Are you busy?

Written by:?Zena D'souza

All throughout my career as a team player and also as a leader, I emphasized, rather than forced my team and myself to leave the office on time. I felt and still feel that working people, especially those in Marketing need to have a life outside of work. How else would creative ideas come?

How else are we supposed to keep looking at tons and tons of data and find meaning? A mind that has become numb with hours and hours on the laptop cannot be expected to come up with bright and fresh perspectives on situations and brands.

Sadly, I realized my thoughts were respected only by a handful of seniors. Most looked at the ‘Punch in’ or more at the ‘punch out’ time and decided on who is the ‘best’ in the team.

Late goers were appreciated and even rewarded – leading to a lot of heartburn. Many times, I thought of staying back in the office to impress my seniors – after all, I was young once??. But the thought of enjoying my hobbies and time with friends and family made me never act on this thought.

I am glad that I did this – I enjoyed the full spectrum of office and personal life activities. Not only that, but I reached the office chirpy every morning, and my passion for my work didn’t diminish even 25 years later. My team was happy and looking forward to the next working day. We rarely had ‘Monday Blues’ and not one of us owned T-shirts that said – TGIF (Thank God It's Friday)??

Eventually, my team and I grew in our careers and also won awards. We got recognized by those leaders who look at the ‘work done’ and not at ‘hours spent’.

As for those who spent long hours in the office and also worked over the weekends – Not many stayed in the race for long. Burnout happened much earlier for them and over a period of time, the toll on their health was not worth it.

My advice to those who are starting their careers – Please put your best during office hours but don’t fall into the trap of staying late in the office for no reason except to impress people. You deserve and should enjoy your life alongside work – Fun trips are needed … Guilt trips are not.

How do you ensure that you leave the office on time – One suggestion is to make a list of things to be done and add a timeline to each. That way you won’t be wasting your day doing unimportant/non-productive things. Instead, you would be able to finish off work within time, have time to talk to office colleagues thus enriching your knowledge, and also pursue your hobbies.

Remember the idea is to Shine like a Star (Bright and for as long as you want to) not Burn like a Firecracker (Gone in the smoke).

A big shout out to those leaders who recognize those who are not ‘Being Busy’ but rather ‘Being Productive’.

- Zena D'souza