Slacking Issue V: Appearing Efficient

Throughout my employment history I have had one trait that I have had to temper and alter my work ethic because there has yet to be one workplace that I have been at, whether it be menial labor or skilled, that this trait has paid off and gotten me either money or advancement and that is being efficient.  I think most people have a built in "switch" that they can flip when they realize that they will complete a project "too fast" or get done with something before they really want to for one reason or another. Me, in almost every job I have had, especially when first starting, would complete tasks in a very quick and efficient fashion.  Well, it didn't take me long to realize that this really isn't all that good for myself...my work shift was always the same duration regardless of how much "work" I would do and/or accomplish.  And what did completing tasks in a quick and efficient manner garner me?  A raise?  A promotion?  Absolutely not, all it did was get me another task to complete for the day or to redo the previous task again with maybe some alterations.

Being a "go-getter" and doing things as fast as you can really won't get you too far in most workplaces.  Oh sure your manager/boss will love the fact that he now essentially has a "willing slave".  Someone they can assign all the tasks that everyone else doesn't want to do with the best part being, is that they will likely complete the task very quickly and in an efficient manner ... and just waiting for the next assignment.

I have a two-pronged approach that I think can help others slack a little better at work.

The first step is the basic set up for "slacking".  And that is, begin to take your time and don't submit a project until it is the absolute deadline...at one work place I was at, the absolute deadline meant another week of my manager/boss telling me all the changes they wanted to see in my projects and usually, I felt my projects were very good 'as is'.  It took me all of 2 projects to realize that no matter what I produced, no matter how awesome/professional it was, if I submitted it early it meant that I would be making changes to it until it absolutely had to be done.  Oftentimes, I felt that most of the stuff was nit-picking and would actual make the project appear worse than what I originally put together.  This approach also deals a blow to the credibility of your manager/boss, and it is at their own expense.  Once I knew that any "deadline" that was given to me was just a fake deadline, I no longer even tried to do my best work until I would submit my project and get all the changes they wanted back ... then I may consider beginning the project in earnest.

The second step is for when you have an occupation that will let you determine your own deadlines...I had a position at a job once where this was the case and it was a nice slacking type job.  With this type of position I employed what I like to refer to as the "Wrath Of Khan Time Code" and those familiar with Star Trek II: Wrath Of Khan should recognize this application.  What it basically is, is that when you are asked how long a certain project will take, you will instantly add on weeks, days, hours, etc. to keep your manager/boss informed as to your project status.  But in reality your project should take considerably less than the time you gave to your manger/boss.  In the Wrath Of Khan, Cpt. Kirk and his away team were stranded inside a planet and couldn't get immediately beamed out because their ship was severely damaged.  When Kirk asks Scotty, their engineer, how long it will take to get things fixed up Scotty proceeded to say days, hours and weeks from now will be the soonest they will be functioning again...but of course that sneaky Kirk knew the enemies were listening to their conversations so they used a "Federation trick" in which the time(s) that Scotty gave to Kirk were actually hours and minutes rather than days and weeks...so the enemy thinks that Kirk and his team will be stranded for some time, but to his surprise Capt. Kirk and the Enterprise get up and running and save the day.

So if a manager/boss asks you how long a (typically) 1 day project will take you, you should reply at least 3 days.  And, I always like to add a bit of "Scotty flair" to this discussion, making it sound as if it will be of great labor and very time consuming...almost miraculous if the project can be completed at all, let alone at a specific time.  "How long will it take for you to do this?" my boss will ask.  I will reply "Gee, that's going to be tough and with all the other stuff I got going on, I think I can try and squeeze this in and have it done by the end of next week."  Knowing that I could have the project completed by the next day if I really wanted...but if I were to have it done the next day there will be another project waiting for me or I will get to redo the very same project again ... but never will a raise or a promotion be waiting for me...