What is common among employees and professionals in other fields is common among those in advertising jobs as well. Certain work perceptions and attitude problems cause unaware employees to waste time at work in every field. Two of the most common problems that go hand in hand when it comes to time wasting are trying to achieve beyond personal capacity and lack of self-discipline.
Trying to Achieve Beyond Personal Capacity
This is a very common time-wasting trap and almost unavoidable. It is hard to know your limits until you have tested them. It is also impossible to broaden or extend your limits unless you try to achieve beyond your personal capacity. However, such attempts need to be made logically. Allowing your zeal to overflow in every situation will kill both your time and your career. Trying to achieve beyond your personal capacity can hinder your career if you do not manage your ambitious streak rationally.
Possible causes behind an illogical desire to overachieve:
- excessive need to achieve
- overreaction to a stimulus
- excessive desire to be viewed as cooperative and dependable
There is no set of universal solutions, as situations vary from case to case; however, here are some useful guidelines for solving such problems and saving time:
- Question yourself about what it is you are trying to achieve. If your objective is logical and productive, orient yourself realistically to achieve it. If attaining the objective does not stand up to a cost-benefit analysis, it is better to reassess your perspective and stop killing yourself.
- Limit your reaction or response in each situation to the actual demands of the situation.
- Don't allow your desire for appreciation to force you into saying "yes." If you are facing a shortage of time, stay uninvolved if others can handle the task. People should volunteer to take on extra responsibility, but only when their current responsibilities are under control.
Although it may seem obvious, lack of self-discipline is a major time waster. This problem is often related to being overzealous or procrastinating. It is often difficult to recognize or admit that you lack self-discipline at work. And it is even more difficult when you have developed organized habits in other spheres of your life.
The principal symptoms that mark lack of self-discipline at work:
- a lack of clear work objectives or work standards
- neglecting to follow up on initiatives and work
- a growing pile of unfinished tasks
- Start developing and recognizing standards and parameters for assignments.
- Set concrete objectives in areas that involve key results.
- Prioritize your work. Determine higher and lower priorities and schedule tasks accordingly.
- Follow up on work, processes, and initiatives. No one responds according to your expectations, but everyone responds when you continually track progress.
- Start on work as it arrives; don't put it off until deadlines loom.
A lot of people try to rationalize their lack of self-discipline and overzealousness with the common assertion "I work better under pressure." This is a myth. Nobody works better under greater pressure.
This myth leads people to create crises to motivate themselves into action by activating their survival instincts. A procrastinator whiles away available time by taking it easy until work has piled up; he or she then overreacts and tries to be a hero. This is one of the worst habits that one can develop on the job.
Avoiding the habits discussed above and developing self-discipline at work will help you save time and boost your performance as an advertising professional.
