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Working Smarter
Just Because It’s An All-You-Can-Eat Buffet, Doesn’t Mean You Do or Let Them
By Marsha Lindquist
Remember when all-you-can-eat buffets first came into fashion? You paid what seemed like a reasonable price and then you porked up on the ENTIRE buffet. You ate, and ate, and ate. What’s more (pardon the pun), you were not getting a great deal, you probably gained weight, and you returned to the scene of the crime on a regular basis for more punishment.
Bet you thought the place was losing money on you. And the food wasn’t so good tasting if you told the truth. Have you ever thought that going to work was like one of these all-you-can-eat buffets? Oftentimes it is.
Marsha Lindquist’s Five Tips for Working The Smarter Work Smorgasbord
1. You decide
2. Portion control
3. Talk to your mirror
4. Create sane habits
5. Learn to say no
Here’s the analogy. You are offered a new job working for the Fabulous Company with a phenomenal raise and a better office. So you start at the Fabulous Company and the first week is pretty good. No great demands on your time, seemingly good people to work with and you go home on time. As the weeks progress, you are working later and later and even putting in time over the weekends to catch up and get better acquainted with the surroundings and Fabulous Company. You show your many talents and demonstrate your willingness to do almost anything for Fabulous Company. Your peers and your boss can’t get enough of your capacity and your breadth of abilities. Several months later, your new boss now expects you to continue to put in all those long hours and give up your personal and family time for the “big crunch” (whatever the latest “big crunch” happens to be). That is always followed by another “bigger crunch”. Pretty soon it is habit. Fabulous Company bellied up to your buffet and stuffed themselves full of you!
As anyone now will tell you, going to an all-you-can-eat buffet requires some discipline. It takes a hint of planning, a touch of control, and a dash of preparation on how to approach the buffet experience. If you know that you are going to one of these potentially dangerous gluttonous encounters, you can eat lightly the day before or earlier on the day you go in case you decide to overindulge. You plan it. Likewise, you can either bring a control freak with you to act as your Smorgasbord Gestapo or engage in powerful hypnosis by a trained professional to plant the seed of portion control in advance – this last one is similar to attending a weight control program briefing immediately before lunch. Controlled brainwashing or, as others like to say, support. Still others would advise you to survey the buffet before taking any plates or food to determine what you would most like to have and deciding before you pile the food on the plate what your smorgasbord strategy will be. The common theme is to prepare and set a pattern that is unlike what insane people do when faced with a bounty of food. They binge.
The workplace mélange is not any different. In fact, it’s easier to manage. You have total control of what’s on the buffet and when you will put the goodies out for the taking. Again, just because it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet doesn’t mean you let them. It’s your buffet!
Here are five tips for managing your medley of talents in the workplace.
1. You decide. How you want to work is up to you, not anybody else. So choose before you start a new position or a new company what your guiding principles are going to be. Then stick to them. That doesn’t mean you are inflexible when an important project comes up. Just learn to know the difference between important and habitual fire drills.
2. Portion control. Only put out what you can manage to handle as you get familiar with your position. This means that you do what you are good at first and then tackle new things as your comfort level increases. Working this way whether or not you are the owner or one of the crew makes sense in any book.
3. Talk to your mirror. This step is a daily (or sometimes hourly) reinforcement of what you already know. You outlined it in number one above. Carve up an affirmation (that’s positive) statement that you can tape to your mirror to recite and reinforce on a regular basis. Make it your mantra.
4. Create sane habits. The sane step is all about self respect for what you want and demonstrating that by doing what you set out to do to balance your life. It’s tough for anyone to argue with the sanity of keeping family, hobbies and friends as part of your life along with work. So, start out with a couple of outside work activities that you are committed to doing so that you leave work at a reasonable time. Even if you don’t have anywhere to go, figure it out. Make it a habit.
5. Learn to say no. No one said it would be easy. We are not programmed to say no easily so it is a challenge to learn to do so. But saying no is not a sin. Think of it as a gift or a skill that you can learn. Practice using it on insignificant things or occurrences. When you get into the habit of politely refusing some requests, it gets easier to choose when an affirmative is appropriate too.
Approach your workplace like it is an all-you-can-eat buffet. Recognize the danger is there to pile a potpourri of work on your plate and suffer the consequences just like it was a food experience of the same nature. Yes, the people you work for pay your salary, but they don’t have the right to take from your buffet without your permission. If it’s your own company, it’s even better. You get to set the stage and choose the layout for your company’s smorgasbord.
About the Author
Marsha Lindquist, a business strategist for over 15 years, draws on her proven “down in the trenches” experience, creativity, and participative manner to provide real solutions to businesses to assist them in building and growing their businesses. She is an energetic presenter and is also the Chief Executive Officer of The Management Link, Inc. As well as being the author of “Why Are You Still Working Your A** Off?”, she has written and published several professional journal articles on business strategy and negotiations. She can be reached by E-mail at marsha@marshalindquist.com
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