How to Look Like a Workaholic

Laura Stack, a personal productivity expert over at Divine Caroline, has some great tips for looking like a workaholic without actually being one. Let’s have a look at ways you can sustain a strong reputation while maintaining control over your time.

Get noticed in eight hours. Anybody can spend a day keeping busy. It takes real commitment to remain actively productive during working hours. Just keep in mind that real productivity pays off, big time. You don’t want to be noticed because you log a lot of hours. You want to be noticed for what you accomplish. And if you really are putting forth the effort necessary to milk your forty-hour week for all it’s worth, your stellar results will not go unnoticed.

The early bird gets a raw deal. In general, workers tell me that staying late gets noticed and arriving early tends not to be. If you are the type that likes getting to the office first thing in the morning and heading out an hour or two before the crowd, it might take some attention to detail to make sure that you don’t end up being penalized for having an early riser’s schedule. Just make sure that your co-workers realize that while they are still at home in a bathrobe, you are at your desk, getting a head start on your day.

Handle your correspondence first thing in the morning. Your e-mail time-stamp might be the only way someone realizes that you don’t just cut out in the late afternoon because you feel like it. When you leave early, you’ve earned it. Those that leave the office at six or seven at night will also be sure to notice that you have gotten back to them with an answer to their question before they’ve even managed to sit down at their desk the following day.

Go the extra mile. Sometimes it is appropriate to put in a long day or week. It shouldn’t become your standard mode of operation, but being able to come through in a pinch is a major asset in the business world. Valuing your time is a good thing, but if the demands of the job call for being a little late for dinner every once in a while, it is okay to step up to the plate.

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