Win The Gold

During the Olympics my husband and I have been watching an insane amount of Olympics coverage. Being from the Northeast and growing up around these sports, we have a special fondness in our hearts for the Winter Olympics in general. One thing that struck me about this year's coverage of ski jumping was that the announcers kept reiterating that ski jumping as a sport is not particularly difficult to master physically- it is a sport featured around one simple movement. What makes ski jumping challenging and sets amateurs apart from the pros is the timing of that movement, and the strength with which it's held in the air. They explained, that the art of ski jumping is knowing when to lay out over your skis, and convincing your mind to stay there when everything inside you is telling you that you shouldn't be doing that. You are, after all, essentially jumping off a three story building chest-first to a steep snowy landing below. Convince your mind that that's totally normal and safe, and you're on your way to winning Olympic gold.

Sometimes work is like this. Sure, work is a heck of a lot safer, but there are times when your mind seems to be chanting "This doesn't matter" or "Focus on something else" or "Nothing could be more boring than this." I don't care how much you love your job, inevitably at some point you will find yourself wondering if you're making a difference, unable to focus, or trying to complete an annoyingly mundane task. (Note: If this describes the majority of your job maybe you should think about a career/job change, but for the rest of us this will happen from time to time.) It's times like this that set the regular employees (the amateurs) apart from the stellar employees (the Olympic gold medalists). Right, but how do you convince your mind that it's wrong? Just like athletes have different techniques, so too do employees. I tend to use the following tricks (the overall concepts are universal, and the examples are job-specific):

1. Break Big Tasks Into Smaller To-Dos
   
   I feel accomplished when I can cross something off, even if it's something small. I would rather have 8 small/medium-sized tasks on my to-do list than three big ones. So if I have a few major things I need to do I will spell the steps out and let myself cross them off as I go. This also helps you to think through the task and better budget your time throughout the day.
2. Look at the Bigger Picture
   Sometimes if I'm fiddling with small keyword bid changes I can get stuck in the "Does this 10 cents really matter?" trap. By aggregating that and looking at the bigger picture I can remind myself that it does matter to the company at the end of the day. If we can save 10 cents on 100 keywords, that's $10/day, or $3,650/year- on just ONE account. Sure, no one cares about $0.10, but $3,650? Now you're talking!
3. Rely on The Industry
   
   Sometimes it's easy to let yourself get away with doing less work. In my case, that would be something like "This account is small enough that match type and strength of long-tail keywords don't matter much." But, is that true or just what my mind is telling me so I can do less work? Look to the industry's opinions- industry standards would say that both match-type and long-tails are very important. Then you'll have your answer!

So get out there, conquer your mind, and win gold at work! What tricks do you use?

You Handle It

When your boss or manager tells you "You handle it" or "You take care of it" it doesn't mean "You do it." It means, you take charge and make sure it gets done. In fact, if you always take it to mean that you have to do everything yourself it'll make you look like a control freak.

I can already hear your retort, "If I do it myself I know it'll get done right and on my time schedule. I'm the one that's most familiar with it. I should be the one doing it. I'll get help on the next project. I can do this one."

I have news for you, if you use this thinking that "next project" will never come. You will keep operating independently and eventually you'll isolate yourself and alienate those around you. So friend, I advise that you put the control down and step away slowly.

I speak from personal experience. In college it looked like I did fine working in groups because I always got good grades. But the other side of that story was that my paralyzing fear that something would get done poorly or submitted late caused me to overstep my duties and take on additional work- essentially carrying every group I was ever in on my back. I did fine in groups all right- I took control and did the work while others sat back and were glad to have someone else do the hard work. More control for me, more drinking time for them. It was a win-win. But that doesn't work in the real world.

Here are some tips for my fellow control freaks to break the cycle of controlling:

1. Be realistic in your time availability- don't over-commit
2. Realize that you are not the best at doing everything- reach out to those that are experts in other areas for better efficency and greater sanity
3. Keep your cool- listen to ideas and opinions that you may not personally support or agree with
4. Trust- have faith that your company hired competent people (they hoired you didn't they?)

The more you can work with your peers and superiors in the company, the more you'll show that you do indeed have leadership potential.

Who else out there is a control-zilla?