitor knows you’re staying late.

Ask for Help

While you may be the right person for the job, some tasks should not be solo performances. Get help when needed and don’t assume everyone understands the amount of time it takes to do things.

There’s nothing noble about suffering in silence. By pulling in extra help, you may trigger a reevaluation of the work. The door to automation is often opened when it becomes obvious that a process is simply too time consuming. Think of manually putting stamps on letters versus using a stamp machine.