No one cares about your performance

“Speaking of business, my experience shows that most offices are extremely ineffective.”

Today in my G + there was this post of a Spanish blogger who writes about personal efficiency and productivity - in a word, another productivity-freak, who went like me GTD, time management and other similar beautiful words. The text turned out to be written quite charismatically and, in my opinion - sensibly, in connection with which there is no more strength to hide. The post is devoted to attempts to cope with the incredible bathhert, who sooner or later meets the path of everyone who has learned how to organize his time at the very least and now faces the question "what to do with the stars around"? As the IT consultant wrote, while here we have all the programmers, so the text is slightly adapted to our features - without prejudice to the general meaning.

“Forget what others think of you.
Because nobody thinks about you.
Everyone thinks only of himself ... that's just exactly how you are now. ”

It’s eight in the morning and you’re already at the computer because you have to put out an offer for some fig (or write a piece of code to make it clear to everyone here - AH), since the boss asked you to do it yesterday. Of course, we must do this in time - this is important not only because it is your immediate responsibilities, but also because thanks to this offer (or a piece of code) it will be possible to attract new customers (or users), which means more orders and financing for the office , which, in turn, ultimately translates into the fact that you basically have a job.

In a word, you put on headphones, 4 hours of work with short breaks (Pomodoro steers) - and now you are proud to finish your offer (or your piece of code) and send it to the boss. Only then you open the mail - and they have already thrown a hell of a lot of messages there, so focusing on one thing today will no longer work out for the whole day.

Two months later, your offer did not reach the customer (and a piece of code was simply thrown out, because - the methodology ). It turns out that the gadish boss was in such a hurry with the offer simply because he had an appointment to reconcile the budget. And after this meeting, your offer was put in a ... long box. And the client, whom we urgently needed to get, suddenly became unnecessary. the project has cut funding. Well - what to do, it happens.

10 pm, a tough day, however, you still need to write an article for the magazine (to code code for someone else). This is a great chance for you. Well, at least you think so. So you barely said hi to your family and you already ran to make coffee for yourself. The next three hours you devote to creating text for 1000 words for the editor-in-chief (to establish another module for the site). Maybe this is not your best work, but you feel that you have spent time not in vain, and in general - you are well done, you know how to get together.

You sent your work in advance, so you wait. Nevertheless, the agreed term is suitable, and you will receive no response or greetings. You worry, a couple of times you ping the editor (or Eychar company Cool Codes). But, as it turns out, the person you need suddenly flew away briefly to the island of Lost.

You wait five days, worry, and finally call them yourself. The editor thanks you for your efforts (well, at least that!) But also hurries to notify that the director is currently reviewing the publishing policy, in connection with which he is la poplar, in a word he has suggestions that are more suitable for embodying his new vision. (Well, in the case of the code, we generally found the best skills for less money, so what really is there). In a word, the task is closed, the mission is completed.

Stop. For whom is it still done there?

For your boss? for the publisher? - may be. But certainly not for you.

When you work for someone (or just with someone), you have to consider two key points:

If you work efficiently, this nifiga does not mean that everyone around you will immediately be too.
When your goals will coincide with the goals of others - almost never.

And wherever you look - everything is ineffective all around, you alone are standing in a white coat beautiful:


On the one hand - work. If we talk about business, my experience shows that most offices are extremely inefficient. When I say “extremely”, I rather mean “unlimited” or even “beyond”. The inefficiency of the office is directly proportional to its size (and proximity to the public sector, which is already there) [we are talking about Spain - AH]

On the other hand, even our own family is also not an ideal for the efficient use of time and labor. They say that if a person has a mom and dad - he already has two reasons to consult a psychiatrist.

However, when it comes to personal productivity, the key word here is “personal”. Just focusing on the personal aspect, you can not survive from the mind and not fall into the deepest ... frustration seeing how everything around is not only ineffective, but also strives to gobble up your time aimlessly.

If you get away from personal motives and look at the mess that is going on around - it kills any desire to do something. But if hands fell - that’s all, kaput - this may turn out to be a professional point of no return.

On this account, Martin Luther King has a great quote:

If a person’s vocation is to be a janitor, he must sweep the streets with the same inspiration as Michelangelo painted the vaults or Beethoven composed music. He must sweep the street so that all the spirits of Heaven and Earth reverently say: "Here lives a great janitor, doing his job flawlessly."

Just be the best at what you do.

Forget about others. Do everything in your power, and as soon as you transfer the affairs, and therefore no longer affect the further effectiveness of the process - do not spend more time on it, just forget it.

In an ideal world, your goals coincide with the goals of your leader, and with the goals of the company. And although this is rare, this situation is the most motivating for the employee, books are already being written about this. But this is still you and I will wait for such a situation! Therefore, the best thing you can do right now is to try to surpass yourself every day.

Sometimes I think that in order to properly turn around and do everything really effectively, you need to do it alone. But even my friends who work for themselves do not work “alone”. Yes, and I, if I think about what I could do, if I left my current job - I also understand this - it won’t work out, you still have to contact others.

Then how can I improve others?

The word "improve" itself is already doubtful. I have no doubt the following: others will "improve" only when they themselves want it . And even though you crack.

I don’t know if you have heard about such a thing as a circle of concerns and a circle of influence. Imagine two circles, one inside the other. The internal is our sphere of influence, and the external is what concerns us. The farther the distance between the circles, the higher the level of stress.

Therefore, there are only two effective ways to deal with this:

• Either expand the circle of influence
• Either reduce the circle of what cares

I’m even writing a post today in order to convince myself to get into a number of things.

If you want to increase the circle of influence, the only way I know, and which in my case works, is to set an example . The hierarchy does not wave much, as are orders or attempts to teach discipline. Words are bullshit, only action works. That is, I again return to where I started my thought: focus on what is important to you personally and be effective to lawlessness personally.

It’s better to simply forget about trying to change the situation with complete nonsense in the office or in the world, in principle, and, on the contrary, focus on changing yourself for the better.

Well, if you don’t take stubbornness, and for some reason you, like me, cannot get the awl from one place in an effort to make, if not the whole world, then at least at least your workplace a little more adapted for life, and to bring at least a bit of order into the surrounding entropy, then, perhaps, I will allow myself another quote - this time - this is what Mother Teresa said about this:

Let everyone sweep around their home - and the whole world will be clean.

A source