The Purposeful Workday

Setting goals, generating visibility, solving company problems in the blink of an eye—these all sound great in theory, right? But when you're a newbie in the corporate world, you consider yourself lucky if you can just make it through the day without dropping one of the 10 plates you have spinning in the air. Besieged by a constant influx of new assignments, it's unthinkable to even consider how you're using your time. Forget about managing your career and monitoring your performance to achieve optimum results. Some days, work seems so out of control that you just want to put your head down on your desk and mutter “uncle.”

Wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to live this way? What if you ruled your schedule instead of the other way around? What if you were the most effective person on the team, not wasting any energy hating the colleague who never misses a deadline or the one who always leaves the boss's office with all of his questions answered? All of this is totally possible if you take the time to develop a few new habits. In this chapter, I'll cover how to make the most out of the 8-plus hours a day you spend at work—from effective time management and organization, to making every piece of communication count. Internalize these skills by reflecting on them outside the office when you have a moment to breathe and by planning how you can implement sanity-saving processes in advance. I think you'll find that the more proactive you are in managing your workday, the more you will actually achieve—without losing your hair or your bathroom breaks!