Second Cup: What did you get done

Focus on results, not hours worked

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to focus on what you got done during
the day, not the hours or effort you put in. Now.

(00:27):
To be fair, you can't accomplish most big things without
putting in time and effort. But it is the outcome,
not the time itself, that tends to matter most. Today's
tip comes from a recent episode of hbr's Idea Cast.
We're a guest reminded leaders that it's not about the inputs,

(00:50):
it's not about the number of hours you put in.
It's about the results you achieve. And as a manager,
you shouldn't push people to work longer out hours. You
should push people to achieve more results and enable them
to do so. Focusing on results is wise advice when

(01:11):
we are managing ourselves or managing others. It's easy to
get caught up in the story that being a good
worker means putting in the longest hours, but really being
a good worker is about delivering good stuff. To keep
your focus on results, build a routine of asking yourself,

(01:32):
maybe at lunch and at the end of the workday,
what you produced, not the hours you put in or
what you worked on, but the specific tasks or parts
of tasks that you completed. With your team, you can
use language like accomplish or produce and complete to help
them focus on what got done. You can even go

(01:54):
beyond recalling and talking about what you produced to actually
write it down. Consider maintaining a work log that lists
what you accomplished each day. This isn't an exhaustive list
of every task you performed in every meeting you attended.
Think of it as being more like a one line
a day journal that captures the day's highlights, rather than

(02:19):
a lengthy, dear diary chronicle that describes every moment. For instance,
a person's work log entry for a day might say
developed department budget for next year, and gave feedback to
Jenny about running tighter meetings and looked through resumes for
the new position. Another person's log might say fulfilled orders,

(02:40):
recelaved last week, an updated e commerce site with new
merchandise available, or for another person, came up with two
ideas for sermon series, edited this Sunday sermon, approved changes
to the church calendar, and called for parishioners. Whatever the
specifics of your job. Your worklog includes your main accomplishments

(03:02):
of the day. Keeping a log makes visible the progress
that you are making, so you can notice it and
celebrate it. A log also reveals when you are not
making progress. If all you could say is that you
attended a lot of meetings and answered a lot of
emails and you can't think of anything that changed in

(03:24):
the world as a result of all those meetings and emails,
well that is a prompt to rethink what you're doing.
Not that you need to put in more hours, but
that you need to get more done. You may not
need to keep a work log all the time, but
it could be helpful to do so for a week
or so if you want to understand why you are

(03:47):
making slow progress or why you are feeling pulled in
a lot of directions. There may be some interesting answers
that are worth exploring. When we focus on results, we
get more done, and when we are less worried about
the hours we are putting in, we may also have

(04:08):
more time for pursuits outside of work. That is a
win for everyone. If you try keeping a work log,
let me know how it goes. You can reach me
at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime,
this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making

(04:33):
the most of our time.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can
send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just
connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before
Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four than Breakfast pod.
You can also shoot me in email at Before Breakfast
Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that before Breakfast is spelled

(05:05):
out with all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I
look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
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favorite shows.