Are you that person that is always stuck doing all the work that nobody wants to do? Are you the one that always stays late, cleans up after everyone, and does everyone’s little minor tasks that they “forgot” to do? Have you ever stepped back to think about what this means for your career?
When you talk about someone or something, how much do you usually remember? Most of the time, you probably just remember 1 or 2 big things, not the details. Think about one of your friends – can you remember the name of her dog or 3 kids? Or, do you just remember the fact that she is really tall and lives in San Francisco? Think about your high school memories – do you even remember the names of your teachers? Probably not. But, I bet you remember that awful prom date or the first time you snuck a drink with friends. People only remember the big things that happen, not the little things.
Your boss sits down once a year to write your review and determine whether or not you to give you that promotion, raise, or bonus. This means he only thinks about what you’ve done once every 12 months. Throughout the year, he’ll thank you or recognize you for doing lots of different things, but at the end of the year, he won’t remember any of those little things. Yup, he won’t remember that one time you stayed late to work on a team project, nor will he remember that you were the one that always volunteered for the little things that nobody wanted to do. When he writes your review, all he’ll remember are the big things that you did.
Focus on the big things where you can make a big impact and get recognized for the work. Don’t waste your time working on the small projects.
Work is full of lots of small little details that have to be done and taken care of. You could spend all day doing all of these little tasks. At the end of the day, those details won’t matter at all. If nobody did them or nobody thought about them, nothing would happen and eventually somebody would take care of them if they needed them done for something. But, if the projects or tasks are big, if they are important to the success of the company or your team, then somebody will ask about them and somebody will notice if they are not done.
Don’t be the person that always takes care of the little things. That adds up to a lot of time doing a lot of crap that doesn’t matter. Be the person known for doing the big projects that count.
The big projects, the visible projects, and the ones that are a high priority to senior executives, are the projects that you need to spend most of your time on. These are the big projects that will make an impact and give you credit and recognition. At the end of the day at the end of the year, nobody really remembers the little things. It’s the big things that count and will make a difference between getting the promotion and getting overlooked.