“Check, please!: ”Workplace Survival Strategies for Women with Too Much on Their Plate

? “Check, please!”

Workplace Survival Strategies for Women with Too Much on Their Plate

Throughout my life, I’ve been rightfully accused of being a picky eater. I am one of “those people” who lives by food rules like pancake syrup shouldn’t touch eggs and cranberry sauce deserves its own separate plate at Thanksgiving.?I am also known for not thinking about what I want to eat until it is literally time to eat something.?On the other hand, my husband makes it a daily practice to call me as he drives to work at 6:30 in the morning to inquire what we are having for dinner. Yes, he is meal-planning 12 hours in advance! It is no wonder that he is a self-described foodie as he is a professional culinarian. He is an impressive chef who creates wonderful aromas in our home kitchen and can in a single bite, tell you the ingredients used in a particular dish.?I’ve only thrice seen him close his eyes as he savored something so magnificent, he needed a heightened sense of taste to fully enjoy it.?The first time was at a two-star Michelin restaurant in Rome where he dined on a lovely local dish of veal and fresh vegetables while I desperately hoped that my pigeon and banana sauce entrée would taste like chicken (it did not). The second happened in my own dining room after I wowed him with southern-style smothered turkey wings over rice and sautéed cabbage.?The third time I’ve struck gourmet gold was when I made a prime rib accompanied by mashed potatoes and peas. Although I am far from a foodie, I am apparently a good cook.?Who knew?

But unlike my hubby, I am quite content with maintaining a diet of cereal, nachos, mozzarella sticks and pizza.?Duck à l’Orange and foie gras be darned! While some may say that my dietary choices coupled with my staunch refusal to try new foods (my last culinary discovery was two years when I learned that I really like red onions) is restrictive and limiting, I submit to you that my food pickiness has not only allowed me to make food choices that rarely disappoint, but has served to teach me valuable life lessons about work-life balance and time management.?So, grab your fork and get ready to dig into the top 3 workplace lessons I’ve learned by being a picky eater.

Strategy #1: You don’t need a bigger or more plates.?You need a new ordering strategy.

According to my research[i], women, especially those with intersected identities are often tasked with hidden, or invisible work – activities that are not part of one’s job description and are not formally recognized by the organization.?Thus, the workplace “plate” becomes laden with both required tasks and other, hidden work – some of which may even be rewarding or enjoyable to us (e.g., mentoring, advocating and serving on identity-based committees). In response to these demands, we widen our plate or, to extend the metaphor of dining, we stack multiple plates atop one another until we are engaged in a bizarre, precarious juggling act.

I liken this juggling act to the dining habits of one of my dear friends who is a big fan of diners.?She gets excited by the idea that she can get a Western omelet and a short stack at 10 pm just as easily as she can order chicken croquettes with a side of loaded mash at 8:00 in the morning.?While the seemingly endless options may be appealing to some, if you don’t know what you want to eat, you can spend more time choosing than actually eating. My friend frequently suffers from this conundrum and that’s why it’s a good thing most diners are open 24 hours – she needs at 20 hours to decide what to order! While my friend flips back and forth between breakfast and dessert options, I am usually ready to order within the first five minutes.?

My decisiveness is in part due to my conscious effort to order items based on how I group them in my mind.?For example, if my taste (and budget) permits, I’ll order an appetizer, entrée and dessert or drink.?I say “or” because I have to limit my sugar intake so I’ll never order both dessert and a sugary or alcoholic drink at the same time.?The appetizer I choose serves to set the rest of the meal which helps to reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed with too many choices.?If I start with spinach dip, it’s highly unlikely that I’ll order a French toast platter as my entrée and a chocolate milkshake as my drink. For me, those three items just don’t go together. How can this ordering strategy translate into our work-life balance process??Here’s what I suggest:

·??????Start with making a list (menu) of all of your tasks – both hidden and visible

·??????Next, group these items based on physical time, mental energy needed to execute and your level of enjoyment/reward you gain from doing them.?

o??Your “appetizers” are small, short-term tasks that either help you complete a bigger project or are “one and done” type tasks.?Like small plates, they can be grouped together to become a sort of “combo” meal which may replace your entrée.

o??“Dessert/Drink” tasks are those individual or sometimes sharable projects that you enjoy performing and that add a little proverbial sweetness to your day.?When coupled with a few appetizers or an entrée, “dessert/drink” tasks can make you feel productive and accomplished. However, make sure your diet does not consist solely of these projects because like their culinary counterparts, too much of a good thing can be bad for you. As any good physician will tell you, sweets and alcohol should be consumed sparingly.?Likewise, in a workplace setting, focusing too much time on the tasks you enjoy could lead you to avoid the more heavy or cumbersome projects which are equally and often more vital to the productivity of the organization.

