Ep 23 - Why You Need to Stop Being an Overachiever Artwork

Recovering Corpoholics

Recovering Corpoholics Podcast is hosted by Felicia Serano-Shtivelman, 15-year career veteran and career strategist. This show offers guidance and inspiration to unfulfilled corporate professionals who are tired of playing the corporate games and who want to break free into a meaningful career. Through solo episodes and special guest interviews, you’ll walk away with how to find a career on your terms, making transition plans that work, designing a stand out brand and other topics from the job search to job hire.

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Recovering Corpoholics

Ep 23 - Why You Need to Stop Being an Overachiever

February 23, 2022 • Felicia Serano-Shtivelman • Season 1 • Episode 23

In this episode of Recovering Corpoholic, we are going to talk about why you need to stop being an overachiever at work if you’re on the job hunt/ trying to change careers.

Find the full show notes to this episode at RecoveringCorpoholics.com/23.

Whether you are productive at work or not, you will still get paid your normal salary at your 9-5. Therefore, unless you want to be promoted, there is no reason to work more than you have to. AKA Stop overachieving!

Some of you feel the need to go above and beyond, and that’s OK. However, if you’re looking to change careers or start your own business, you’re going to need to find the time to work on that. Time that you might be spending on side projects that aren’t helping you get to where you want to be.

You might be thinking, “I can’t do that! I’m an overachiever and I love going above and beyond”. Let me clarify… I’m not telling you to not do your job, because you should still do your job well. All I am saying is to shoot for a solid B and not try for all As. Just like a pass/ fail class, you'll still pass.

So if you want to find more time in your day, here are 6 ways you can start working less at work so you can spend more time doing what you want.

Start Saying No

If you want to free up time at work, the first tip I have for you is to start saying no to the things that aren’t part of your job. Because the more you say no, the more time you’ll free up for the things you want to say Yes to.

Can you help on a proposal? If you’re on a project then the answer is no. If you’re asked if you can help with recruiting or some other thing that isn’t part of the job description, then the answer is no. Get good at saying no!

I know it seems easier said than done and may not be as some people are very persistent so start thinking about how you can say no.

For example: “Hi Bob, I’d love to help but I have a full workload right now and don’t have the capacity. Could I reach out to you in the next couple weeks when things settle down?”

Or “Hi Bob, I have a lot of project work I need to catch up on and I have some family things I am dealing with at the moment? Can we catch up in a week or two? I’d really appreciate it.”

Whatever you want to say is fine, but just have something in mind so you’re not trying to come up with something on the fly and saying something that doesn’t make sense. Like, “sorry I have to feed my cat? What, sorry I guess I can…”

That may be a very corny example but sometimes when you're nervous you say things you don't want to say so just be prepared with how you're going to say no. It could be as simple as saying “Sorry I can’t work on that right now” but you also want to be a team player so just find the balance that works for you.

Protect your time
For the second tip, I want you to start...

Find the full show notes here.