o??Your “entrée” selection are those tasks that are really time-sensitive, complex or large enough that they may have to be shared with others.?Consider who your collaborators (fellow diners) might be to help with this task as well as how much of it you can realistically accomplish in one sitting (work day). Is there a “limited-edition special” dish on the menu this week – one that is high-priority and super time-sensitive??That may be the one to focus on before all others. Finally, “Entrée” tasks work best when they are not paired with another similar task.?Would you order both veggie lasagna AND blackened salmon at the same time??Probably not so don’t try to tackle too many big dishes at once.

By simplifying your work into these three sections, you are decreasing the size of the menu and prioritizing your projects. This strategy can be instrumental in increasing your productivity while decreasing the mental and physical stress inherent in today’s workplace setting.?

Strategy #2:?Leftovers always taste better the NEXT day.

As a kid, I hated leftovers.?As an adult with multiple bills, I appreciate the ongoing gifts that leftovers keep giving. Whether packed in swanky black containers with clear lids, or creaky white Styrofoam, to-go boxes aka doggie bags are the new accessory that goes with every meal and serves as a promise of future eating ecstasy. I suggest that this “take it to go for later” approach should be applied to our work life as well.

When you’re working on a big project with lots of moving parts, it can be completely overwhelming.?However, taking a step back and revisiting it the next day can give you fresh insight, new direction and restored energy.?Have you ever tried pairing the remains of a fine meal that has been allowed to further marinate overnight with something you already had on hand??Think leftover steak and veggies from your favorite restaurant wrapped in the whole grain pita you already have in your breadbox.?Scrumptious! Likewise, deciding to leave the work on your plate for another day can be the catalyst that allows you to reimagine the task at hand (steak and veggies) and take stock of your current abilities, skills and knowledge (pita bread) to create an inspired outcome.

It’s important to note that there may be times that this method doesn’t work at all to address workplace balance issues. So, when all else fails, remember,

Strategy #3: You have food at home.

No, seriously. This final point is not intended to invoke memories of your mom succinctly explaining why you would NOT be stopping at one of the dozens of tantalizing fast food eateries gliding by the car window as you pressed your face against the glass imagining the delightful and varied treats waiting inside each ketchup-and-mustard colored building. Rather, this guideline serves to remind you that there is a you which exists outside of your physical job site and you need to honor that sacred space.

Several of women in my study indicated that their work ethic was greatly informed by the need to leave a legacy for their children - especially their daughters. Yet, the stress caused by constant race and gender-based scrutiny often left them feeling tired, anxious and frustrated - feelings which can easily extend into their home life. As people who may perform housework-like tasks at the job, women are doubly burdened with taking care of their children, spouses/partners, and for some, parents and extended family. This is not a recipe for healthy living and calls for a rethinking of how we experience inner peace and focus.

Women in general and in particular, those who are frequently subjected to micro aggressions, must prioritize the people and activities that bring us joy, peace and wellness. we must prioritize the and elevate the environments and actions that feed us, mentally, spiritually, and socially. In other words, we must take care of our home - both the physical locale and the relational, emotional, spiritual and communal aspects that serve to structure our lives and livelihoods.

Check, please!

While these three strategies are guidelines that tend to work for me, you may have to adjust them based on your specific job and responsibilities.?As my study found, some Black women administrators working in predominantly White institutions equated their above and beyond behaviors with the extra time that they had to spend on projects to ensure they – and by extension, their work – were above reproach.?Failure to do so could result in a mistake that would be “blasted on billboards for years to come.” These types of experiences contribute to job-related stress, turnover and the newly documented phenomenon of “quiet quitting.”?The goal of this article is to offer some ideas to prevent dynamic women from “checking out” of our jobs.?It’s time for us to “check in” on our workstyle, our priorities and most importantly, ourselves.?Check? Please! ??

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These guidelines are not exhaustive! Let me know the other strategies that have worked for you! Please share in the comments!

[i] Rayfield, N. G. (2022).?Are Invisible Women Doing Invisible Work? A Phenomenological Study of Black Women Higher Education Leaders in Predominantly White Institutions?(Order No. 30426864). Available from Dissertations & Theses @ Eastern University; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global: The Humanities and Social Sciences Collection. (2824585979). https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/are-invisible-women-doing-work-phenomenological/docview/2824585979/se-2